Silly question: Can I change the name of my vanguard acct?

[Fraser_CA]

Okay, I know this is kind of a ridiculous question, but is it possible to change the name of a vanguard account on the main landing page?

Right now, I only have my Roth with Vanguard. When I log on to their web site, it lists my accounts and has my Roth named as an odd combination of my initials and part of my last name. I'd like to just call it "Roth account" and I've searched far and wide on the site for some sort of "personal settings" feature that will allow me to rename it, but I can't find anything.

Am I missing the obvious or is this just not possible?

[Alan S.]

There does not appear to be any option for this - if there were it would probably be found under "create a preferred account view", but it isn't.

Schwab and Fidelity have this feature where you can change the name just for your own use. For example, I have one Roth titled "Pre 2011 Roth conversions" and the other "2011 Roth conversion".

Each IRA custodian develops their own requirements and procedures for IRA titles. But they vary between custodians, particularly with respect to what requirements exist for showing the account as a "Rollover IRA".

With Vanguard, a non rollover TIRA appears to be "Traditional IRA".

But I find the informal feature useful for instant recognition of any characteristic you want to use with respect to that IRA. You could even put a beneficiary indicator there if you wanted to. Would like to see Vanguard offer this. The title would NOT appear anywhere on Vanguard's records.

[Fraser_CA]

I agree completely. Such a small thing but it would make account management a little easier.

[SSSS]

Have you tried calling them or sending them a message via the "Contact Us" link? There's a lot they can do manually that they don't have online options for.

[Rager1]

Okay, I know this is kind of a ridiculous question, but is it possible to change the name of a vanguard account on the main landing page?

Right now, I only have my Roth with Vanguard. When I log on to their web site, it lists my accounts and has my Roth named as an odd combination of my initials and part of my last name. I'd like to just call it "Roth account" and I've searched far and wide on the site for some sort of "personal settings" feature that will allow me to rename it, but I can't find anything.

Am I missing the obvious or is this just not possible?

Under Account Profile, see the section "Manage my Personal Information", and click on the "Refer to me as..." link. You can enter anything you want to be called there.

Ed

[bombcar]

That changes the way they refer to YOU not to your accounts.

[Fraser_CA]

Yeah, I'm looking for something in Vanguard that's akin to ING Direct's nickname feature. I'll try giving the 1-800 number a call.

[anonima]

Did you manage to find a way to do this? I would like to do the same thing, as I have money parked in different Vanguard money market funds awaiting various purposes. Asked the customer rep last time I was on the phone and they weren't aware of any way to "nickname" accounts.

[hey-bay]

Seems like this functionality should be built into the Vanguard site.... they recently revamped it, right?

I don't see how it is possible to manage multiple accounts with Vanguard's generic naming scheme.

I've got 12 accounts now, including brokerage accounts and I'm looking to create more accounts for different investment goals.

its 2012!

[specabecca]

I called to do this a few years back and was told that it was not an option. It seems like a very strange policy, but it's a small quirk compared to the things Vanguard does right.

[LadyGeek]

This thread is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (website question).

[Pale Horse]

Bumping to see if anybody knows if this option exists at Vanguard yet.

[Ice-9]

Interesting. For me, Vanguard seems to have named my account my full name (including middle name - I feel like I'm a kid in trouble with Mom!) dash Roth IRA. I can't find anywhere to change it, so I assume Vanguard's just pulling it from the name info from when I registered the account.

If I were the OP, I would call and ask if you can change the official name on the account if the initials bother you. (Of course, that was quite a while ago, the OP may have already done so.)

[SteveKL]

I manage reserve account assets for a homeowners' association of which I serve as treasurer. The association's holdings are held in a Vanguard brokerage account. The legal name of the association is "Generic Name Condominium Association, Inc." Because VG's system is set up to only display a certain number of characters of the account name, and the remaining characters are truncated, every time I log on,I see our name displayed as "Generic Name Condom". I tried getting VG to re-title the account "Generic Name Condo Association, Inc." so that its truncated/displayed name would read "Generic Name Condo" (no "m") but was told the account had to be titled the same way as our corporate paperwork is filed with the IRS.

