Vanguard Reviews

by 海外華人173+

I can not agree more with all the 1 star reviews from around Nov to Dec 2021, this new interface they have is very lacking. Honestly Vanguard before was kind of outdated looking, but it was very robust. If you’re a daily user like me, all the features you needed are there.

The nicest thing about the old version was there’s always a filter button to customize whatever you’re looking at. Whether you’re looking at the cost basis, performance returns, transactions history, you can always filter it to show by fund(s), by account(s), or whatever custom way you want. You can do year to date, month to day, any random date range. YOU CAN’T DO THAT IN THE NEW UPDATE.

I get they were trying to add a “modern” look to Vanguard and I applaud them for trying but it’s missing some really basic feature. I miss being able to just use Vanguard for a lot of my research instead of having to log into the website just to be able to filter for basic information like dividends for the year only for non-retirement accounts. If the tech team at this app even cares about these reviews , please please please either give the customers the option to switch back to the old version while they iron out the new look or at the very least just add back the filter button to transaction history.

by Krano4

I love this app, and I’ve used Vanguard for years, but this most recent update is really a step in the wrong direction. For reference I’m a 27 year old software engineer. This is my wheelhouse. Buying funds has been made more complicated. I used to be able to buy mutual funds straight from the bank, but now I have to buy into a settlement fund, wait for the funds to be available, then buy mutual fund shares from the settlement account. What was a one step process is now a multi step process over days. Depositing money into a brokerage account vs an IRA are separate buttons, but withdrawing from either is the same button. This is not intuitive and caused me to deposit into the wrong account, which I had to do because I tried to buy funds like normal but it pulled from an empty settlement account instead of my bank. I’ve only had problems since the update, but never had a complaint before. I would really love a rollback. That layout was much simpler and more intuitive.

by Deepestspace

I have been shocked at how unfinished this latest version of this app app actually is. I made the mistake of installing on both my phone and iPad. Fortunately for the iPad, Vanguard was installed separately from the existing one so I have my earlier version to use. Otherwise, I would not have access to most functions on my app. For example, on the latest version, attempting a transaction stopped me at every turn. First, of all the tax-advantaged and non- plans I have, only a Roth and Rollover account show up. Further, as a test to trying a transaction on those, Vanguard doesn’t accept my password - the one I used to sign into Vanguard . As it stands now, I’m not able to do anything in Vanguard aside from looking at balances. This would have been a real problem had I not been able to retain the earlier version on my iPad. I’m screwed on my phone. This didn’t seem ready even as an early version.

by Ewomeldorf

When this app came out with the beacon test app to show what their plans to update Vanguard to, I made sure to try it out and provide feedback. The feedback; it’s near useless. The previous version that, I currently have, allows you to do so much more with managing accounts. It’s not the most attractive app, but it works well and basically functions like a website. When using beacon it showed a huge downgrade in functionality and no purpose for an app, since you would have to go to the website through an internet browser to do your most productive portfolio management. Sadly despite seeing a significant portion of user providing this same feedback, this app went ahead with the update. I would recommend setting the this app website as a favorite in your favorite browser or link the website page as an “app” on your home screen rather than update or downloading this new app.

by DukeTX

I think this is the new app for this app but it seems like it went a few steps backwards. I’ve searched the apple App Store but don’t see any other options. I think I missed the instructions or notice about the new app. I have outside accounts setup and many of them have not updated since April and July 2021. There is no way to manage them to have them update or just remove them. If you click on them you get a “coming soon” message. Wonder when that might be? Does not help to show outside account info that is so old. Viewing your positions is not good. I’m not sure who designed this but it does not feel like it was someone that is an investor. I muddle my way around and eventually find what I need but could be much better. Hopefully they will add to it to make better. I’ve used this app for many years and feel Vanguard does not represent the company well.

by Was Hopeful

An app that has less functionality than the previous one, by definition, is not a replacement for the previous app. The new app does less, shows less, and is less than the previous version. I’d rather have an app that was just a portal to the web site than what this app has just released. I hope your marketing department is satisfied because your users will not be satisfied. Update: I am so tired of waiting for Vanguard to catch up to the previous app’s capabilities. The only reason I have to wait is because of this app’s arbitrary and capricious decision to discontinue the old app before matching the functionality provided by the old app. No, I’m not going to change brokers just because of Vanguard but my recommendation to potential this app customers will absolutely include the painful app experience and I will tell them to not use this app if a good mobile experience is important to them.

