The terms below apply to your election to receive electronically one or more of the following types/categories of documents related to your account(s): account statements (including checkwriting images), mutual fund transaction confirmations and account profiles, Vanguard fund reports and prospectuses, Vanguard fund proxy materials, and Vanguard Brokerage Services® trade confirmations.
How is the consent applied and how long does it last?
- Your consent applies to all documents you've selected, or select in the future, for all accounts registered under your taxpayer identification number (TIN), including custodial accounts established under the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, Education Savings Accounts (formerly education IRAs), and accounts in employer-sponsored plans. If you are the recipient of a household statement group (HSG) your consent also applies to your HSG statements.
- For joint accounts, only the owner designated as primary - the individual whose TIN is listed first on the account registration - can accept this consent agreement.
- We'll continue to mail documents for all accounts registered under the TINs belonging to other members of your household.
- Your consent will be effective until you revoke it, or it is revoked by Vanguard. If you change your mailing preferences back to paper delivery for all documents, your consent will be considered revoked.
- This consent also applies to prospectuses you elect to view online for funds in which you are not currently invested.
How will I know when documents are available online?
Documents will be posted on our secure website within the time frames specified in the chart below, and you can access them by logging on to your account. You'll also receive an e-mail notification whenever a document becomes available online. Documents will remain accessible online for the time periods shown in the chart.
You can download or print any documents, and you can also contact Vanguard at any time to request a paper copy of any document at no cost.
| Document Type | When documents become available online | How long documents remain accessible online |
| Confirmations and account profiles for mutual fund accounts (excluding employer plans) and 529 plan accounts | Day after trading activity or account change | 7 years |
| Brokerage trade confirmations | Day after trading activity | 7 years |
| Statements for all accounts registered under your TIN including individual, joint, custodial and 529 plan accounts, annuities and HSGs (includes checkwriting images) | Within 5 business days after end of statement period | Minimum of 13 months |
| Statements for employer plan accounts | Within 5 business days after end of statement period | Minimum of 9 months |
| Fund reports and prospectuses for mutual fund, 529 plan and employer plan accounts | In accordance with fiscal year of fund | Until superseded |
| Proxy materials | As determined by fund | As determined by fund |
What software do I need?
- Account statements, mutual fund transaction confirmations, and Vanguard® Brokerage trade confirmations are available in 2 formats: Portable Network Graphics (PNG) and Portable Document Format (PDF). You need no special software to view PNG images, but you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files. You can download Acrobat Reader from Adobe's website; for more information and a link to Adobe's website, click Site Help at the top of this page, and then click Technical Help in the left menu.
- Vanguard® fund reports, prospectuses, and proxy information are available online only as PDFs. If you don't have Acrobat Reader or are otherwise unable to view or print information, don't select electronic delivery for these documents.
How do I change my information?
To change your mailing preferences or e-mail address or to revoke your election and consent:
- Log on to Vanguard.com®.
- Click My Profile in the top navigation bar.
- Click the link appropriate for the changes you want to make.
- Enter the new information and click Submit Change.
Note: Please allow three business days for us to process your changes or revocation. It may be several days to several weeks before you stop receiving documents via your previous delivery method, depending on the type of document.
Are there delivery considerations I should know about?
On rare occasions, e-mails may not transmit properly, your Internet service provider may experience system failure, and other problems may arise.
- E-mail notifications will be sent from one of the following domains: vanguard.com or evanguard.com. If you use spam-blocking software, please update your settings to allow e-mail from these domains.
- If you don't receive an anticipated e-mail notice, log on to Vanguard.com for up-to-date information about your accounts.
- If you experience a problem using a hyperlink, log on to Vanguard.com and select the My Portfolios tab at the top of the page. To view individual, joint, or custodial accounts, click History & Statements. To view employer plan accounts, click Overview, then click Employer Plans in the Accounts & Activity area of the page.
- If an e-mail is returned to Vanguard as "undeliverable," we'll attempt to resend it. If the notice comes back to us after four attempts, we will switch your mailing preferences back to paper delivery and begin sending your documents via U.S. mail. This will revoke your consent to electronic delivery. Therefore, please update your information immediately if your e-mail address changes by following the instructions above.
