Vanguard mutual fund fees and minimum investment
Find out how much you'll need to open an account and how much—or how little—you'll pay.
Mutual fund fees & expenses at a glance
Expense ratios
The average Vanguard mutual fund expense ratio is ${cf.tokens.expense-ratios.lessThanVgMFonlyIndAvgPercent} less than the industry average.*
Account service fees
$25 for each brokerage account. Vanguard Brokerage Services® won’t assess the fee if a client’s total Qualifying Assets* are at least $1 million. The fee can also be eliminated by signing up for e-delivery of statements and the annual privacy policy notice; confirmations; reports, prospectuses, and proxy materials; and notices, amendments, and other important account updates. In addition, Vanguard Brokerage Services does not charge the fee to clients who have an organization or a trust account registered under an employee identification number (EIN) or clients enrolled in an advisory program serviced by an affiliate of Vanguard.
Purchase & redemption fees
Very few Vanguard funds charge fees when you buy and sell shares. The fees are designed to help those funds cover higher transaction costs and protect long-term investors by discouraging short-term, speculative trading.
Fees vary from 0.25% to 1.00% of the amount of the transaction.
Fees you won't pay at Vanguard
Vanguard funds never charge front-end or back-end loads.
And you trade thousands of ETFs and mutual funds from Vanguard and other companies commission free online.*
Minimum investment requirements
The following minimums apply to individual and joint accounts, Roth and traditional IRAs, UGMA/UTMA accounts, and most other account types.
Investor Shares
- $1,000 for Vanguard Target Retirement Funds and Vanguard STAR® Fund.
- $3,000 for most actively managed Vanguard funds.*
Admiral Shares
- $3,000 for most index funds.
- $50,000 for most actively managed funds.
- $100,000 for certain sector-specific index funds.
Most Vanguard index funds are now available in lower-cost Admiral Shares.