by Matt607

Let me start with saying that this app is a great company. However, this Desaster with the new app could probably have been prevented. I was exited when I got invited to review the beta version and provide ongoing feedback more than a year ago. My first feedback was „where are all the features that give me a deeper insight into how my investments are doing“? All the subsequent versions I ever looked at all had the same shortcomings and I finally got tired of giving feedback. At one point I even stopped looking at them as it was hard to find any new functionality. Now Vanguard has been released without that functionality which means my feedback was ignored. I think that a this app Investor/app user has a stronger focus on actual value provided by Vanguard than the average customer of any of the other investment firms. Changing the appearance at the expense of functionality does not provide any meaningful value in my opinion.

by Dherring256

I have been with this app for multiple years and used Vanguard to make transactions. The old app was not “techy and flashy” but you had incredibly simple access to everything that you would possibly want to see.

THIS NEW UPDATE IS TERRIBLE. You cannot do any research whatsoever on any index fund, mutual fund, or ETF. It’s nearly impossible to see any movement in your accounts other than 1 year or YTD. There are countless other things that were removed from Vanguard that investors NEED to see! Performance data for the S&P500? Good luck finding it! I am completely blown away about how awful this update was and how it was allowed to be pushed out to all of their users. It’s almost to the point where I want to rollover all of my accounts into a different brokerage.

Standing by for an adequate update. I will be sure to update my review when that time comes. If not, I will 100% be looking into other investment platforms in the near future.

by Biggd963

Vanguard seriously has me considering other brokerages. It reports incorrect data! I had a pending purchase and for the next 3 days it said I had an “Investment Return” of that same amount. Um that’s not an investment return that’s a pending purchase that hasn’t yet settled. Thankfully the desktop version of the site reports the data correctly!

The mobile app is dated, not optimized for mobile and needs the entire UX to be revamped. Way too much effort to make a deposit or contribute more to the particular funds I’m holding.

As a millennial, I value a good mobile experience and don’t want to be strapped to a desktop to manage my finances. Please look at your competition in this area and adapt accordingly. I’m a big fan of your funds but Fidelity is looking pretty attractive with the modern app/website and zero cost funds. Really considering jumping ship here. Too much competition in this space to lag behind so badly. Heck even Betterment and WealthFront have better apps and they’re the new kids on the block.

by Matt12321312312

I have been a loyal this app customer for 20 years. Have 15 different accounts here ranging from IRA, 401k rollovers, taxable accounts, kids accounts etc. Needless to say I have a significant amount of money invested at this app and that makes it very sticky. However their mobile experience is so horrible I might need to switch over it. I actually think the prior app was not great either, but at least it worked. It was bad when compared to peers like Schwab, where I also have an account through my work. But the new app is utterly and completely useless. It’s like they have purposefully tried to dumb it down any more. An investment app should be utilitarian. You log on and do your business. That business should be fast, logical and not prone to guessing how to do something. None of this describes this this app app. this app, you need to fix this soon or you’re going to bleed customers.

by NotHappyWithVanguard

It’s clear this app has fallen way behind on tech and it shows with their app, site and endless technical difficulties during account creation. Vanguard is unintuitive and requires password + 2-factor even after logging in with Face ID for many features. Inaccurate/inconsistent stats - 3 different amounts for total gains in 3 different sections of Vanguard . I’m told Beacon app won’t be available for trust accounts. The site is from the 90s and throws you through loops and dead ends. Trying to create an account online can lead to an error message with no details which requires a phone call to fix. My husband didn’t receive his trust account application after I DocuSigned mine during a call and we had to call again to redo the entire process. His original application shows up a month later and we have a good laugh. Using my SSN as a trust EIN (common practice) somehow broke the e-delivery setup and we received tons of snail mail - another 30+ minute call. No chat and closed weekends so everything requires long phone call during the week. I’m worried about technical difficulties when pulling out our money later. My other brokerages (Fidelity, Betterment, Charles Schwab) can run circles around this. Please get out of 1995 and catch up.

by I81uate12

A ZERO rating would be more fitting. I can’t think of it getting worse. It can only get better. I would give the old app a 4.7 if I was asked. There are no choices for research, only way to see what u paid for different prices of same stock is to act like your selling the stock. There is no way to weight ur stocks from most invested to least. Only which is up/down the most. If I am able to buy or sell a stick I have to log off and log back on or the stock can’t give info. Now I can get on/open Vanguard w my password but when I’m trying to buy something it stated I have entered wrong password. Above isn’t even the worse part. In the last week it has caused trading violations to my account. I used the old app since 2017 with out one violations some how I have received 2 in last 2 weeks & if it gives me one more I will not be able to trade for 90 days. If they go back to the old app consider it. I will give a good review if or when they fix it. Otherwise if you want to trade using Vanguard consider another brokerage.

