DW and I have our assets assets at three places:
—TIAA since 1977: mediocre service, but a unique/outstanding investment option—-the Guaranteed Account, which has been our rock and enabled us to sleep soundly even when the tech bubble burst circa 2000 and the economy nearly collapsed in 2008.
—Fidelity since 1987: excellent phone, in-person, and online service; in our early years with the company, they had several solid but overpriced funds with “star” managers, but now, thanks to competitive pressure, they offer plenty of low-fee, broad-based index funds, which is what we prefer.
—Vanguard since 1990: adequate service and website, lousy and poorly designed statements (compared to Fidelity’s, which are excellent); best, most consistent, and rational line-up of funds, both index and active (e.g., Wellington and many others); more and better “value” options than Fidelity (Fidelity’s lineup has always tilted “growth”); investment philosophy that’s consistent with ours. (Oh, and great money market rates!)
We like all three and have had very few significant complaints about any of them over the past 30-40 years. Feel very lucky to have worked for employers who gave us access to TIAA. And feel loyal to Fidelity for their good service. And feel both loyal to and grateful for all we have learned and profited from what John Bogle did. He not only created Vanguard but also made Fidelity a better company. Fidelity didn’t start offering index funds and lowering fees because it wanted to. It did so because it had to. Thank you for that, John Bogle.
You can’t go wrong with either Fidelity or Vanguard. Both excellent.
—TIAA since 1977: mediocre service, but a unique/outstanding investment option—-the Guaranteed Account, which has been our rock and enabled us to sleep soundly even when the tech bubble burst circa 2000 and the economy nearly collapsed in 2008.
—Fidelity since 1987: excellent phone, in-person, and online service; in our early years with the company, they had several solid but overpriced funds with “star” managers, but now, thanks to competitive pressure, they offer plenty of low-fee, broad-based index funds, which is what we prefer.
—Vanguard since 1990: adequate service and website, lousy and poorly designed statements (compared to Fidelity’s, which are excellent); best, most consistent, and rational line-up of funds, both index and active (e.g., Wellington and many others); more and better “value” options than Fidelity (Fidelity’s lineup has always tilted “growth”); investment philosophy that’s consistent with ours. (Oh, and great money market rates!)
We like all three and have had very few significant complaints about any of them over the past 30-40 years. Feel very lucky to have worked for employers who gave us access to TIAA. And feel loyal to Fidelity for their good service. And feel both loyal to and grateful for all we have learned and profited from what John Bogle did. He not only created Vanguard but also made Fidelity a better company. Fidelity didn’t start offering index funds and lowering fees because it wanted to. It did so because it had to. Thank you for that, John Bogle.
You can’t go wrong with either Fidelity or Vanguard. Both excellent.
Statistics: Posted by aquinas — Fri Jun 14, 2024 1:37 am — Replies 126 — Views 11667