Managing a VLS account

OrlaAgain

I'm having qualms about where to keep money; there's a lot of jitters about the security and behaviour of banks and finance companies in these febrile times and I'm not sure whether I like having my small VLS 80 any more, especially as Vanguard seem to be a major investor in PayPal who as far as I'm concerned, have crossed a red line by demonetising certain groups (and hanging on to their money!)

I add 50 or a hundred every so often but have never been exactly sure how to run the account; rather than let it sit there I'm thinking of doing something else with it.

Can anyone direct me to an easy -to- understand guide on what happens if you close one of these funds, how to do it, how much you get back, etc - i.e do you forfeit a proportion of the accumulated total ? I've tried to read Vanguard's own literature but to me it's gobbledegook. I'm less interested in growth (what even IS that, these days?) than having control over what I own. 

(Are my misgivings about Vanguard and their ilk unfounded?)

MX5huggy

I think your misgivings are unfounded. 

Vanguard manage more than $8 trillion (yes trillion) of other peoples money for scale thats 3 times the value of Apple the biggest company in the world. This means that they are normally in the top ten of share holders in any company because most of their funds are index funds so they have to invest in everything. Black Rock are a bigger investment company so also appear. 

Vanguard aren’t making an active decision to invest in Pay Pal or any other company. 

You own a tiny tiny bit of PayPal along with over 23000 other companies and bonds. There will be all sorts of companies that you may consider dubious but you’ve invested in a very large percentage of the global stock markets. 

Vanguard is a mutual owned by its US customers, it’s not a bank or financial company that “behaves badly”. 

If you want to remove your money just click sell on any investment chose to have the money sent to you and there is no fees you’ll get the price at the time of sale.  

jimjames

OrlaAgain said:

I add 50 or a hundred every so often but have never been exactly sure how to run the account; rather than let it sit there I'm thinking of doing something else with it.
(Are my misgivings about Vanguard and their ilk unfounded?)

What else are you thinking of doing with it? The best time to invest is when markets are down. Unless you have a need for the money I can't see why you'd sell and yes your misgivings are unfounded.

dunstonh

Managing a VLS account

Firstly, VLS is not an account.  It is a range of funds.

 there's a lot of jitters about the security and behaviour of banks and finance companies in these febrile times 

That is not something that is appearing in the financial press or research reports.  Where are you getting your information from?

and I'm not sure whether I like having my small VLS 80 any more, especially as Vanguard seem to be a major investor in PayPal who as far as I'm concerned, have crossed a red line by demonetising certain groups (and hanging on to their money!)

Vanguard offer index tracking funds. They invest in every company in the index because (caveat applies).  If you want more active decisions on where to invest, then you should not use Vanguard or other passive funds.

I add 50 or a hundred every so often but have never been exactly sure how to run the account; rather than let it sit there I'm thinking of doing something else with it.

The whole point of investing in multi-asset funds, like VLS80, is that there is little or no work to do. You are paying a little more in charges for Vanguard to do the work.

Can anyone direct me to an easy -to- understand guide on what happens if you close one of these funds, how to do it, how much you get back, etc

You mean sell the fund (you cannot close a fund).  You get the unit price on the day of the sale.

I'm less interested in growth (what even IS that, these days?)

An economic cycle is around 15 years.  In that 15 year period you will get 3-5 negative years.   2022 is negative YTD.    You need to stop thinking short term.  Plus, you are paying in monthly.  Negative periods are great news for those paying in monthly.

(Are my misgivings about Vanguard and their ilk unfounded?)

You are letting your lack of knowledge and understanding get in the way.

Vanguard is not a bank.  It is a fund house.  There are no concerns about vanguard whatsoever.

OrlaAgain

My thanks for those who have been good enough to respond. 

I was honest about my lack of expertise on this subject, hence my use of incorrect terminology and understanding of the nature of Vanguard.

I suppose if it consists of a humming machine somewhere chasing numbers in the markets I can't expect it to be concerned about the business practices of the companies it invests in. 

In light of the reassurances you've all given I'll sit it out for a while and see what transpires, (or until I've thought about it a bit more - after all, it's only my own money I'm risking) but I'm going to look into peer-to-peer lending and more 'human-scale' stuff that I can relate to, even if the returns are riskier. 

Albermarle

I'm having qualms about where to keep money; there's a lot of jitters about the security and behaviour of banks and finance companies in these febrile times and I'm not sure whether I like having my small VLS 80 any more

but I'm going to look into peer-to-peer lending and more 'human-scale' stuff that I can relate to, 

Some twisted logic here . You are worried about investing with one of the largest fund houses in the world, that is seen as totally secure as any financial institution can be. So instead you will change to P2P , an industry that has been beset by bankruptcies and fraud with no compensation protection in place at all .
( caveat that with the fact some P2P companies seem OK, but the sector in general has a had a torrid time ) 

dunstonh

but I'm going to look into peer-to-peer lending and more 'human-scale' stuff that I can relate to, 

That is more wild west and low touch regulation and far more likely to go pop than mainstream unit linked funds from Vanguard.