by Ndupchurch

I never thought I would be one of those people who threatens to switch companies because I didn’t like the technology, but In the case of this recent update to Vanguard , I have no choice! They’ve literally taken away all of the functionality that was useful in the previous version. Whoever gave the green light to release Vanguard update needs to be sent packing. This will lose them business. If I don’t hear about some radical changes to this mobile app coming down the pipe asap I am transferring everything out, and I would assume a lot of people will do the same. The world of financial services is moving towards faster, easier, user friendly, and more functional platforms. They had that in the past and have gone in the complete opposite direction with this update. FYI I am writing this a week after I updated to the new version because I wanted to give it a chance. The more I look at it the more I realize is missing from the previous version and the more disappointed it get. Terrible decision!

by Riche33

I knew this terrible update was coming eventually but thankfully I received a notification from a Facebook group that the old version of Vanguard was retired. I quickly turned off automatic app updates on iPhone so i could keep my old beloved version of Vanguard . It is still working and I refuse to update to the new app which removed all of the functionality that I loved in the old one. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to use this version.
this app, please allow customers the ability to choose which interface they use.
As a mutual company, this app operates at cost and any cost savings is passed along to the shareholders. Did Vanguard update cost more than maintaining the old app? I hope not because That cost comes straight out of our funds. Is it possible this change was made to save money vs the old app? Either way, please honor the legacy of the late, great Jack Bogle and do not turn this app in to any of the modern investment management companies. We don’t use this app for its slick user interfaces or snazzy trading features. We use this app because they always act in their shareholders best interest.

by New Paris Resident

First, a piece of Advice to current this app App users: Do not upgrade to Version 12.x! If you are fortunate enough to still have V11.x still installed on your iPhone or iPad., stick with it. One would expect a bit of discomfort that accompanies a change in user interface with a new major release. This discomfort should disappear as one learns to navigate the new UI. Sadly, this is not true with the latest version of this app’s App. Instead, the UI now presents the scant information it makes available in something akin to a visual jungle. So information retrieval that formerly took a quick glance at a page now takes an endless series of page scrolls and some serious visual decoding to extract the information sought. To the design team responsible for this version, please learn more about the visual display of technical information. It is not the same as advertising. To this app, please provide a means to allow your customers (who include loyal, long-term partners) a means to revert back to the former App version. This latest version makes doing business with this app inconvenient at best and better described as difficult. Please recognize that this latest upgrade is a failure.

by Tremolux66

Vanguard has been generally useful but quite limited (I’m using it with an employer-sponsored retirement plan); its main value has been to check my account balance.

I have Touch ID enabled and it has worked well until recently. Now, when I login with Touch ID, Vanguard shows me as logged-in but the screen has a (tiny) user id/password prompt on it, and I have to re-authenticate before I can do anything. I never remember my password for this account so I look it up which requires – wait for it – Touch ID. If this is supposed to be multi-factor authentication, then Vanguard designers are clearly not familiar with the concept. It adds *nothing* to security and it’s annoying to deal with. If this is an employer-mandated change, then they need to bone up on MFA. If there’s a fix (e.g., unset or improperly-set option), I have yet to find it.

The only upside is that now I can (e.g.) see messages without going through the annoying id/password authentication a second time. Other than that, it’s just a pain.

by Maxbatt

I needed to move money out of this app, so I decided to try, but was told my account was locked due to an address confirmation issue. I the tried to change my address, but their instructions were wrong: for example referring to menu items that weren’t even in Vanguard . I successfully was able to change it on web, but was *then* told there was another hold for five days, because I had changed my address.

Why wasn’t I notified when this app originally encountered an address problem? I really despise institutions that throw up unexpected roadblocks when trying to withdraw money, and this was actually important that I had quick access to that money.

