A wellspring of resources to guide your financial journey

A new Vanguard research paper outlines an approach to determining life insurance needs that could save thousands of dollars while minimizing the chances that coverage falls short of those needs.

A recently updated Vanguard research paper on paying for college discusses why it’s important for parents and students to plan strategically and understand how their spending decisions affect their broader financial situation. 

Maria Bruno, head of U.S. wealth planning research at Vanguard, offers five suggestions for investors making IRA contributions during tax season. Maybe the most important tip? Contribute early.

Not converting to a Roth because you expect to be in a lower tax bracket at retirement? An analysis using the break-even tax rate (BETR) finds that you may be missing out on tax advantages.

The earliest college savers tend to require lower monthly savings rates over time, have more flexibility when they need to pivot, and get a jump start on understanding the nuances of the college tuition landscape—including the difference between sticker price and net price paid.

For many, the sticker price and net cost of college are vastly different numbers. What might your net cost be?

How advisors can add alpha through services such as financial planning, discipline, and guidance.

Vanguard’s Joel Dickson explains why a more holistic approach to financial advice can help investors reach their goals.

Updated Vanguard research highlights three key steps to help people choose Medicare coverage options.

Vanguard managing director John James describes how simple it can be to start saving for retirement, from taking advantage of the company match within an employer plan to considering a target-date fund.

The traditional target-date fund might be too conservative for some retirees in poor health. Such investors might consider personalized advice.

Vanguard research shows that inflation doesn’t affect optimal Social Security claiming strategies.

Planning a charitable gifting strategy? Here’s what to know about the complexity, tax consequences, and timeline—whether you’re donating cash, corporate stock, or an antique automobile.

Look back at Vanguard research on rebalancing, Roth IRA conversions, charitable giving, asset location, and tax-loss harvesting.

Our research explores practical ways to build savings for an emergency while balancing long-term financial goals.

April is Financial Literacy Month and a great time to review ways investors can access financial planning and wellness tools.

April is Financial Literacy Month. More money know-how increases the likelihood of reaching financial goals.

Our research offers a framework to help maximize wealth by taking advantage of your investment options alongside repaying debt.

Our guide can help investors overcome struggles and develop long-term strategies to maintain financial wellness.

The prospect of saving for long-term financial planning goals can be overwhelming at times given its enormity and uncertainty. Vanguard’s guide to financial wellness offers a blueprint for achieving financial flexibility to meet both short- and long-term goals.

How Vanguard’s financial wellness guide can help boost investor motivation, increase know-how, and improve fiscal fitness.

What would Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Greg Davis share with his younger self about investing? Ignore the hot stock and focus on the importance of asset diversification.

What should investors know about financial advice? Tom Rampulla, managing director of Vanguard Financial Advisor Services, explains how a hands-off approach can keep you on track and isn’t that expensive.

Vanguard Financial Advice Model (VFAM) is a new approach to financial planning, assessing combinations of strategies and their relative value for an investor.

Americans donated $471 billion to charitable organizations in 2020. Vanguard research explores the three key elements of a successful giving plan: When to give, what to give, and how to give.

Parents and students face distinct challenges when financing higher education expenses. This research paper discusses financial aid options, tax credits, and 529 savings plans and other savings vehicles, as well as the need to plan strategically and understand how college spending decisions affect one's broader financial situation.

Tax-loss harvesting (TLH) has been promoted as a “free lunch” for increasing investment returns. Vanguard researchers explore the potential for TLH and demonstrate how to customize a TLH strategy for optimal benefits. A case study is also featured that illustrates how the benefits of TLH can vary considerably from investor to investor.

For many families, planning for college costs is a top financial priority. A Byzantine landscape of consumer choices, loans, tuition discounting, and public and private aid, however, makes it difficult to answer key questions like "How much will this cost us?” This is especially so for young families, for whom future spending needs are necessarily vague. Vanguard researchers explore how understanding the dynamics of financial aid and net pricing can help parents set a realistic savings target early on and shape a savings plan that evolves with them. 

Investors typically decide whether to convert to a Roth IRA from a traditional IRA by comparing their current and expected future marginal tax rates. The traditional wisdom has been that higher future tax rates make conversion more desirable and lower ones make it less so. Vanguard researchers describe a break-even tax rate (BETR) that yields a more accurate view of what future tax rate would make an investor indifferent to a conversion.

This paper describes the glide-path construction methodology derived from Vanguard’s Life-Cycle Investing Model that underlies the target enrollment portfolios in Vanguard 529 plans. The conclusion: Portfolios grounded in traditional, broad-based, market-proportional asset classes can serve as a prudent foundation for an education savings program.

In this paper, Vanguard researchers examine investing behavior in 1.8 million 529 plan accounts holding $53 billion in assets. The findings: Accounts using automatic investment methods exhibit the most consistent savings behavior, and those using age-based allocations have substantially less portfolio risk than self-directed ones. 

In this paper, Vanguard espouses four simple and enduring principles to help investors achieve long-term success. Goals: Create clear, appropriate investment goals. Balance: Develop a suitable asset allocation using broadly diversified funds. Cost: Minimize cost. Discipline: Maintain perspective and long-term discipline.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) represent a unique—and frequently underappreciated—opportunity for individuals to save for retirement and other long-term goals. Vanguard experts examine HSAs and their benefits and explain how to best utilize them based on personal circumstances and behavioral considerations.

What is the value of tax-loss harvesting? Examining more than 80,000 investors, Vanguard analysts demonstrate that outcomes of equity-based tax-loss harvesting vary significantly across investor characteristics and market environments. The expected results range from no benefit or even negative returns to gains of more than 1% annually.

Growth in pension liabilities, along with new disclosure requirements and market-based accounting standards, have led defined benefit pension plan sponsors to consider corporate finances as they manage their plans. This paper discusses how pension plan risk can affect corporate finances and the strategies sponsors can use to mitigate that risk.