Why Vanguard is too Big: Part V: How You're Being Forgotten

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I’m not trying to be unfair to Vanguard, or other companies with airplane-hangar-sized call centers, but nowadays you tend to feel like a number. You feel like what’s more important to the big guys is telling you how many assets they have under management. It’s in the trillions. How does that help you? It doesn’t.

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It also doesn’t help when the phone rep you’re speaking with is either fresh out of college or is worth a fraction of what you’ve been able to save over a lifetime of work. There tends to be some value in working with someone who has actually made some money, don’t you think? It does.

When it comes to your money, you can’t afford to be lost in the shuffle. It’s too bad Vanguard has turned out the way it has. Some of investing’s best minds—champions for the little guy, like Vanguard founder Jack Bogle (read more about him in the links below)—are the reason for the firm’s success. They are nearly forgotten in today’s “assets under management” focused world.

I cringe when I read about retirees using $50k (a heck of a lot of money when they were actually working) to play the market. I never like the word “play” in the same sentence as the word “investing.” There are better things to do with your time.

Remember, as Charles Ellis, investment consultant, former chair of the board of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, and former director of The Vanguard Group wrote in his book Winning the Loser’s Game: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing:

Even though most investors see their work as active, assertive, and on the offensive, the reality is and should be that stock and bond investing alike are primarily a defensive process. The great secret of success in long-term investing is to avoid serious losses. The saddest chapters in the long history of investing are tales about investors who suffered serious losses they brought on themselves by trying too hard or by succumbing to greed.

Action Line: Isn’t it time you seek the investment counsel you thought you were signing up for? That’s not what you’re getting because you’re forgotten—just another number in the asset gathering machine. Allow me to help you. I’d love to talk to you.

Read more about Why Vanguard is Too Big here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.