Additionally, the instructions snafu and other items within Vanguard are off. Vanguard feels over-featured and complicated, yet at the same time, somehow lacks attention to detail from a user experience perspective. The UI looks dated. I think this app needs to invest more into modernizing and simplifying their digital experiences to make sure the basics all work well, which is not currently the case.

by Cesar014

this app has done a tremendous job in working to stay a leader and they’re effort to modernize Vanguard deserves respect. With that, I live mobile. So I really appreciated all the info in the older app style which provided a lot more information similar to the website. Now I find myself logging into the website on my mobile device to access information that was left out of Vanguard redesign, such as messages, research, breakouts of each investment and parts of those investment and how they’re individually performing. I also find myself scrolling alot in the new app due to the large picture and graphs. My largest feedback would be find a way to bring all the features from the website back into Vanguard so I stop looking at Vanguard , then having to follow up logging into the website on my mobile device to see the rest.

by Bigestfan12345

I like this app but part of what I loved about it is seeing the growth historically and to do that, it would be good to see contributions/transaction history as well. While historical returns are on here (only in increments provided), it would be nice to see historical contributions/transactions and I can currently only see 2021 and 2022 contributions; given 2021 tax filings aren’t due, it’s basically as if you only have current year contributions on here. It seems simple but all the more reason I’m not sure why this was removed in the new version. If it’s on here somewhere, it’s not an intuitive app and I’m missing it although I don’t think I am. That’s my biggest issue but given I use Vanguard to see balance, historical returns, and contributions, it’s missing 1/3 of what it used to have and even analyzing returns is just a snapshot (I’d suggest adding in a graph with a slider to show balance AND returns, similar to what you have for balance right now). I worked for a private firm who had better analytics on my retirement fund than this app has and this is their sole business function. I’ll continue to use them but Vanguard needs work.

by Munchiesbro

After the new revamp of their app, it is such a more elegant experience. I’m a part of the younger group of investors (18-25), so I was introduced to a lot of the financial world via Robinhood.

Through this update, this gives a much better experience through navigation, ease, and appearance. This is important because it attracts more people like me (younger groups) who are looking to get ahead in life or simply try and be more financially sound.

At the end of the day, if financial brokerages like this app wants to keep up with newer kids on the block (Webull and Robinhood) continue to advance the UI/UX, tech, and ease because we’re the ones who will be customers for the next 60+ years!

by VirtualJB

Vanguard is one of the worst apps I have installed on my smartphone: in a much earlier update they activated the iPhone Touch feature to log on, which works well. However, in a glaring error of shortsightedness, when you go to open your messages, you are not given a chance to again use the touch feature, but asked to enter the password... if you are going to require a password anywhere else in Vanguard , implement the touch feature across the board! Also, this week there has been a message stating that Vanguard will not be available “this weekend”... very, very poor customer service! What exact hours are they talking about? 12 am Saturday to 12 am Monday.? Vanguard is not being managed very well by this app IT folks!

by JRollins87

FaceID doesn’t work. Well, sometimes it does, other times it says it works only to take me back to a login screen. On my iPhone 8, I had the same issues with that. It also took me to a page asking to update my info.. I hit submit every single time I logged in (roughly 200 times) but never registered.

But the weird thing I’ve noticed is that it takes me to a login screen but if I click on the top left menu, I can go to other parts of Vanguard (contributions, investments, etc.) I just have to manually log in to see how much I have in my 401k.

I have the settings set up to remember my login name, it doesn’t remember. I also have it set up to allow me to stay logged in while I switch between apps. Nope, that doesn’t work either.

Fix the basic issues of just being able to log in quickly and I would bump them up to 3 stars. From there, Vanguard design is still stuck in 2008. It’s time to hire some young nerdy millennials. Give them 5 days and they will have a better functioning app that what is currently available.

by Brian323

First off, how is the overall rating for Vanguard 4.8 out of 5? I scrolled from the most recent reviews to 3 years and I see a ton of 1 and 2 star reviews.

Now on to my review- I’ve only used Vanguard a few days and I find it horrible. Swiping notifications or bring up a calculator will log you out of Vanguard . This is very frustrating as it forces me to start over whatever I am doing. And I also get random error messages whenever I navigate Vanguard . These errors and messages occur when I log in or when I try to buy stocks, etc. Just repeating the same action usually works, but this just proves how buggy Vanguard is.

