A $25 Vanguard Fee Glitch Is Now Fixed

Some Vanguard Group customers were mistakenly charged a new $25 annual service fee even though they qualified for a waiver, according to The Independent Vanguard Adviser.

Vanguard said Thursday it has corrected the problem and that it affected a small number of customers.

Vanguard announced a year ago it would start charging $25 per brokerage account to customers with under $5 million in qualifying assets, IVA editor Jeff DeMaso noted in a report this week.

The easiest way to avoid the annual fee is to accept electronic delivery of statements, confirmations, reports and other materials, he noted.

A Vanguard website page showing brokerage fees in effect as of July 1 also indicates that customers in an advisory program serviced by a Vanguard affiliate can avoid the fee, as can certain other clients.