Yesterday, I mentioned that I was thinking about moving all of our retirement and education savings accounts to one brokerage, Vanguard. Spurred on by this comment from reader Matt, I did a little more research, and I have decided to make the move.
Vanguard offers enhanced services for customers who qualify. Qualification for these services is based on total household assets held with Vanguard. For complete details, check this page from the Vanguard website.
To qualify for Vanguard Voyager Services, a minimum of $100,000 is required.
To qualify for Vanguard Voyager Select Services, a minimum of $500,000 is required.
To qualify for Vanguard Flagship Services, a minimum of $1,000,000 is required.
From the Vanguard website:
We determine membership by aggregating assets of all eligible accounts held by the investor and his or her immediate family members who reside at the same address, including investments in Vanguard mutual funds, Vanguard ETFs, annuities through Vanguard, The Vanguard 529 Plan, certain small-business accounts, and employer-sponsored retirement plans for which Vanguard provides record keeping services.
As an added bonus, once I’ve accumulated $100,000 in a single fund, in a single account, I’ll qualify for Vanguard Admiral Shares, which have lower expense ratios than do standard shares.
As soon as I publish this post, I’m going to begin the transfer process. Wish me luck!
Good luck! I’m glad you came to a decision. My intuition seemed to say that consolidation is the way to go. Let us know how everything works out.
Hey glad I could help tip the balance. I’ve had very good dealings w/ Vanguard in the past so recommending you consolidate was a no brainer for me.
The transfer process could potentially be difficult, so don’t hesitate to call their customer service line on Monday. They will actually setup a conference call w/ your accounts held at other investment banks, and expedite the transfers. I not one for “hand holding” during my own financial decisions, but they saved me a few bucks in fees and tax related savings.
Speaking as a long-time Vanguard customer, welcome aboard. You won’t regret the change. My only problem is that we have two accounts for which Vanguard isn’t an option.
Good choice. Clark Howard speaks very highly of Vanguard… so it must be a good move. I would do the same, but my 401k with my job is with Fidelity and our other investments are with Scottrade
Looking forward to reading about your successful transfer.
Glad to hear you are making the switch. I would put every account I have at Vanguard if I had the choice. We have a significant portion with them and we do use the Voyager services. I love everything about Vanguard.
Cool NCN! Have a great move to Vanguard, great choice!!
Great choice to move your funds to Vanguard. The transfering isn’t always the easiest process if you have many accounts at different funds or brokers, but Vanguard offers great services and excellent low cost funds.
I will have to check out Vanguard myself. I didn’t realize that they were rated so highly. Good Luck with the transfer.
As long as you invest principally in Vanguard funds, it’s a wise decision. I have an account with Vanguard for some of my assets, but moved my stock holdings to Fidelity. At more than $18 a trade (I’d have to look, but I think it’s either $18.95 or $22.95), Vanguard is very expensive if you trade a lot.
USAA is also a very good choice; and you don’t have to be associated with the military in order to take advantage of their investment services.
Good luck!
Randy@FiscalZen
Vanguard has always been one of my better choices. I recommend them to may of the people I work with in Financial counseling.
I consolidated my assets at Fidelity about 7 or 8 years ago and it has been one of the best moves I’ve ever made. Took some work, but the end result has been great.
just be careful though and maintain the discipline of diversification. this not only applies to asset allocation but to companies as well. although it might seem nconceivable that vanguard would tank or something, but so did many other things that tanked. keep your money diversified people.
I’ve enjoyed Vanguard as well and have recently opened our second child’s 529 account with them. One thing to keep in mind, open a Upromise account for free and link it to your Vanguard 529. You’ll earn more money on everyday purchases and you can move the money over to your 529 account. I have my parents linked to Upromise and they’ve added about $20 so far. Every bit helps.