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I feel terrible in discovering the huge loss of value in my Vanguard Brokerage Acct.
I opened the account in Jan 2022 by transferring money from a saving account and have spoken with them periodically but never realized the loss until tonight.
Looking over the account performance chart shows that it happened the next month in Feb 2022 resulting in my losing about 50% of what I put in!!!!!!
I am so distraught, I will have a tough time sleeping tonight.
Last week I had a telephone review of my account performance with a Vanguard Personal Advisor and he never disclosed this loss to me. He did indicate that my account was started at a bad time in the market but that I was on-track to be 99% successful with my retirement goals.
This however doesn't make me feel any better now that I realize how much I lost immediately after opening the account.
I just message Vanguard to make another phone appointment for next week.
When I use their personal advisor to manage a brokerage account and tell them my goals are to preserve from loss while taking limited risk, I don't expect to lose 1/2 of my capital in one month!
I feel terrible in discovering the huge loss of value in my Vanguard Brokerage Acct.
I opened the account in Jan 2022 by transferring money from a saving account and have spoken with them periodically but never realized the loss until tonight.
Looking over the account performance chart shows that it happened the next month in Feb 2022 resulting in my losing about 50% of what I put in!!!!!!
I am so distraught, I will have a tough time sleeping tonight.
Last week I had a telephone review of my account performance with a Vanguard Personal Advisor and he never disclosed this loss to me. He did indicate that my account was started at a bad time in the market but that I was on-track to be 99% successful with my retirement goals.
This however doesn't make me feel any better now that I realize how much I lost immediately after opening the account.
I just message Vanguard to make another phone appointment for next week.
When I use their personal advisor to manage a brokerage account and tell them my goals are to preserve from loss while taking limited risk, I don't expect to lose 1/2 of my capital in one month!
Sorry to hear this.
The S and P 500 as well as the NASDAQ are basically flat from January 2022.
I feel terrible in discovering the huge loss of value in my Vanguard Brokerage Acct.
I opened the account in Jan 2022 by transferring money from a saving account and have spoken with them periodically but never realized the loss until tonight.
Looking over the account performance chart shows that it happened the next month in Feb 2022 resulting in my losing about 50% of what I put in!!!!!!
I am so distraught, I will have a tough time sleeping tonight.
Last week I had a telephone review of my account performance with a Vanguard Personal Advisor and he never disclosed this loss to me. He did indicate that my account was started at a bad time in the market but that I was on-track to be 99% successful with my retirement goals.
This however doesn't make me feel any better now that I realize how much I lost immediately after opening the account.
I just message Vanguard to make another phone appointment for next week.
When I use their personal advisor to manage a brokerage account and tell them my goals are to preserve from loss while taking limited risk, I don't expect to lose 1/2 of my capital in one month!
If you were THAT explicit in describing your conservative risk tolerance at the start, you have a right to be angry. But some things must be chalked-up to "market behavior" which is beyond their control.
Did YOU make the fund selections, or did you leave it to them? Anyhow, Vanguard has sadly become more and more noteworthy for stinky poopy terrible awful customer service. This might very well be a case in point.
Yes, 2022 was a suck-year. I was dismayed to see my stuff sinking in value through the first half of 2022, especially. In fact, bonds/bond funds had their worst year, EVER. But things have improved in 2023. I have been ADDING to my (TRP) brokerage account, so it's impossible for me to get an accurate reading on my performance in '23, but I do know it has been positive. But I'm still down from my all-time high at the START of 2022. But at the moment, I'm down by only less than -3%. If your mix of holdings is anything like a generic mix of stocks and bonds, you ought to do alright over the LONG term. But if your risk tolerance is so conservative, it seems to me that a big chunk of your stuff ought to be sitting in a U.S. Treasury MM fund. At TRP, my UST MM fund is giving me a bit less than 5% yield these days. That's damn good, low-risk, backed up by the gummint----- even though I don't really use that fund to INVEST. I use it just to park some money before I pull the trigger on buying shares in something else.
Just do not panic. Do you trust yourself to make your own fund selections? Then you'll literally have 100% control. If you feel like you've been "had" by Vanguard, you can move the money elsewhere, anyhow. Maybe chew on this stuff and don't do ANYTHING until the New Year, after your investments pay-off for the year in December. That's coming right up!
I’m willing to wager your entire retirement account you aren’t down 50% in any vanguard managed money program this year or the last two . It’s possibly a cap gains distribution and the reconciliation will post Monday. It’s also a bit shameful to look once every 22 months
If you were THAT explicit in describing your conservative risk tolerance at the start, you have a right to be angry. But some things must be chalked-up to "market behavior" which is beyond their control.
Did YOU make the fund selections, or did you leave it to them? Anyhow, Vanguard has sadly become more and more noteworthy for stinky poopy terrible awful customer service. This might very well be a case in point.
Yes, 2022 was a suck-year. I was dismayed to see my stuff sinking in value through the first half of 2022, especially. In fact, bonds/bond funds had their worst year, EVER. But things have improved in 2023. I have been ADDING to my (TRP) brokerage account, so it's impossible for me to get an accurate reading on my performance in '23, but I do know it has been positive. But I'm still down from my all-time high at the START of 2022. But at the moment, I'm down by only less than -3%. If your mix of holdings is anything like a generic mix of stocks and bonds, you ought to do alright over the LONG term. But if your risk tolerance is so conservative, it seems to me that a big chunk of your stuff ought to be sitting in a U.S. Treasury MM fund. At TRP, my UST MM fund is giving me a bit less than 5% yield these days. That's damn good, low-risk, backed up by the gummint----- even though I don't really use that fund to INVEST. I use it just to park some money before I pull the trigger on buying shares in something else.
