Sketched out by Vanguard

[Monerexia]

So, I've been a Fidelity guy for quite some time, mostly ITOT ETF, and went to switch to Vanguard a couple years ago. Was something of a process, not overly burdensome by normal standards, but some months of back and forth. I had deposited $100 as a placeholder and was getting the other accounts set up and continued to contribute to Fidelity over the next several months. I remember old Bogle telling one person to never open the envelopes and see where he was in a few decades, which was intriguing. Something was amiss with my address however, and I logged in by chance to my Vanguard act one day and there was a message that they had a bad address and if they didn't hear from me by xx date that all of my money was going to be forfeited to the govt. I called and updated my address, but I have been so sketched out since then that my lone $100 still sits there in the core position or money market or whatever. Has anybody else had this issue and should I be sketched out haha.

[lhamo]

Your money was not going to be forfeited to the government.  Every state has an unclaimed property division, and rules about how long accounts can be inactive before financial institutions have to turn assets over to the state.  You stop getting any interest on the funds, but you can easily claim the money back in most states -- just fill out an online form and submit proof that you are who you say you are.

[Frankies Girl]

Your money was not going to be forfeited to the government.  Every state has an unclaimed property division, and rules about how long accounts can be inactive before financial institutions have to turn assets over to the state.  You stop getting any interest on the funds, but you can easily claim the money back in most states -- just fill out an online form and submit proof that you are who you say you are.

https://www.missingmoney.com/en/

I've not found anything for myself, but I've found hundreds for family members and one multi thousand account for a friend that her dad had forgotten about. He'd died several years back so that was a bittersweet one.


And yes, not anything to be concerned about regarding Vanguard. They were doing what they could to try to get your money reconnected to you and legally that is exactly what they should do (after years/good faith attempts to contact the account holder then turn account/money over to a government oversight to hold until claimed). If I'm reading this right, you never opened any mail/logged into your account over a multi year time? So they had no way of knowing you still live at your address or even on the right side of the sod if you never responded or logged in.

Unclaimed money from deposits, refunds, overpayments, legal settlements, rebates, bank and financial accounts and more get forgotten allllll the time, so there's a place in each state that the funds are sent to be held (over decades even!) until the person or their heirs discover them and lay the claim.

It is always an individual's responsibility to keep track of what accounts are where and update things periodically or at least check every year or so if things seem okay. But lots of people forget, or die, or didn't even realize they were owed anything. You would have had an extra hoop to jump through to get the money back, but they weren't going to steal or misappropriate the money.

[Monerexia]

Your money was not going to be forfeited to the government.  Every state has an unclaimed property division, and rules about how long accounts can be inactive before financial institutions have to turn assets over to the state.  You stop getting any interest on the funds, but you can easily claim the money back in most states -- just fill out an online form and submit proof that you are who you say you are.

Ha yes it certainly seemed like that. In fact it stated exactly that in the letter. Shook me to the point that I have stayed with Fidelity--I thought what if I am away for 3-4 months and they decide to give it to the comptroller or whatever they call the poobah lol.

[Monerexia]

Your money was not going to be forfeited to the government.  Every state has an unclaimed property division, and rules about how long accounts can be inactive before financial institutions have to turn assets over to the state.  You stop getting any interest on the funds, but you can easily claim the money back in most states -- just fill out an online form and submit proof that you are who you say you are.

https://www.missingmoney.com/en/

I've not found anything for myself, but I've found hundreds for family members and one multi thousand account for a friend that her dad had forgotten about. He'd died several years back so that was a bittersweet one.


And yes, not anything to be concerned about regarding Vanguard. They were doing what they could to try to get your money reconnected to you and legally that is exactly what they should do (after years/good faith attempts to contact the account holder then turn account/money over to a government oversight to hold until claimed). If I'm reading this right, you never opened any mail/logged into your account over a multi year time? So they had no way of knowing you still live at your address or even on the right side of the sod if you never responded or logged in.

