Luhar
Dryer sheet wannabe
I started investing in no-load mutual funds about 1 year ago, so I'm fairly new. I have a Scottrade Roth IRA and have learned that the available no-transaction fee funds through this institution are not that great (in my opinion) for developing a long term diversified portfolio. I would like to move $15 - 18K to another brokerage (Roth IRA). Essentially, I'm trying to develop a diversified long-term portfolio largely based around John Bogle's and Paul Merriman's advice (I'm continuing to learn different strategies), avoid fee's and keep expenses to a minimum. From my reading on these forums I've found that it is not uncommon for people to have investments at multiple institutions. I don't mind having accounts at a few brokerages to start with, but ideally, I would like to have one account. Finally..... I just wanted to see what brokerages people prefer on this forum and hear any advice you may have.
I've done pretty extensive research on Vanguard and Charles Schwab (read reviews and spoke to service reps), I've also read reviews on Fidelity. I've looked at T.Rowe Price a little bit.
I really like the low expenses and funds at Vanguard, however, the $3000 minimum for their mutual funds seems a little high to put together a portfolio exclusively with them - considering the amount of money that I have (some of their funds require more than $3000). Comparatively, Charles Schwab's minimum investments are $1000 with slightly higher expense ratios. I also like that Charles Schwab has customer service through online chat (so I don't have to call and wait for customer service) and a wide variety of NTF no-load funds. Fidelity's in-house funds seem to be a little better than Schwab's, but I think Schwab offers more no-transaction fee no-load funds (if you include non-family funds). These are just my impressions from the research I've done. I don't mean to sound like I'm an expert on these brokerages - I'm merely a novice investor trying to learn.
I'm leaning towards putting all of my money in Vanguard to take advantage of low expenses and build my portfolio over time. Alternatively, I'm considering moving some of my money to Vanguard to take advantage of a few funds and some of my money to Charles Schwab or Fidelity to expand the portfolio. Am I thinking along the right lines?
Thanks in advance for any input!
I've done pretty extensive research on Vanguard and Charles Schwab (read reviews and spoke to service reps), I've also read reviews on Fidelity. I've looked at T.Rowe Price a little bit.
I really like the low expenses and funds at Vanguard, however, the $3000 minimum for their mutual funds seems a little high to put together a portfolio exclusively with them - considering the amount of money that I have (some of their funds require more than $3000). Comparatively, Charles Schwab's minimum investments are $1000 with slightly higher expense ratios. I also like that Charles Schwab has customer service through online chat (so I don't have to call and wait for customer service) and a wide variety of NTF no-load funds. Fidelity's in-house funds seem to be a little better than Schwab's, but I think Schwab offers more no-transaction fee no-load funds (if you include non-family funds). These are just my impressions from the research I've done. I don't mean to sound like I'm an expert on these brokerages - I'm merely a novice investor trying to learn.
I'm leaning towards putting all of my money in Vanguard to take advantage of low expenses and build my portfolio over time. Alternatively, I'm considering moving some of my money to Vanguard to take advantage of a few funds and some of my money to Charles Schwab or Fidelity to expand the portfolio. Am I thinking along the right lines?
Thanks in advance for any input!