Vanguard
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Vanguard review 2010: very high commissions, weak trading tools
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- Stocks and ETFs: $25 or $0.025 per share, whichever is greater
- Options: $30 plus $1.50 per contract
- Mutual funds: $35
- U.S. Treasury: $0.75 per $1,000 face amount, $40 min–$75 max
- Mortgage-backed securities: $50 per transaction; GNMA minimum purchase: $25,000
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, foreign securities, insurance,
commercial paper, ETFs
- Minimum to open account: $3,000
Vanguard mutual funds include a collection of 117 actively managed mutual funds, and over 150 U.S.,
exchange traded and International funds and financial portfolios. Vanguard's funds focus on a number of
financial goals, risk levels, sectors and returns.

Vanguard trading tools are not keeping up with the industry. You can't modify your order: you have to cancel it then
resubmit it (!). Poor charts with no possibility of saving your indicators. Terrible research tools.
Really bad stock screener.
- Low cost and good performance Vanguard mutual funds.
- Free dividend reinvestment
- Extremely high trading costs
- $30 annual maintenance fee for regular accounts
- Very bad customer service
- Poor trading and research tools
- $3,000 minimum to open account
- If the balance is below $2,500, Vanguard will deduct a monthly fee of $10
Vanguard Brokerage Review Summary
There is a reason Vanguard is known for its mutual funds and not for its brokerage services. Excessively high trading
commissions, sloppy customer service, terrible trading and research tools make it hard for Vanguard to get any
recognition.
Unlike most other brokers, the company is charging $30 annual maintenance fee for regular accounts and monthly
$10 "low-balance fee" for all accounts below $2500 in balance.
There are no setup and annual fees for IRA accounts, but due to high commissions the firm did not make it into
Best Brokerages for IRA list.
The time of mutual funds is slowly but surely coming to the end. They are being replaced by low-cost and easy to
buy/sell Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs. We believe that Vanguard will have hard time attracting new customers in
this new environment.
Because of all the above reasons, we could recommend Vanguard only to people looking to invest exclusively in
Vanguard mutual funds. For everything else there are better
Discount Brokerage Firms.
Vanguard
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