Vanguard mutual fund fees & minimums
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 83% less than the industry average.*
Account service fees
Account service fees are automatically waived when you register for secure access to our website and let us send account documents to you electronically. They're also waived for clients with at least $50,000 in qualifying Vanguard assets.
If none of those waivers apply, a $20 fee will be charged annually for each fund account in which you have a balance of less than $10,000.
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 or other sales commissions.
And you'll have access to thousands of commission-free ETFs and more than 160 no-transaction-fee mutual funds from Vanguard and other companies.**
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.***
Most Vanguard index funds are now available in lower-cost Admiral Shares.
Admiral Shares
- $3,000 for most index funds.
- $50,000 for most actively managed funds.
- $100,000 for certain sector-specific index funds.
You can now own lower-cost Admiral Shares for 43 of our index mutual funds for a minimum of just $3,000 each.
INTERESTED IN ETFs?
All Vanguard clients pay $0 commission to trade ETFs (exchange-traded funds) online.
REFERENCE CONTENT
Expense ratio
A mutual fund's annual operating expenses, expressed as a percentage of the fund's average net assets. It's calculated annually and removed from the fund's earnings before they're distributed to investors, directly reducing investors' returns.
An expense ratio includes management, administrative, marketing, and distribution fees. It doesn't include loads or purchase or redemption fees.
Front-end load
A sales fee that's charged when you buy fund shares. Fees can be as high as 8.5% of your purchase amount—which would reduce a $100,000 investment to $91,500.
Back-end load
A sales fee that's charged when you sell fund shares. Fees can start as high as 5% to 7% but typically decline each year you're invested in the fund, ultimately disappearing after 5 to 10 years.
This may also be referred to as a "contingent deferred sales charge."
Vanguard funds with purchase & redemption fees
Purchase fees are charged generally by funds that routinely face higher transaction costs when buying securities for the portfolio.
Redemption fees are charged generally by funds that want to discourage market-timing.
Neither is considered a sales charge or "load" because both are paid directly to the fund to offset higher transaction costs.
There are currently only a few Vanguard funds (each with multiple share classes) that charge one or both of these fees. Each has a corresponding ETF (exchange-traded fund) share class that excludes these fees and can be bought and sold commission-free in your Vanguard account.
Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund Admiral™ Shares (VGAVX)
0.75%
None
Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VGIVX)
0.75%
None
Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund Admiral Shares (VGRLX)
0.25%
0.25%
Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund Institutional Shares (VGRNX)
0.25%
0.25%
Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares (VICSX)
0.25%
None
Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VICBX)
0.25%
None
International Dividend Appreciation Index Fund Admiral Shares (VIAAX)
0.25%
0.25%
International High Dividend Yield Index Fund Admiral Shares (VIHAX)
0.25%
0.25%
Long-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares (VLTCX)
1.00%
None
Long-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VLCIX)
1.00%
None
Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTEAX)
None
None
Long-Term Bond Index Fund—Admiral Shares (VBLAX)
0.50%
None
Long-Term Bond Index Fund—Institutional Shares (VBLLX)
0.50%
None
Long-Term Bond Index Fund—Institutional Plus Shares (VBLIX)
0.50%
None
You must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares through Vanguard Brokerage Services (we offer them commission-free) or through another broker (which may charge commissions). See the Vanguard Brokerage Services commission and fee schedules for limits. Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable directly with the issuing fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. ETFs are subject to market volatility. When buying or selling an ETF, you will pay or receive the current market price, which may be more or less than net asset value.