Yes! You can use AI to fill out Vanguard Direct Rollover IRA Adoption Agreement

Failing to sign and date the form in Section 6 is one of the most frequent and critical errors. An unsigned application is not legally valid and will be immediately rejected, requiring the applicant to fill out and resubmit the entire form. This simple oversight can cause significant delays in opening the account and rolling over funds. Always perform a final check for the signature and date before mailing the document.

Section 1 explicitly requires a physical street address and states that a P.O. Box is not acceptable. This is a federal requirement for identity verification. Applicants often enter their P.O. Box out of habit, which leads to rejection of the form. To avoid this, provide your actual residential address in the 'Street address' field and use the separate 'Mailing address' field if you receive mail at a P.O. Box.

In the investment instruction sections (3 and 4), the percentages allocated to different funds must add up to exactly 100%. Applicants often make simple calculation errors or leave the section incomplete. This forces Vanguard to either default to an equal allocation, which may not be what the investor wanted, or contact the applicant for clarification, delaying the investment of their funds. Double-checking the math is crucial to ensure assets are invested according to your wishes.

The form creates confusion about rolling over non-Vanguard funds or company stock. Applicants often think this form can be used to transfer these assets 'in-kind'. However, the form's options are to sell these assets and invest the cash proceeds, or to contact Vanguard Brokerage Services for a separate application to retain them. This misunderstanding can lead to the unintended liquidation of assets or significant processing delays while the correct procedure is determined.

Section 1 requires the full name of the employer sponsoring the retirement plan and the plan number. Applicants often provide an abbreviated company name or do not know their specific plan number. This missing or inexact data prevents Vanguard from identifying the correct source account for the rollover, halting the entire process until the applicant can provide the correct information from a plan statement.

In Section 5, the percentages assigned to primary beneficiaries must total 100%, and the same is required for secondary beneficiaries. People frequently miscalculate these totals or forget to assign a percentage. While the form notes that Vanguard will default to an equal distribution, this might not reflect the account owner's true intent, potentially causing unintended consequences for their heirs. It is vital to ensure the percentages for each beneficiary group sum to 100%.

The instructions require filling out the form using 'capital letters and black ink' to ensure it can be scanned and processed accurately. Applicants who use cursive, lowercase letters, or blue ink risk having their information misread by optical character recognition (OCR) software or human data entry staff. This can lead to errors in names, addresses, or account numbers, causing significant delays. Since this is a non-fillable PDF, using a tool like Instafill.ai to convert it into a fillable version ensures all entries are perfectly legible.

In Sections 3 and 4, applicants must specify whether they are rolling assets into a 'new' or an 'existing' IRA. An existing Vanguard client might mistakenly select 'new IRA,' leading to the creation of a redundant account and complicating account management. Conversely, a new client might check 'existing IRA' without providing an account number. This error can misdirect funds or delay the rollover until the correct destination is clarified.

A note in Section 1 specifies that if the account is being opened for a trust, a separate 'Vanguard Trustee Certification Form' must also be submitted. This is a critical but easily overlooked requirement because the form is not included in this packet. Forgetting to find, complete, and include this separate document will render the application incomplete and stop the account setup process entirely.

In Section 5, when designating a spouse as a beneficiary, there are two options: naming a specific person or selecting 'To the person I am married to at the time of my death.' Applicants sometimes check both boxes or misunderstand the distinction, creating legal ambiguity. This can lead to complications and potential disputes over the assets in the event of divorce and remarriage. It is essential to choose only one option to clearly state your intent.