re: Opening an IRA at Vanguard

On occasion - It was not the way for me. However, it was for my sister - I helped her set it up. Same deal, mail in paperwork and all. So I called and asked them about it.

Said they have 3rd party authenticity verification and if they can't verify, then you are required to do what you mentioned above - said this actually occurs for about 30% of their customers.

So as for the "is this normal" - according to them, yes about 30% of the time. As for the "why"? couldn't tell you.