Fidelity vs. Vanguard

[ScottB]

I've been using Vanguard now for about five years and am pretty happy.
Just don't forget your online password - or worse, when they make changes to the security of the site, I inevitably lose the password as well.
Otherwise, I really like them.
Haven't tried Fidelity, but we do now also have a TD Ameritrade account which we like a lot for our other stocks, etc.

Scott

 

[Brett Miller]

My Wife has her 401(k) at Fidelity and I have IRA's with Vanguard. I think it comes down to your preference of passive (Vanguard) vs. active (Fidelity) investing. I think at the end of the day you'll do well with either.

That said I have the bulk of my money with American Funds.

 

[Al]

It would be hard to beat Fidelitiy's 401K or their accounts in general. Although I confess that I don't have a Vanguard account.

As mentioned you can buy any fund other than Fidelity through them. Their representatives are top notch and you almost never need to wait. You can probably beat their trading fees on stocks, but probably as a frequent trader they would be competitive.

I have been with Fidelity for at least 30 years and on their website for at least 20.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

".......on their website for at least 20"
-------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, wow, wow.!

 

[Pablo]

Vanguard has lower fund fees.
Vanguard seems to be better for set and forget funds.
Vanguard seems to have more mature managers (perception)
Vanguard is better in the Index world

Fidelity has a wider selection of funds. (wider performance range, wider ability to diversify)
Fidelity seems to really have lower their fund fees. (Some are not better than Vanguard)
Fidelity has a top notch, inexpensive brokeage house with HUGE clout.
Fidelity's web site is better than BiTOG. I mean really the best in the business. Seamless transitions in my various accounts, and innovating new products constantly.

Comments?


Have at it. I feel like a good annual brawl

.

 

[XS650]

I can't find anything there to disagree with. I use both and prefer Vanguard for the reasons you gave.

I did get steered into some bonds I shouldn't have bought by a Fidelity advisor about 10 years ago, but that was just one person at Fidelity.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:
".......on their website for at least 20"
-------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, wow, wow.!

---

Years that is.

 

[pitzel]

20 years on the website? So you had a web browser in 1986 (cough, **, cough)?

Vanguard is a pretty hard outfit to beat cost-wise, although index funds can be intrinsically less tax efficient than ETFs if one is adopting an indexing approach in a taxable account.

 

[XS650]

BITOG software went pitbill on me, had to kill the post.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by pitzel:
20 years on the website? So you had a web browser in 1986 (cough, **, cough)?

Vanguard is a pretty hard outfit to beat cost-wise, although index funds can be intrinsically less tax efficient than ETFs if one is adopting an indexing approach in a taxable account.

---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_browser

It's easy to get the years mixed up as we get older... [Big Grin]

1988 is about the time I went online at home. I also remember tracking the stock market at work through some text based service using my dial up account through a VT-100 terminal hooked to some VAX computers in a building about 2 miles away. Our building connection to the VAX computers was one 9600 baud line at first.

IIRC, I had a Netcom dial-up shell account and a 2400 baud modem at home.

[ July 30, 2006, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: XS650 ]

 

[Pablo]

Now that we have established Al is older than dirt but can't remember shoot:

phat phingers pablo typed:

quote:

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Fidelity seems to really have lower their fund fees. (Some are not better than Vanguard)
Fidelity has a top notch, inexpensive brokeage house with HUGE clout.

---

This actually should read (caps added to show error corrections):

Fidelity seems to really have lowerED their fund fees. (Some are noW better than Vanguard)
Fidelity has a top notch, inexpensive brokeRage house with HUGE clout.

FWIW I was surfing the web in about 94-95, IIRC. Don't think there was a Fidelity site until 1996??? Vanguard, relatively speaking, still doesn't have much of a web site, IMHO. Worse is the Scudder DWS site - wife has one account there. Yikes. Sometimes you wonder if you can get to the money.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo:

FWIW I was surfing the web in about 94-95, IIRC. Don't think there was a Fidelity site until 1996??? Vanguard, relatively speaking, still doesn't have much of a web site, IMHO. Worse is the Scudder DWS site - wife has one account there. Yikes. Sometimes you wonder if you can get to the money.

---

Your memory is pretty good.

Here's an article mentioning that Fidelity was going to start online trading in late 1996.

IIRC, they had a minimal site before that, but no online trading.

 

[pscholte]

I have experience with many, many mutual funds, some names you no doubt know and some you may not, and I believe for NO LOAD funds, Fidelity is about as good as it gets. I say that based on the range of funds they offer, their fund expenses, and their performance. They have some areas where they are not sterling (e.g. Precious Metals) but the ease with which you can move from one fund to another if one goes into a period of extended underperformance, makes that a moot point for me. Being a Europhile, I just wish we had access to some of the funds that Fidelity International sells in Europe but cannot sell in the US. Vanguard has a great reputation and a large fund selection but I just have never been able to "hook up" with them in a way that makes me want to stay. Another company I really like from a shareholder friendly perspective is Dodge and Cox, but two of their best funds are closed (they only have four).

 

[rjundi]

I don't really think you can make a blanket statement statement about a fund company. Each has 1-2 stars and the rest hom-hum to losers. Why not take the best from each?

 

[Pablo]

Of course you are correct rjundi - and in reality you can use both.

 

[pscholte]

Use them BOTH? BRILLIANT!