Unclaimed money from deposits, refunds, overpayments, legal settlements, rebates, bank and financial accounts and more get forgotten allllll the time, so there's a place in each state that the funds are sent to be held (over decades even!) until the person or their heirs discover them and lay the claim.

It is always an individual's responsibility to keep track of what accounts are where and update things periodically or at least check every year or so if things seem okay. But lots of people forget, or die, or didn't even realize they were owed anything. You would have had an extra hoop to jump through to get the money back, but they weren't going to steal or misappropriate the money.

Yeah i'm not sure how long it was, it may have been a year. I remember they receded into the background when I asked them about transfer of assets and they said I had to sell everything convert it to cash and then buy again when it gets to them.

[terran]

I'm pretty sure they'd all turn your money over to the government (available for you to claim as others have said, but likely uninvested during that time) if they don't hear from you. But why do you want to switch to Vanguard anyway? All the major brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, Etrade, maybe others) are basically equivalent now that ETFs trade commission free. If you're happy with Fidelity I wouldn't switch.

[Monerexia]

I'm pretty sure they'd all turn your money over to the government (available for you to claim as others have said, but likely uninvested during that time) if they don't hear from you. But why do you want to switch to Vanguard anyway? All the major brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, Etrade, maybe others) are basically equivalent now that ETFs trade commission free. If you're happy with Fidelity I wouldn't switch.

Yes that was my thinking and why it went on the back burner--.03 is .03 though there are some issues with company structure that are different w/Fidility and Vanguard that chances of that becoming an issue fall fairly deep into acceptable risk category

[Sibley]

You're blaming the company because you completely ignored new accounts and thus didn't catch that there was a problem? And then also managed to not have a clue, or be able to google, the state unclaimed property processes. Vanguard isn't the problem here. It's you.

When you're setting stuff up, or changing things, you NEED TO PAY ATTENTION. Once you know everything's going smoothly, then sure you can put it on autopilot. You put it on autopilot about 3 months earlier than you should have. You're not sketched out by Vanguard. You're sketched out by your own incompetence/laziness/ignorance.

[Monerexia]

You're blaming the company because you completely ignored new accounts and thus didn't catch that there was a problem? And then also managed to not have a clue, or be able to google, the state unclaimed property processes. Vanguard isn't the problem here. It's you.

When you're setting stuff up, or changing things, you NEED TO PAY ATTENTION. Once you know everything's going smoothly, then sure you can put it on autopilot. You put it on autopilot about 3 months earlier than you should have. You're not sketched out by Vanguard. You're sketched out by your own incompetence/laziness/ignorance.

Actually no, this is Vanguard. I have left other accounts alone, forgotten, for years. My University credit union for well over a decade. I came back and they were like Oh, here's your $37, your account has been inactive for a long time! I've got a good idea, when I put funds into an institution, I expect them to leave my shit the fuck alone; I'll be back to get it instead of liquidating it in six months if they don't hear from me. haha.

[MissPeach]

I ran into something like that with a bank where I put in enough for a car loan (pre MMM days) but never did anything else with the account. It's my understanding that a certain amount of time/activity and most places will turn accounts over to that state's unclaimed agency. I'm trying to deal with this right now for some gift cards where the company is around but shut down their stores. It's a PITA and I still haven't gotten my money back.

As for Vanguard specifically, I'm with the other poster. Technically you can get low fee ETFs without commissions most places now so if that's your setup and you like where you're at you don't really need to move. Some people like supporting Vanguard due to their business model which is different than most brokerages. If you can afford admiral shares they are slightly cheaper than a lot of other ETFs but if you are in something like VTI rather than VTSAX there isn't as much of a difference typically compared VTI and Schwab or Fidelity's low cost ETF options.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

All financial institutions have to do this, including credit unions.  Your account goes dormant after 1 year without active contact.  After 3 years they do the escheat process and turn the funds over to the government.  You can still claim them -- the point is the financial institution can't keep it.  It even applies to safe deposit boxes -- after 3 years they have to drill the box, have 2 employees inventory it thoroughly, and then send the contents to the government.

