My current situation isn't working anymore. The trades are inexpensive, but the tools aren't great. It's more suited to mutual fund and buy and hold types, not trading. I've asked around, but the recommendations I get in Stepford are either too expensive or I get patted on the head like a puppy and told to have my husband give them a call (hello, 21st century anyone??).
Do any of you have a recommendation? I started with this list...
http://www.savings-secrets.com/
Which brokerage do you use?
Interesting list on that Savings Secrets site. I had tried Sharebuilder, but very unimpressed by them, and simply too expensive. I have my Roth IRA with Scottrade, and will set up my brokerage account there too in the coming weeks (after I close out the Sharebuilder mistake). Scottrade isn't super cheap, but they have an office close to where I work, the interface is great, and no cost to wire funds. Since I trade so infrequently, it works for me.
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George the original one
- Posts: 5406
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- Location: Wettest corner of Orygun
Ameritrade - They always leave messages on the answering machine when I withdraw a bunch of money (like for a house downpayment) wanting to know what I'm up to and how they can be of service to me. Ameritrade's interface is pretty easy to use and they provide free research reports. I started with a local Portland/Eugene discount broker (I like having a door to go knock on when something is wrong) that was bought out by Ameritrade 10 years ago... the nice monthly statements are an evolution of what that discount brokerage provided. Annual tax statement is good. Ameritrade continues to maintain a local office. Margin rate is excessively high. If I didn't use Ameritrade, I'd probably use Scottrade or Schwab since they also have local offices.
Interactive Brokers - for the lowest margin rate. No handholding, interface is for experienced investors only, and I'm still being charged fees that I don't understand. Monthly statement is well-written otherwise. Haven't yet seen the annual tax statement. No local offices.
Interactive Brokers - for the lowest margin rate. No handholding, interface is for experienced investors only, and I'm still being charged fees that I don't understand. Monthly statement is well-written otherwise. Haven't yet seen the annual tax statement. No local offices.
Well, I'm at Etrade now for non-retirement, but only because the bought my old broker, Brown & Co. Still pretty cheap trades, though. I can't say I really make that many. I would probably look elsewhere.
I also have a self-directed 401(k) with State Street, and they really suck. Nothing I can do about that currently, though.
I also have a self-directed 401(k) with State Street, and they really suck. Nothing I can do about that currently, though.
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jennypenny
- Posts: 6858
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm
I currently use Vanguard. I would never recommend them for a brokerage account. We have a 401K with them and they're good for that. And I had some complicated dealings with them years back settling my parents' estate, and they were very helpful. But as a brokerage they're lacking. I also get a discount on trades like rcamp because of the total of our accounts, but the discount is not worth the trouble anymore.
I was considering OptionsHouse. I'll also look at Ameritrade. I trade often enough that I've been looking at direct access brokerages near me, but my volume can vary a lot (like if my son needs extra care) and then I'd be hit with fees for inactivity. I think my DH prefers I stay with Vanguard so if something happens to me it will be easier for him to manage everything.
I was considering OptionsHouse. I'll also look at Ameritrade. I trade often enough that I've been looking at direct access brokerages near me, but my volume can vary a lot (like if my son needs extra care) and then I'd be hit with fees for inactivity. I think my DH prefers I stay with Vanguard so if something happens to me it will be easier for him to manage everything.
I've been using Scottrade for about 8 years and have no complaints. Local offices, good execution and interface, and the tools keep improving though I will never test the limits. The best part is that I only pay for trades; in all that time I have never been hit with any other fees such as maintenance or inactivity.
I echo the Scottrade recommendation. I've used them for over ten years and never had a problem or paid more than the $7 commission on a trade. I position trade infrequently in lots >$1400 to keep the commission at less than 0.5% of funds. If you want to sell a call option to amp your dividends, you can do that too.
If you plan to trade daily or on margin, Interactive Brokers is probably the way to go.
If you plan to trade daily or on margin, Interactive Brokers is probably the way to go.
Interesting to hear something negative about vanguard - are they lacking mostly because they are focused on indexing? The reason I want them is for their low cost funds (fidelity charges like $80 to buy a vanguard fund).
Fidelity's strength is customer service. The trades are reasonable at $9, and treasuries are free. They also seem to have a good interface, I can deposit checks with the iPhone app (great since my bank doesn't even have this feature).
But the best advice in this thread is from those others who have used more than one brokerage (not me).
