Airlines and hotels assign elite status to their customers based on how much business the customers do with them. They give you Platinum, Gold, Diamond, Executive, and other nice-sounding names. You get small incentives to make you feel special, such as priority boarding, late checkout, two bottles of water, and sometimes free upgrades.
Vanguard and Fidelity do the same. What difference do these service tiers really make?
Vanguard
Voyager
$50,000 invested in Vanguard funds and ETFs at Vanguard gets you the Voyager status. It qualifies you for the optional Personal Advisor Service — you pay 0.3% to have your accounts managed and your questions answered by a human advisor.
It’s a good milestone to hit if you want the Personal Advisor Service. Otherwise the Voyager status doesn’t do much. You get a different customer service phone number. Trading commission on Vanguard mutual funds and all stocks and ETFs is zero for everyone anyway.
Voyager Select
You get the Voyager Select status when you have $500,000 invested in Vanguard funds and ETFs. The highlight now is that you get another different customer service phone number, which supposedly puts you in touch with more experienced and maybe less busy customer service reps.
Flagship
At $1 million in Vanguard funds and ETFs, you get the Flagship status. You get access to a team of representatives for customer service.
Don’t mistake the Flagship rep for an advisor. The Flagship rep is still in the customer service role. Make sure you only ask the right type of questions. See The Right And Wrong Types of Questions For Customer Service.
If you are interested in actively managed funds, with Flagship status you can invest in closed funds that aren’t available to other customers. The notable closed funds are PRIMECAP, PRIMECAP Core, and Capital Opportunity funds, all of which are managed by PRIMECAP Management Company. All beat the market by a good margin, which is why they are closed. If these funds continue to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, being able to invest in them could be worth it. Of course that’s a big if.
Flagship Select
It takes $5 million in Vanguard funds and ETFs to become Flagship Select. You get more attention from Vanguard. You can have personal consultations with Vanguard experts.
You pay a lower service fee if you enroll in the Vanguard Personal Advisor Service. You can invest in the Institutional share class of some Vanguard funds with a slightly lower expense ratio.
Fidelity
Premium Services
Now we turn to Fidelity. When you have $250,000 at Fidelity, you get Premium Services status. Unlike Vanguard, all assets count, not just Fidelity funds.
You get a separate phone number for a group of more experienced and maybe less busy reps. If you get a debit card for your account, you can request to get the ATM fees reimbursed.
Private Client
With $1 million at Fidelity, you get Private Client status. Now you get an assigned rep and maybe free TurboTax. It’s a “maybe” for free TurboTax because Fidelity doesn’t officially say what makes you qualify for it. Some clients get it; some don’t.
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John says
Harry, to qualify for the Voyager Select status, do you need all $500,000 in Vanguard funds and ETFs in a single account type?
So if you have $250K in IRA, $100K in ROTH and $500K in taxable account; do you still receive Voyager Select status?
Harry Sit says
From Vanguard:
“We determine eligibility by aggregating assets of all qualifying accounts held by the investor and his or her immediate family members who reside at the same address, including investments in Vanguard mutual funds, Vanguard ETFs®, certain annuities through Vanguard, The Vanguard 529 Plan, and certain small-business accounts. Assets in employer-sponsored retirement plans for which Vanguard provides recordkeeping services may be included in determining eligibility if the investor also has a personal account holding Vanguard mutual funds. Vanguard ETFs and Vanguard mutual funds held in a Vanguard Brokerage Account are also included when determining a household’s eligibility; other assets held in a brokerage account are not.”
Dividend Growth Investor says
If you have over $250,000 in assets in Fidelity, I believe your HSA would not incur any fees and you can possibly purchase the cheapest funds ( in your option).
Congratulations on achieving FI. I do things a little differently that you, but nevertheless I still find your story and site very interesting.
Do you plan to just call it quits in a couple of years on the site front, or just keep writing?
Harry Sit says
I will keep writing. There’s always something new in managing one’s money.
kycats75 says
Take careful note of that comment regarding Vanguard, “other assets held in a brokerage account are not [included].”
A few years back, I was a Flagship customer, then Vanguard notified me that I no longer met the qualifications. Turns out they didn’t count a buttload of stocks I held in a brokerage account. Silly me, I thought that Vanguard Brokerage was part of Vanguard.
I opened an account at Schwab, transferred the stocks, and have been far happier with their banking services than I ever was with Vanguard’s. Don’t get me wrong, I love Vanguard mutual funds and own several, some held at Vanguard, some at Fidelity. I still have accounts at Vanguard and highly recommend the company, but their banking services don’t compare with Schwab. The accounts I have at Vanguard are just a lot smaller now.
I’ve never understood why they wanted that.
Craig says
I believe Vanguard has discontinued free Turbo-Tax for Flagship clients. Disappointing.
Harry Sit says
Correct. I updated the article.
Evan says
I have my Brokerage and Roth IRA with T Rowe Price for over 12 years and thought I’d share the privileges of their Select Client Services. I was a “Preferred” ($100K all accounts combined) about a decade ago and got free Moningstar membership ($199/year), I reached “Personal” level 4 years ago and got discounted Turbotax (I still had to pay some $30+ for Fed tax filing and paid full state tax filing). I should make it to “Enhanced Personal” ($1 mil) next year and TRP will throw in an additional free Wall Street Journal online subscription ($348/year). Their Advisory Planning Services (annual consultation with an advisor) is free if you have above $500K, otherwise it’s $250 per consultation.
Calipso says
Hello,
Is Fidelity Premium Service free ? are there any fees ?
Harry Sit says
Free and no fees beyond normal service fees charged to any other customer.
Eugene J. Fowler says
Thank you for the listing on your web page. You have a good looking article!
Allan says
Vanguard Flagship Select has a $5 million minimum now.
Dr. P says
Unfortunately, that’s all they have anymore. I was just below that level there, and they’ve all but “blown me” off completely. NOT a good way to induce people to move more assets to them. And I was very low-maintenance, having had accounts there since the mid-1980s when Jack Bogle still ran things (the RIGHT way)! Lately have been whittling down to low 7-figs and moving funds over to both Schwab and Fidelity, with some at Interactive Brokers too. Will eventually have bare minimum at VG — they have really gone downhill with customer service, although some of their funds are still decent.