Author Topic: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000  (Read 5850 times)

harvestbook

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Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« on: November 19, 2018, 07:45:05 AM »

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2018, 07:52:04 AM »
Did I misread- or are they getting rid of investor shares though?

That's gonna mean this will cost me more.

appleshampooid

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2018, 07:54:59 AM »
Vanguard lowering minimums for Admiral shares on 38 funds!

https://investornews.vanguard/our-index-funds-changed-investing-forever-now-were-making-them-even-better/
This is great news. For those too lazy to click through to the list of funds, includes VTSAX, VTIAX, VFIAX, VFWAX, VBTLX among others. Basically all the funds I use or might use to build my portfolio.

This actually helps me as I just did some TLH this year from VTIAX (first choice for int'l) into VFWAX, and once my 30 day timer expires I have more funds to invest in VTIAX, but probably around $7k. So no need to scrap together another 10k or accept investor shares for that purchase.

simonsez

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2018, 08:09:21 AM »
Thanks!

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2018, 08:36:33 AM »
Thanks for posting!

Also worth noting for those who don't want to read it all: if you follow their links and sign in, they'll check to see if you have any accounts eligible for conversion. Otherwise, they'll convert all accounts automatically over the next year.

MDM

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2018, 08:53:32 AM »
Did I misread- or are they getting rid of investor shares though?
Yes, "...we’re eliminating higher-cost Investor Shares of those same index funds for individual investors.*"

Quote
That's gonna mean this will cost me more.
Why do you think that?

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2018, 09:06:40 AM »
Did I misread- or are they getting rid of investor shares though?
Yes, "...we’re eliminating higher-cost Investor Shares of those same index funds for individual investors.*"

Quote
That's gonna mean this will cost me more.
Why do you think that?

Well, all my taxable investments were already in Admiral shares.

But even more of my tax-deferred investments were in Investor shares.   

Oh wait, I'm an idiot- Investor shares are the lower one.  I was thinking they were eliminating corporate shares!

FIREball567

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2018, 09:07:55 AM »
How do I start the process of switching VTSMX to VTSAX?


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RWD

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2018, 09:18:38 AM »
How do I start the process of switching VTSMX to VTSAX?

The article had a link explaining how to convert:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/convert-to-admiral-shares

Davnasty

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2018, 09:23:25 AM »
How do I start the process of switching VTSMX to VTSAX?

The article had a link explaining how to convert:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/convert-to-admiral-shares

I get this message after clicking "Yes"

No eligible funds found

I currently hold VFINX so it should be eligible. Is it working for anyone else?

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2018, 09:32:19 AM »
How do I start the process of switching VTSMX to VTSAX?

The article had a link explaining how to convert:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/convert-to-admiral-shares

I get this message after clicking "Yes"

No eligible funds found

I currently hold VFINX so it should be eligible. Is it working for anyone else?

The original link said they would be converting them over the next year.  Might not be eligible YET.

Another Reader

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2018, 10:00:42 AM »
How do I start the process of switching VTSMX to VTSAX?

The article had a link explaining how to convert:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/convert-to-admiral-shares

I get this message after clicking "Yes"

No eligible funds found

I currently hold VFINX so it should be eligible. Is it working for anyone else?

In typical Vanguard fashion, they have made a mess of this.  I have a very old IRA that has small amounts of the investor shares of the total market and the S&P 500 funds.  I get the same "no accounts eligible for conversion" message.  I see no reason to wait a year for them to clean this mess up.  I will give them a week for the volume of calls to die down and for their third string software team to clean this up.  Then I will dial for dollars...

FIREball567

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #12 on: November 19, 2018, 10:34:06 AM »
That's weird. I'm not eligible to convert to VTSAX. All my accounts (IRA and taxable) have VTSMX in it.


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dandarc

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #13 on: November 19, 2018, 10:47:35 AM »
Any idea if this going trickle into the Life Strategy funds? Or will investor shares stick around for these and the target date funds?

dandarc

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #14 on: November 19, 2018, 10:50:32 AM »
Didn't work with "convert to admiral", but did work with an exchange for me.

This was in a Roth IRA - I probably wouldn't do that in a taxable account.

