VANGUARD PERSONAL ADVISOR®

Frequently asked questions

Learning the basics

Personal Advisor is our premium advice and money management service. To be eligible, you must have one of the following:

 

  • $250,000 or more in your employer-sponsored retirement plan at Vanguard.
  • $50,000 or more in IRAs and taxable accounts—owned individually or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship—at Vanguard.
  • $250,000 total among your employer-sponsored retirement plan, IRAs, and taxable accounts—owned individually or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship—at Vanguard.

You must also:

 

  • Be in a retirement plan that offers Personal Advisor.
  • Be a U.S. resident or have an APO/FPO/DPO mailing address.
  • Not be a company insider or control person.
  • Not have money invested in a self-directed brokerage account in your employer's retirement plan.
  • Not be enrolled in Vanguard Digital Advisor.

Note: Other eligibility requirements may apply.

Personal Advisor might be a good fit for you if:

 

  • You want ongoing access to a financial advisor who's available to talk whenever you have questions about your money and financial goals.
  • You want a smart strategy to help with goals like funding your retirement, saving for college, buying a home, or starting a business.
  • You don't want to make your own investment decisions. You want someone else to keep an eye on your portfolio for you.
  • You find it tough to stick to a long-term plan or you react when markets are volatile.
  • You have complex financial decisions to make about things like Social Security, health care, or withdrawing your retirement savings. And you want help.
  • You believe in the power of diversification, low costs, and a long-term view.

Personal Advisor is not the right fit for you if you're looking for an advisor who will identify hot investment trends and actively trade to beat the market.

You'll be paired with a Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®) professional if you have a balance of at least $500,000 in your employer’s retirement plan or in other eligible Vanguard accounts. If your balance is below $500,000, you'll have access to an expert team of advisors.

Understanding fees

After you sign up, you’ll only pay about 0.30% of assets we manage for you each year. That's about $30 for every $10,000 in your portfolio (with a $250,000 minimum balance required in your retirement plan).1; 2

 

And the fees come out of your investment account automatically each quarter. So you’ll never pay out of pocket.

The fee covers access to a financial advisor, your personal financial plan, and ongoing money management and advice. (This fee doesn’t include any costs of the funds you invest in—known as expense ratios. But we generally recommend using low-cost Vanguard funds.)

Vanguard revolutionized the financial industry by offering low-cost index funds and creating a unique corporate structure that puts investors first.3 And now we’ve done it again—this time with advice.

 

Our advice is fueled by sophisticated technology and our time-tested, index-based investment strategies. When you sign up, you’ll have access to the best thinking of Vanguard experts.

 

And because we have no hidden fees or agendas, you can trust us to answer only to you and the goals you set for your money. Simply put, our only goal is to keep you on track to reach the financial goals that are important to you.

Exploring all your options

Yes! Personal Advisor is our premium advice service that combines digital advice and money management with access to a human advisor. But you may also be eligible for these other services:

 

  • Vanguard Digital Advisor®. This high-tech advice and money management service is available entirely online. Just fill out an online profile and tell us about your financial goals. Then, we’ll create a custom plan and manage your money to help you reach those goals. You can access your plan and update your goals online anytime.
  • Vanguard Situational Advisor™. This advice-only service connects you with an advisor when you need one. You can get help with any financial situation—from buying a home to planning for retirement, and everything in between. We’ll give you advice that you can put into action.

Take a look at a side-by-side comparison of all our services.

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Whenever you invest, there's a chance you could lose the money.
Diversifying means having different types of investments. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll make a profit or that you won’t lose money.

1Actual costs vary. Personal Advisor will reduce your gross advisory fee by the amount of revenue (such as expense ratio rebates) that Vanguard (or a Vanguard affiliate) collects on your portfolio in order to calculate the net advisory fee. Personal Advisor’s annual net advisory fee is approximately 0.30% across your enrolled accounts for a typical investment portfolio, although your actual net fee will vary depending on the specific holdings in each enrolled account. Your net advisory fee can also vary by enrolled account type. Plan participants’ actual advisory fees will vary depending on your plan’s lineup and the revenue that Vanguard receives from those investments. Please see your plan fee disclosure notices for the applicable annual gross advisory fees that apply to your plan assets.

2To be eligible for Personal Advisor, you must have one of the following:

  • $250,000 or more in your employer-sponsored retirement plan at Vanguard.
  • $50,000 or more in IRAs and taxable accounts—owned individually or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship—at Vanguard.
  • $250,000 total among your employer-sponsored retirement plan, IRAs, and taxable accounts—owned individually or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship—at Vanguard.

Vanguard Digital Advisor's and Vanguard Personal Advisor’s services are provided solely by Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (VAI), a registered investment advisor. Please review the Vanguard Personal Advisor brochure for important details about these services. Vanguard Digital Advisor’s and Personal Advisor's financial planning tools provide projections and goal forecasts, which are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results.

Vanguard Situational Advisor is provided by Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (VAI), a registered investment advisor. Eligibility restrictions may apply.