I agree with almost everything said in the other reviews.
This Vanguard...
Vanguard
Founded by the investment industry pioneer John Bogle, Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies. Vanguard's mission is to help clients reach their financial goals by being the world's highest-value provider of investment products and services. Vanguard offers services to personal investors, institutional investors and financial advisors.
Overall, the company provides access to mutual funds, ETFs, securities and equities, financial management planning, retirement planning, college savings options, and premium services catered to high, net-valued customers.
Vanguard also offers annuity products. High level descriptions of select product categories include:
1) Mutual Funds: Diversified investments under the manage of Vanguard; categorized into Vanguard Funds and Core Funds.
2) ETFs, Securities, and Equities: Clients are allowed access to Vanguard's exchange-traded funds, thousands of stocks and bonds and cds, options, and investments on margin.
3) 401(k) Rollover: Offers services in transitioning from previous company to Vanguard's oversight. Vanguard specialists provide aid via phone.
4) IRAs: Vanguard offers both Traditional and Roth IRAs, both of which require a minimum of $3,000 in initial contributions in order to qualify under Vanguard's policies.
5) 529 College Savings Options: The company's College Savings Options include tax-deferred growth and tax-free qualified withdrawals, with many state plans providing state income tax benefits as well. Other benefits are: higher contribution limits, no income boundaries for account owners or age restrictions for beneficiaries, a range of investment options, and almost no restrictions on where the child goes to college.
6) Personal Services: Personal Services include Concierge Services for new accounts or 401(k) rollovers, Flagship Services for investors with $1 million or more in Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs and Voyager Services for investors with $50,000 to $500,000 in Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs.
| Vanguard Product Reviews |
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Product Review of Vanguard Variable Annuity
The Vanguard variable annuity comes with an optional guaranteed lifetime... Product Review of Vanguard Variable Annuity
Very few people know what an annuity is.
Even fewer people know how annuities... Product Review of Vanguard Variable Annuity
Most annuities come with something referred to as a surrender charge.... |
| Products Offered |
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| General Information | |
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| Website | http://www.vanguard.com |
| Type | Asset Management |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Ownership | Private |
| Country | USA |
| Contact Information | |
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| Address | PO Box 2600 Valley Forge, PA 19482 |
| Phone | 877-662-7447 |
| Fax | |
Information & Articles about Vanguard
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Morningstar recently published a discussion (click here to read) between Moshe Milevsky, John Ameriks of Vanguard and Thomas Idzorek of Ibbotson. The general topic is the pros and cons of guaranteed income streams. Much discussion of whether, why, and when to annuitize. Well worth the time.
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Coverage of annuities by the broader financial media tends to be negative, with much of the criticism focused on annuity expenses. The criticism is typically accompanied by a blue-sky investing scenario that makes the case for annuities that much less compelling. The theoretical retail investor in such a blue-sky scenario invests with perfect discipline, efficiency and rationality in the lowest cost index fund over some absurdly arbitrary time-frame. The problem is that the average retail investor’s reality is quite different, and the data is clearly there to support this alternative reality. In fact, one could argue that the drag on retail investment performance that is encountered in real life is equal to or greater than the fee structure of some of the most expensive variable annuities with living benefit features. Consider one such blue-sky investment scenario that has a 20 year time-frame starting in 1983 (the beginning of the bull market). During the period beginning in 1983 and ending in 2003, the S&P index delivered an annual return of 13 percent. Pretty hard not to make money in such an ideal environment, right? Just buy and hold a simple (and inexpensive) S&P index fund and watch your wealth double every 5-6 years. Not even close. As discussed in a previous post, Vanguard founder John Bogle has demonstrated that during this same 20 year period, the average return of actively managed equity funds is 7.8 percent--a 5.2 percent difference. Factors contributing to this drag include under-performing fund managers, fund management fees and taxes. Toss-in a 3 percent rate of inflation (the average during this period) and the average return is reduced to 4.8 percent, creating a lag of 8.2 percent. This isn’t the end of the story. What is likely the greatest performance drag, cost or expense for the average retail investor is their own decision making. Wall Street Journal columnist Brett Arends discusses this issue in an article titled “You Should Have Timed the Market.” Arends cites a study from TrimTabs Investment Research that suggests poor investment decisions cost retail investors $39 billion over the past decade. Poor decisions boil-down to buying and selling at the worst possible times. The TrimTabs study indicates that the investing public bought the S&P index at an average of 1,434 (close to the record high of 1,565). Random purchases over the course of the decade would have resulted in an average purchase point of 1,171. It is probably safe to assume that, on average, retail investor decision making adds a meaningful amount to the 5.2 percent nominal (and 8.2 percent real) drag referenced above. In any event, the total is far and away greater than the total expense structure of any annuity. What is also worth noting is that the annuity buyer is receiving something in exchange for the expense--namely insurance guarantees. In contrast, the retail investor who purchases a mutual fund or ETF receives zero guarantee in exchange for the very real costs they incur. |
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The first thing you should do is check with your previous employer--likely the human resources department--to hear about the plan policy directly from them. That said, the contributions you have made to the 401k plan and any employer contributions that are vested are your property. Generally, there are several options available to employees when they leave an employer:
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While efforts are made to keep information on this page accurate and updated, the information shown on this page may be variable or out of date. Always check the issuing company's website or other public data listings for the latest information applicable to you as actual information may vary.