MDM

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #15 on: November 19, 2018, 10:52:06 AM »
Any idea if this going trickle into the Life Strategy funds? Or will investor shares stick around for these and the target date funds?
"*Investor Shares will still be used in certain situations, such as in retirement plans and fund-of-funds investments."

dandarc

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #16 on: November 19, 2018, 10:53:22 AM »
Any idea if this going trickle into the Life Strategy funds? Or will investor shares stick around for these and the target date funds?
"*Investor Shares will still be used in certain situations, such as in retirement plans and fund-of-funds investments."
Thanks - I missed that on the first read.

COEE

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #17 on: November 20, 2018, 12:12:17 PM »
Fidelity and Schwab funds both generally have better expense ratios, lower initial investments, and better hours of operation.  I will say that I like Vanguards offerings better, but there's usually something close to equivalent at the other two.

Move along, nothing to see here. 

fidreamer

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #18 on: November 23, 2018, 08:59:23 AM »
I just called and converted funds from individual 401k (traditional and roth) from investor shares to admiral.  Was not available before.  I like it.

FIREball567

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #19 on: November 24, 2018, 08:14:14 AM »
It didn't work the day it was announced but I was to able to use the link and convert VTSMX to VTSAX last night.


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Bracken_Joy

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #20 on: November 24, 2018, 08:33:52 AM »
It didn't work the day it was announced but I was to able to use the link and convert VTSMX to VTSAX last night.

Thanks for the follow up on this. I was able to convert my post tax account.

duncanlennon

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #21 on: November 28, 2018, 10:12:05 PM »
This was well timed. I just began to invest with Vanguard last month; two days ago they emailed me about the change and today I have $3,000 in VTSAX.

TFT

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #22 on: November 29, 2018, 05:51:27 AM »
We can basically say thank you to Fidelity for launching their no-fee index funds, as this is widely seen as a direct response to that. If you don't transfer now manually, you'll be automatically switched to the admiral shares in Q1 2019.

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #23 on: November 29, 2018, 06:48:54 AM »
Fidelity and Schwab funds both generally have better expense ratios, lower initial investments, and better hours of operation.  I will say that I like Vanguards offerings better, but there's usually something close to equivalent at the other two.

Move along, nothing to see here.

Better expense ratios than Vanguard?  Can you name some specific equivalent funds? That was not the case when we compared.

appleshampooid

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #24 on: November 29, 2018, 08:20:28 AM »
Fidelity and Schwab funds both generally have better expense ratios, lower initial investments, and better hours of operation.  I will say that I like Vanguards offerings better, but there's usually something close to equivalent at the other two.

Move along, nothing to see here.

Better expense ratios than Vanguard?  Can you name some specific equivalent funds? That was not the case when we compared.
When did you compare? Schwab has been lower for a while, Fidelity opened their new 0% expense ratio funds this year.

For total market:
Schwab - SWTSX - .03% expense ratio and no minimum
Fidelity - FZROX - .00% expense ratio and no minimum
Vanguard - VTSAX - .04% expense ration and $3000 minimum

To be fair, you can use the ETF VTI and get the .04% expense ratio at a minimum of 1 share. But some folks (like myself) prefer funds over ETFs

International is similar, although VTIAX tracks an index with more stocks that SWISX. Haven't checked on the index for Fidelity's new zero-fee international fund.

All that being said, I am still with vanguard. A few basis points isn't enough for me to go through the hassle of 3 in-kind transfers (wife trad/roth, my own Roth) and tax consequences on a liquid account.

NewDay1

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #25 on: November 30, 2018, 06:23:47 PM »
Hi all,

This is a more basic question about Admiral Funds vs. Investor funds.  I was looking at a vanguard investor fund earlier this month, they closed it when they announced this admiral fund change, and said an admiral fund version of the investor fund was still available/open with the new, lower $3000 start.  When I look at both funds on morningstar - the investor fund (now closed) is only $24ish a share, while the Admiral fund is $115 a share.  For the EXACT SAME holdings, main difference being the lower expense ratio for Admiral. 

I'm in learning mode right now - could someone please explain why the share price is so different? 

Thanks so much!

MDM

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Re: Vanguard lowering Admiral level to $3,000
« Reply #26 on: November 30, 2018, 06:34:20 PM »
I'm in learning mode right now - could someone please explain why the share price is so different? 
The share prices of different fund classes are not necessarily comparable.  E.g., see diff share prices between investor, admiral, & ETF shares - Bogleheads.org