Press play and I’ll read this juicy article to you!

In a recent blog post, Women & Investing: How to Get Rich by Keeping it Simple, I made a case for a simple approach to getting rich by investing in S&P 500 Index Funds. If you want to know all the reasons why putting your money in index funds is a good idea, go ahead and read the post.

If I’ve successfully convinced you to start investing in the stock market, you’ll need to pick an investment company to work with.

All of my investment accounts are with Vanguard.

Here’s why:

1. Vanguard is client-owned and operated at cost. Other investment companies are not.When you invest with Vanguard, your interests (to make money) and Vanguard’s interests are exactly the same…because you essentially own a piece of the company. And because Vanguard operates at cost, you save a boatload of money in fees.If you invest elsewhere, you’re paying for the operating costs of the investment company AND the profit/salaries of the owners of that company, which means less money for you.
2. When you invest with Vanguard, your money is safe, even if the company folds.This is because you’re not investing your assets in the company itself; you’re investing in individual stocks and bonds. Vanguard is simply providing you with the vehicle by which you can buy and sell stocks and bonds. So, even if Vanguard goes out of business (which is highly unlikely), your investments won’t be affected.
3. Vanguard makes it easy for you to manage your investments yourself.After firing three financial advisors, I decided to manage my investments myself, and Vanguard made the transition easy. Vanguard’s online platform is user-friendly and their telephone support team is incredible. They will give you step-by-step instructions on how to open an account and buy and sell index funds.The best part about this is that you are in complete control of your money. You don’t have someone selling you financial products that you don’t need or squeezing big commissions or fees out of you.

If you currently have investments with a different company, like T.Rowe Price or Fidelity, you can roll over those investments to Vanguard.

I keep all my investments in one place with Vanguard. I rolled over old 401(K) investments from previous employers into a traditional IRA and transferred the Roth IRA I had with my financial advisor to Vanguard so I could manage those funds myself.

Putting all your investment accounts in one place makes it a thousand times easier to manage them, and you can see your financial big picture.

Interested in investing with Vanguard?

Visit their website at www.vanguard.com.

Now, you might be wondering, “Is she getting paid to tell me Vanguard is great?”

No. There’s nothing in it for me.

And I’m not a financial advisor or certified financial planner. My recommendations are based on a massive amount of research and personal experience.

I’ve had wonderful experiences with Vanguard, and I think you will too.

It’s worth looking into.

Got questions about Vanguard or setting up your new investment account?

Send them my way (nicole@nicoleiacovoni.com). I’m happy to help if I can.