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 | |
|---|---|
| Address | PO Box 2600 Valley Forge, PA 19482 |
| Phone | 877-662-7447 |
| Fax | |
Information & Articles about Vanguard
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A very good article discusses Vanguard Founder John Bogle's views and work on the retirement system in the United States. Bogle is a highly vocal critic of the status quo:
There are some interesting and surprising statistics:
The article also discusses Bogle's views on longevity risk, market risk and the use of annuities in the context of the retirement system. Source: Reuters |
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Vanguard is seen expanding variable annuity features with an SEC application for a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB).
Source: On Wall Street |
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Annuities are products that combine insurance and, in the case of variable annuities, asset management. Costs are absolutely critical, so definitely ask you financial advisor to spell-out the costs for each of the items discussed below. The fees or expenses associated with annuities can differ widely among different companies and different product types. At the most general level, fees depend upon whether the product is a fixed annuity or a variable annuity. Fixed annuities generally do impose direct expenses on the contract holder. That said, surrender charges (applied if a contract is cancelled within the initial several years) do come into play with certain types of fixed annuities. Surrender charges are typically around 5% - 7% of the annuity contract value, and they will decrease to zero over a certain period of time such as 5 - 7 years. Variable annuities have: 1) investment management fees, and; 2) insurance charges. Investment management fees compensate the managers of the mutual funds or investment options that are available. Fees are based upon "assets under management" and might range, for example, from 50 basis points to 1.5%. So, if you have $100,000 that is fully invested in mutual funds and the asset management fee is 1% you would be paying $1,000 per year to the asset manager. Asset management fees are not unique to variable annuities, all fund managers charge some form of fee. For comparison, though, a passively managed index fund such as those run by Vanguard might charge as little as 20 basis points per year (that would be $200 per year on that $100,000). Insurance charges include: 1) sales charges; 2) administrative charges, and; 3) mortality and expense risk (M&E fees) charges. Sales and administrative charges cover the costs of establishing and maintaining the annuity contract. Some insurers may have an annual contract maintenance fee in the range of $50. The mortality and expense risk charges (M&E fees) pay for the insurance features. This would include the income guarantees, and living benefits, death benefits, etc. This is important stuff--it's why annuities can be so powerful and where people get the bang for their buck. Surrender fees--which were discussed briefly above--also come into play with variable annuities. Ask questions about surrender fees up front! Last, some states impose premium taxes on variable annuity purchases that can range from 1% - 4%. Variable annuity sales charges depend on the share class of the annuity. This is super important as well, so ask about share classes and sales charges up front. The various share classes are as follows: 1) B-Share variable annuities - no initial sales charge but surrender fees do apply. The majority (@ 40%) of variable annuities are B-share. 2) A-Share variable annuities - these do have front-end sales charges but no surrender fees. 3) C-Share variable annuities - no front-end sales charges or surrender fees. Costs, however, may ultimately be built into the M&E fees. 4) L-Share variable annuities - no front-end sales charges and relatively small surrender fees. Again, M&E fees may be higher as a result. 5) X-Share variable annuities - credit an amount to the contract value before at the the time that the annuity contract is issued. |
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.