Just do not panic. Do you trust yourself to make your own fund selections? Then you'll literally have 100% control. If you feel like you've been "had" by Vanguard, you can move the money elsewhere, anyhow. Maybe chew on this stuff and don't do ANYTHING until the New Year, after your investments pay-off for the year in December. That's coming right up!
I did not make the selection, I discussed my goal of preserving my money with hope to make some gain over inflation without undue risk considering my age with thoughts of retirement in next few years.
I figured with their great reputation ( a co-worker strongly recommended them as well as web search) I'd be more at comfort letting a professional handle than myself.
I can't wait till Tuesday, the soonest I could schedule another appt with them.
I’m willing to wager your entire retirement account you aren’t down 50% in any vanguard managed money program this year or the last two . It’s possibly a cap gains distribution and the reconciliation will post Monday. It’s also a bit shameful to look once every 22 months
I feel pretty stupid for missing this until now but don't know that it would have made a difference since this happened the next month after I opened the account.
Your right though.
I did not make the selection, I discussed my goal of preserving my money with hope to make some gain over inflation without undue risk considering my age with thoughts of retirement in next few years.
I figured with their great reputation ( a co-worker strongly recommended them as well as web search) I'd be more at comfort letting a professional handle than myself.
I can't wait till Tuesday, the soonest I could schedule another appt with them.
Well, don't be like me. My tendency is to lean in, and I just want to EAT THEIR FACE. But don't do that. Let your stuff pay-off with their annual December pay-outs. Maybe you've got some other stuff that pays monthly or quarterly. Ok. Let it ride. Discuss changes YOU want made, once January rolls around. Maybe you still want them to make the selections, but you can be more specific, if you want to express something, anything.
Be aware that these days, the landscape has changed from decades ago. A portfolio with the lion's share in bonds won't grow the way you need it to, in order not to run out of money in retirement. 60 stocks and 40 bonds, given the current environment, might be a generally good marker for you, just a few or several years from retirement. You don't want ALL stocks, either.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,004,579 times
Reputation: 46171
Quote:
Originally Posted by outdoorman
I did not make the selection, I discussed my goal of preserving my money with hope to make some gain over inflation without undue risk considering my age with thoughts of retirement in next few years. I figured with their great reputation ( a co-worker strongly recommended them as well as web search) I'd be more at comfort letting a professional handle than myself.
I can't wait till Tuesday, the soonest I could schedule another appt with them.
What exactly was your idea / knowledge of their 'reputation'? (Specifically Vanguard)
While I've used some of their offerings for over 40 years, as well as various products / accounts / services. Not once have I considered them as personal investment advisors, (because I have not researched their performance or ability to do this specific service)... I only study the products that match my investment strategy.
To just turn your entire investment strategy over to a service to do that for you, you must have had extreme confidence in their abilities. I would be very diligent to understand how they performed to their benchmark (and how that parallels competitors following identical guidance). It's reasonable to expect they were following your explicit objectives. That is a tough order to begin a relationship, and needs very close communication, understanding, reporting. Be prepared to track your monthly statements, and why your concerns lapsed.
What investment changes did they make? And how much of your account churned?
Did they continue to churn?, or did they make a one-time position change (based on the expression of your objectives)?
It's very easy to see this magnitude of loss (or gain) if you did a 100% change of investment strategy within a month or two.
That's very dramatic. (Expect dramatic change +/-)
What's your expected resolution / next steps?. (That is far more important than anticipating your upcoming conference call)
Set yourself up for success, not contention, stress, indecision. (And potential for further disappointment).
There are many public resources for you to do your own homework and gathering and presenting performance as you had requested of them.
I'd want to be fully prepared for that call and meet your desired outcome.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,004,579 times
Reputation: 46171
Quote:
Originally Posted by outdoorman
I feel terrible in discovering the huge loss of value in my Vanguard Brokerage Acct.
I opened the account in Jan 2022 by transferring money from a saving account and have spoken with them periodically but never realized the loss until tonight.
Looking over the account performance chart shows that it happened the next month in Feb 2022 resulting in my losing about 50% of what I put in!!!!!!
...!
So... This was (1) 'savings acct' transferred?
Small % of your investable portfolio, that had been positioned as cash / savings/ CD type allocation?
You instructed them your intent was to 'preserve your capital investment ' ?
Communication matters (as does allocation and diversification of entire portfolio).
What's their share of you entire portfolio? 5%, 15%, 50%?
What time frame did you give them for needing access to the assets they are managing?
Wow! 50%? I'm wondering how that is possible. You should have invested it in money market. That's where my money has been parked since before you made your transaction. 5% yearly return isn't much, but better than a loss.
If I were you, I'd take all my money out of Vanguard and invest elsewhere. If they were foolish enough to take such a huge risk with your money, they don't deserve further business. I made a lot of money with Vanguard, but I always chose my own investments. I never answered my phone or replied to emails from the "personal advisor".
But I withdrew all my money from Vangard and invested it elsewhere (in money market funds) for a different reason. A few months ago they announced they would charge $25 per year to mail out paper statements. I found that to be ridiculous for someone like me who had a few million dollars invested with them and had been a customer for over 30 years.
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