Does this app now have a QA team? How can Vanguard be this bad? Why haven’t these bugs been fixed as I see the same issues in reviews over and over. How is Vanguard rated so high overall?

by Somerandomdudewithmoney

So many disappointments.
Slow to log in. It “thinks” for an amazingly long time before it realizes you have Touch ID enabled. Then after it authenticates your ID, it thinks again before it gets to the default screen. Then it thinks again while it loads your balance. The convenience (if you can even call it that) stops there; just about anything else you want to do requires you to manually log in with your user id and password in what is quite obviously a redirection to their mobile website. This is not really a app; it’s more like an account balance checking device that will redirect you to their mobile website.
I don’t know how many billions of dollars they manage, but I’d assume with the money they make off of it, they’d be able to afford to actually develop a real app that works and has some features.

by Bob A Man

Requires password to read communications from this app even after unlocking app with FaceID. Why would this app allow me to trade based on FaceID but not read my messages? Doesn’t make sense. App does not allow trading certain types of securities such as T-Bills. You have to go to their website for that. Interface is clumsy. If you go to transaction history and try to click on the down arrow to show more transactions it often takes you to detail about the last shown transaction instead. There is no way to view an aggregated picture of holdings in all your this app accounts - you have to look through each one individually (eg if you hold the same ETF in several accounts there’s no way to look at your total exposure to that ETF without opening each account and scrolling through it).

by J. Duaine

Switched over from Schwab to this app recently from all the great things I’ve heard about them as a brokerage, and while much of that is true, their app is really lacking. It asks for you to input password multiple times once you’ve already logged in (not very efficient), and the layout itself isn’t very appealing, at least in comparison to its competitors. If you are going to trade, I recommend doing so on the computer if you can, and just using Vanguard to check your data occasionally. At least, until they give this thing a modern makeover.

by JW12Ace

This is my 3rd call. I set up a Roth account and you took my money. Couldn’t log on. I was told my personal account got merged to an employer account that was closed 25 years ago. 1st call I got call back if not fixed in 2-3 business days. 2nd call was yesterday I was told “it will be fixed today and we’ll contact you”. I never was contacted. I’m on the phone right now (on hold again). Just want other members to know what a glitch does to your consumer service.

by Jamzporsche911

I was recommended to this app Mutual fund company by a good friend of mine back in 1985 when I was 34 years old, that’s when I learned the fundamentals of saving and investing money for the long term, I stayed on course. I follow that model, I didn’t react to market swings and I only invested what I could afford. I stayed consistent and kept my portfolio balanced according to my risk tolerance, rebalanced slightly when I needed to with the help of a this app financial advisor, but most important I stayed true to my goals, and I succeeded in building a nice retirement for myself. I would Recommend any one of my family members to this app, they are simply the best way to save and invest money for your goals.

Thank you this app so so much.

James, 67 years old.

by MountainMan71

I am so happy with this app. I love the straightforward simplicity and low cost of its funds. Everything is quality. Vanguard has gotten better to the point where I can do almost anything I want on my phone or iPad. For major analysis and transactions, I still prefer to log in with my computer. But the ability to see prices/values, portfolio analysis, and performance, or just to look up a quick number on Vanguard is great.

by Longdistance45

I will forever be a fan and patron of this app. There structure from the CEO down is one of transparency, low fees, and returns for their investors. I love the simplicity of all their funds, website, and app. I think Vanguard is far better than many other apps I have such as betterment and fidelity. I saw one complaint about too much Security, which in today’s world when equifax and uber get hacked and lose tons of private data, I truly appreciate so I think that person needs to understand the importance of protecting themselves. this app will forever be my investment firm of choice

by A Happy Customer Named Rick

John Bogle was right when he said to put your money in the this app 500 Index fund and do not look at it much. Low cost investing for clients in world class funds managed by some of the best in the business is a treat. Before I got into this app, I put my broker managed money head to head virtually against 5 this app funds. this app funds won by 5%. I moved. I sleep well, get help if I ask, and no one bothers me. And I do as well if not better than friends still with their brokers, paying 1% for the privilege of meeting 2 or 4 times a year. You make your choices, and the whiz kids behind the scenes go to work for you.

by Retieed N Luvin It

It would be very helpful if you could add a screen where both the balances of each fund and the performance of each fund on a more than daily basis are on one screen. As it is now, I have to get my balances per fund with the daily price change and daily percentage increase on one screen, which tells me nothing as far as long-term planning. Then I have to go to another screen to see what the fund did on a long-term basis, which includes year-to-date performance. If you could put fund balances and ytd, 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year performance on one screen, it would make investment decisions much easier.

by Allaiya

I appreciate being able to easily view my investments on my phone. A few other companies still don't even offer an app.
While it seems some others have had problems, so far Vanguard has worked great for me since I've downloaded it over a year ago. TouchID is very convenient as well and I haven't had any problems. Layout and UI is nice and makes it easy to use/view.