Vanguard fees explained

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Overview of Vanguard fees and charges

When trading or investing at an online broker, fees can have a big impact on your results, so it's good to know what kind of charges you'll be facing and how these compare to fees at other brokers.

If fees are your top concern, Vanguard is a good choice, as it has low fees in general. Check our toplist for cheaper brokers.

I found Vanguard's trading fees fairly low

Edith Balázs

Regulation • Fighting Scams • Safety

I've personally tested dozens of global brokers, carefully looking at their fees not just on their website but also in the course of live trading. Here's how Vanguard fared:

Vanguard charges low fees for trading stocks and ETFs.
There is no inactivity fee even if you leave your account idle for a long time.
The basic withdrawal fee is $0, but some transactions may cost more.
Read our full review of Vanguard for info on safety, trading platforms and funding.

Vanguard fees at a glance
Assets	Fee level	Fee terms
US stock fee	Low	Commission-free
EURUSD fee	-	FX not available
US tech fund fee	Average	$20 per trade if investment is less than $500k, but Vanguard funds and 3000 other funds are free
Inactivity fee	Low	No inactivity fee

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The fee structure is transparent. Some fees are charged depending on the amount of assets held at Vanguard.

Commission-free stock and ETF trading

Vanguard stock and ETF fees by market
	Vanguard Vanguard	J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing	Ally Invest Ally Invest
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$0.0 Commission-free	$0.0 $0 per trade for US listed stocks. Foreign equity has a 0.20% commission.	$0.0 Free stock and ETF trading for stocks priced above $2, otherwise $4.95 commission plus $0.1 per share

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Stock Fee Calculator

Confused about fees? Use this tool to see what the commission fee of a specific stock trade would be at Vanguard. To check and compare fees at other brokers, go to our main Fee calculator page.

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High margin rates

Vanguard's margin rate is volume-tiered. It applies a base rate of 11% plus a premium, depending on the financed amount. The base rate is set at Vanguard's discretion.

Vanguard annual margin rates
	Vanguard Vanguard	J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing	Ally Invest Ally Invest
USD margin rate	13.8% Tiered markup based on your debit balance	10.1% SOFR + 4.75% for balances under $25k	13.0% Tiered margin rates depending on your account balance. 13% for margin balance under $10k.

Vanguard annual margin rate tiers
Debit balance	Rate%	Base rate + / -
Under $19,999	13.50%	Base rate + 2.50%
$20,000 - $49,999	13.00%	Base rate + 2.00%
$50,000 - $99,999	12.50%	Base rate + 1.50%
$100,000 - $249,999	12.00%	Base rate + 1.00%
$250,000 - $499,999	11.50%	Base rate + 0.50%
$500,000 - $999,999	10.25%	Base rate - 0.75%

Note: For balances of $1 million or above, margin rates are available on request.

Low options commission

The fee is $1 per contract. Those holding at least $1 million in Vanguard funds or ETFs may be eligible for some free trades.

Vanguard stock index options commission
	Vanguard Vanguard	J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing	Ally Invest Ally Invest
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$10.0 Under $1 million investment, $0 flat fee plus $1 per contract	$6.5 $0.65 per contract	$5.0 $0.5 fee per contract

No inactivity fee, no withdrawal fee

It charges no inactivity or account fees if you opt for online paperwork.

Vanguard inactivity, withdrawal and other fees
Broker	Inactivity fee	Withdrawal fee
Vanguard		$0
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing		$0
Ally Invest		$0

Other commissions and fees

You can find Vanguard's fees for other asset classes below. Click 'Show more' for details.

Average mutual fund commission

Vanguard does not charge a commission for its own Vanguard mutual funds and for more than 3,000 other non-Vanguard funds. All other funds, however, come with a $20 fee per trade, which is what we used in the table below for comparison with other brokers.

Fees for a $2,000 fund purchase
	Vanguard Vanguard	J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing	Ally Invest Ally Invest
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$20.0 $20 per trade if investment is less than $500k, but Vanguard funds and 3000 other funds are free	$0.0 $0 per trade	$0.0 Commission-free

Please note that if you sell no-transaction-fee funds within 60 days after the purchase, a $50 fee is charged for the sale.
There is also a required initial investment for each fund type, as well as a required minimum for each additional investment.

Vanguard mutual fund investment requirements
Mutual fund type	Initial minimum investment	Additional minimum investment
Non-free funds (non-Vanguard)	$500	$500
Free funds (non-Vanguard)	$500	$500
Vanguard STAR Fund and Vanguard Target Retirement Fund	$1,000	$1
Vanguard Admiral share	from $3,000 to $100,000	variable
Vanguard Investor share	$3,000	variable

Low bond commission

Bond fees differ according to bond types; for the purposes of comparison, we calculated with US Treasury bonds, which can be traded free of charge.

Fees for a $10,000 bond trade
	Vanguard Vanguard	J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing	Ally Invest Ally Invest
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$0.0 $0 per trade for US Treasury bonds, for other bonds $1 per $1,000 face value, max $250	$0.0 Commission free investment on US Treasury bills, notes, bonds and new issues	$10.0 $1.0 per bond, min. $10

Trading bonds (other than US Treasury securities) on the secondary market costs $1 per $1,000 face value, with the fee capped at $250. New bond issues are free for most bond types.

Interest on uninvested cash

Vanguard pays a 2.6% interest on uninvested USD.

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Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.