About Us

Costs, fees & minimums

See how Vanguard's low-cost approach can help you make the most of your money. You'll never pay a commission to buy or sell Vanguard mutual funds or ETFs in your Vanguard accounts.

Investment costs

Expense ratios

The average Vanguard mutual fund and ETF (exchange-traded fund) expense ratio is 82% less than the industry average.*

Vanguard fund trading fees

Never pay a commission when you buy and sell Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs in your Vanguard account.

A few Vanguard mutual funds charge fees designed to help cover high transaction costs and discourage short-term trading.

$0 trading commissions

Pay nothing to trade stocks, ETFs, and Vanguard mutual funds online. Enjoy access to more than 160 no-transaction-fee mutual funds from Vanguard and more than 3,000 funds from other companies.

Account and advice fees

Account & service fees

A $20 annual fee applies to each of your brokerage and mutual-fund-only accounts.

Find out how easy it is to avoid these fees

SIMPLE IRAs, Individual 401(k)s, and Vanguard 529 Plan accounts have special account service fees.

Vanguard advisory fees

Vanguard offers 4 investment advice services, each with their own advisory fee schedules.

Minimum investing requirements

Mutual funds

Most Vanguard mutual funds require a minimum investment of $3,000.***

But you can invest in any Vanguard Target Retirement Fund or in Vanguard STAR® Fund with as little as $1,000.

Get details on fees & minimums for Vanguard mutual funds

SIMPLE IRAs, Individual 401(k)s, and Vanguard 529 Plan accounts have special account service fees.

Minimums for non-Vanguard mutual funds vary by fund. Details are available in each fund profile.

ETFs

The minimum investment for all Vanguard and non-Vanguard ETFs is simply the price of one share.

Stocks, CDs & bonds

The minimum investment for individual securities is also the price of one share.

Buy and sell:

*Vanguard average expense ratio: 0.09%. Industry average expense ratio: 0.49%. All averages are asset-weighted. Industry averages exclude Vanguard. Sources: Vanguard and Morningstar, Inc., as of December 31, 2021.

**Vanguard Personal Advisor Select and Vanguard Personal Advisor Wealth Management charge fees based on a tiered fee schedule (maximum 0.30%) calculated as an average advisory fee on all advised assets. Vanguard Digital Advisor charges Vanguard Brokerage Accounts an annual gross advisory fee of 0.20% for its all-index investment options and 0.25% for an active/index mix. Vanguard Personal Advisor charges Vanguard Brokerage Accounts an annual gross advisory fee of 0.35% for its all-index investment options and 0.40% for an active/index mix. These services reduce those fees by the amount of revenue that Vanguard (or a Vanguard affiliate) retains from your portfolio in order to calculate your net advisory fee. Note that this fee doesn't include investment expense ratios. Please review each service’s advisory brochure for more fee information. 

You should consult your plan fee disclosure notice for the applicable annual gross advisory fees that apply to your 401(k) account.

***Some funds have higher minimums to protect the funds from short-term trading activity. Fund-specific details are provided in each fund profile.