On the other hand, it's Free to try a few and see which you like, right? Some would argue it's safest to spread institutional risk amongst a few companies (in case one is down or goes bankrupt or whatever - you'll still own the securities but you may not get access to them immediately).
Fidelity's strength is customer service. The trades are reasonable at $9, and treasuries are free. They also seem to have a good interface, I can deposit checks with the iPhone app (great since my bank doesn't even have this feature).
But the best advice in this thread is from those others who have used more than one brokerage (not me).
On the other hand, it's Free to try a few and see which you like, right? Some would argue it's safest to spread institutional risk amongst a few companies (in case one is down or goes bankrupt or whatever - you'll still own the securities but you may not get access to them immediately).
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jennypenny
- Posts: 6858
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm
If you plan to invest most of your money in Vanguard funds and ETFs, then you should definitely use Vanguard. Their fees are low for their products (ETFs are free) and you get some nice benefits especially if your portfolio exceeds $500K. If you want to buy individual investments (stocks, bonds, options) they are not great.
You're right, I should probably try a couple out. For some reason I hate moving money around. It makes me unnecessarily paranoid. Probably explains why I've had the same checking account and credit card for over 20 years.
You're right, I should probably try a couple out. For some reason I hate moving money around. It makes me unnecessarily paranoid. Probably explains why I've had the same checking account and credit card for over 20 years.
Schwab is good. Though the trades are a little more than others ($8.95), I enjoy the layout and ease of their website, plus good customer service.
Also, if you're looking for a fee free atm card, check out Schwab's checking with attached brokerage account. We used it for all our cash withdrawls in Europe and paid no fees at all during vacation.
Larry
Also, if you're looking for a fee free atm card, check out Schwab's checking with attached brokerage account. We used it for all our cash withdrawls in Europe and paid no fees at all during vacation.
Larry
I use OptionsHouse and I'm moderately happy with them. I'm grand-fathered in at their lower commission schedule ($2.95 for equity and ETF trades, and their 5.00 or 8.50+.15 choice for options.) I think for new customers, the price of equity trades has gone up to 3.95 per trade. In any case, their web interface seems good enough for me. The only complaint I have is that they clear through Penson Financial -- and they aren't great. ACH transfers take almost a week to clear. Also, Penson recently made some changes to their backend system which caused all of my account numbers to change and is also causing them to mail my tax documents a little bit late this year. Other than that, I'm pretty pleased with OptionsHouse.
re: Fidelity
I'm considering this one for my first foray into investing.
1) there's a branch down the street
2) they seem to offer low fees up-front for opening an account (I'd probably do the minimum $2,500 to start)
3) their cash management account pays similar to my current savings account and is FDIC
4) I'm looking for a new rewards credit-card and this one seems good to me: http://personal.fidelity.com/products/c ... card.shtml
I'm still a small-fish, but I'd like to do something decent with my small-fish savings while continuing the ERE plan and I do put around $5-10K in reimbursed business expenses a year through my personal CC, so the 2% can't hurt (I've been getting miles, but I don't need any more)..plus I'll probably still have ~$7-10K in general spending I could run through that card a year too (tuition payments and other).
Sound good?
EDIT ::
I did some more looking and Schwab/OptionsExpress is probably better for me just for starting out with the tools and educational stuff they offer. I want to do some playing around and getting my feet wet with a small chunk of change before I start putting the nest egg out there.
I think I'll still do a Fidelity account for the Amex Card though..
I'm considering this one for my first foray into investing.
1) there's a branch down the street
2) they seem to offer low fees up-front for opening an account (I'd probably do the minimum $2,500 to start)
3) their cash management account pays similar to my current savings account and is FDIC
4) I'm looking for a new rewards credit-card and this one seems good to me: http://personal.fidelity.com/products/c ... card.shtml
I'm still a small-fish, but I'd like to do something decent with my small-fish savings while continuing the ERE plan and I do put around $5-10K in reimbursed business expenses a year through my personal CC, so the 2% can't hurt (I've been getting miles, but I don't need any more)..plus I'll probably still have ~$7-10K in general spending I could run through that card a year too (tuition payments and other).
Sound good?
EDIT ::
I did some more looking and Schwab/OptionsExpress is probably better for me just for starting out with the tools and educational stuff they offer. I want to do some playing around and getting my feet wet with a small chunk of change before I start putting the nest egg out there.
I think I'll still do a Fidelity account for the Amex Card though..