[LadyGeek]

Can they add an extra space between Name and Condominium? IOW, "Generic Name Condominium Association, Inc." would appear as " "Generic Name Condo".

If one normally abbreviates account names, e.g. Association to Assoc., then they can add an extra space.

[aquifer]

Bumping this topic to see if anyone has found a way to do this. There has been a change in Vanguard's account structure since the last reply was posted in this thread, but I still don't see a way to nickname an account. Anyone else?

[Leif]

Transfer to Fidelity

[davies.mike]

I posted a possible workaround in this post.

[eengstro]

Looks like this feature still doesn't exist?

[Papermoon]

I discovered "Nickname" for each account on the iPad app. I also wanted simpler names: His IRA, Her IRA, His Post Tax, etc. As soon as I save the nickname the app crashes, so maybe this is something still in progress.

The nicknames do "stick" (after save + crash) on the iPad app, and the nicknames sync'd up to Mint. But I do not see the nicknames on the website or iPhone App. Odd.

[dbr]

I manage reserve account assets for a homeowners' association of which I serve as treasurer. The association's holdings are held in a Vanguard brokerage account. The legal name of the association is "Generic Name Condominium Association, Inc." Because VG's system is set up to only display a certain number of characters of the account name, and the remaining characters are truncated, every time I log on,I see our name displayed as "Generic Name Condom". I tried getting VG to re-title the account "Generic Name Condo Association, Inc." so that its truncated/displayed name would read "Generic Name Condo" (no "m") but was told the account had to be titled the same way as our corporate paperwork is filed with the IRS.

The account does have to be titled to identify the legal owner exactly, but they did not answer your question about using a nickname to identify the account on your web pages. It would seem Vanguard does not have the feature of using a nickname?

FWIW you can specify and change nicknames at will at Fidelity. This has nothing to do with designating who owns the account.

[Papermoon]

The account does have to be titled to identify the legal owner exactly, but they did not answer your question about using a nickname to identify the account on your web pages. It would seem Vanguard does not have the feature of using a nickname?

FWIW you can specify and change nicknames at will at Fidelity. This has nothing to do with designating who owns the account.

I found the "Nickname" feature in Vanguard's iPad app to the right of the account name. It crashes the app when you save, but the name "sticks" and syncs to Mint.com. However, I do not see the nicknames on the web or iphone app. So whatever they have is incomplete.

[Papermoon]

I asked customer service. It is a new feature, isolated to iPad, uncertain future. To me it is telling that the nicknames sync to mint.com. That means the names are not localized to iPad app only.

------------------

There is a new feature on the app for iPads only, where clients can add
nicknames to their Vanguard accounts. These nicknames are not added into
the account registration, and they do not carry over to any other device
(e.g. iPhone) or vanguard.com.

It is possible that the nickname feature will be supported on other devices
in the future. However, I am not aware if or when that may occur.

Best regards,

M-------- M-----------
Registered Representative
Vanguard Retail Investor Group

[rchansler]

I'm guessing this feature is still not added. I've been looking for the option all over the website and app. Seems bizarre that it's been over 10 years of of people wanting this feature, but it hasn't been created yet. Is there some security reason or is it just hard to implement?

[letahl]

I tell V every time I call I need this feature. What reason could there be for not providing such an easy feature?

[Broken Man 1999]

I tell V every time I call I need this feature. What reason could there be for not providing such an easy feature?

If it is that important, why not find a brokerage that can accommodate your need?

I have my personal greeting set up as Big Daddy (Broken Man 1999's real first name). Not what you need, but I like it. Of course I am easily amused.

Broken Man 1999

[letahl]

I tell V every time I call I need this feature. What reason could there be for not providing such an easy feature?

If it is that important, why not find a brokerage that can accommodate your need?

I have my personal greeting set up as Big Daddy (Broken Man 1999's real first name). Not what you need, but I like it. Of course I am easily amused.

Broken Man 1999

Big Daddy Fezzik,

I love Vanguard so much I'm going to marry it. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences so far although I know other people have complained about service getting worse. I am not smart enough to improve on the basic BH formula and for me Vanguard is part of that.

Did I guess right? No? See, not smart enough.

I don't even have a proper fake name on this thing. I'll add that to my growing list of things to get on.