When I worked banking we spent considerable time attempting to track down customers with dormant accounts.

[Sibley]

You're blaming the company because you completely ignored new accounts and thus didn't catch that there was a problem? And then also managed to not have a clue, or be able to google, the state unclaimed property processes. Vanguard isn't the problem here. It's you.

When you're setting stuff up, or changing things, you NEED TO PAY ATTENTION. Once you know everything's going smoothly, then sure you can put it on autopilot. You put it on autopilot about 3 months earlier than you should have. You're not sketched out by Vanguard. You're sketched out by your own incompetence/laziness/ignorance.

Actually no, this is Vanguard. I have left other accounts alone, forgotten, for years. My University credit union for well over a decade. I came back and they were like Oh, here's your $37, your account has been inactive for a long time! I've got a good idea, when I put funds into an institution, I expect them to leave my shit the fuck alone; I'll be back to get it instead of liquidating it in six months if they don't hear from me. haha.

Yeah, I do it too. But the difference is I don't ignore them until I'm sure everything's ok! And I still get the statements and privacy notices! I just don't read them constantly.

You fucked up. Anytime you're doing new accounts, restructuring, changing banks, there's a level of "making sure the address got entered correctly" that is prudent and wise, and that is on you. So, would you please stop trying to blame Vanguard because you got lazy?

Oh, and stop blaming them for following the law. By law, they are REQUIRED to remit abandoned funds to the state's unclaimed property fund within whatever time frame. Just because you fucked up doesn't mean they're going to take the hit from regulators by not following the law.

In future, followup and make sure that everything's setup and working properly about 3-4 weeks after initial setup. Put it on your calendar if you need to. It takes all of 10 minutes and it prevents a lot of problems.

[Monerexia]

You're blaming the company because you completely ignored new accounts and thus didn't catch that there was a problem? And then also managed to not have a clue, or be able to google, the state unclaimed property processes. Vanguard isn't the problem here. It's you.

When you're setting stuff up, or changing things, you NEED TO PAY ATTENTION. Once you know everything's going smoothly, then sure you can put it on autopilot. You put it on autopilot about 3 months earlier than you should have. You're not sketched out by Vanguard. You're sketched out by your own incompetence/laziness/ignorance.

Actually no, this is Vanguard. I have left other accounts alone, forgotten, for years. My University credit union for well over a decade. I came back and they were like Oh, here's your $37, your account has been inactive for a long time! I've got a good idea, when I put funds into an institution, I expect them to leave my shit the fuck alone; I'll be back to get it instead of liquidating it in six months if they don't hear from me. haha.

Yeah, I do it too. But the difference is I don't ignore them until I'm sure everything's ok! And I still get the statements and privacy notices! I just don't read them constantly.

You fucked up. Anytime you're doing new accounts, restructuring, changing banks, there's a level of "making sure the address got entered correctly" that is prudent and wise, and that is on you. So, would you please stop trying to blame Vanguard because you got lazy?

Oh, and stop blaming them for following the law. By law, they are REQUIRED to remit abandoned funds to the state's unclaimed property fund within whatever time frame. Just because you fucked up doesn't mean they're going to take the hit from regulators by not following the law.

In future, followup and make sure that everything's setup and working properly about 3-4 weeks after initial setup. Put it on your calendar if you need to. It takes all of 10 minutes and it prevents a lot of problems.

Yes fair enough--i think this was one of those unfortunate bureaucratic deals--I had it set up and had received mail from them before--as I recall either their system changed my address to conform to postal codes which led to a weird undeliverable or I was out of town for a week and the post office stopped delivering my mail because my box was too full--they do this without warning here; they're a very grudgey and passive aggressive local post office haha. And I didn't log in for awhile which kicked me into the other bucket. :)