Fidelity vs Vanguard vs Schwab....

[truenorth418]

Schwab has a major advantage for me when travelling abroad for extended periods: They reimburse ATM fees from anywhere in the world and do not charge a currency conversion fee. Their currency conversion rates for ATM withdrawals have always seemed reasonable to me.

I have recently had some currency transfers from banks outside the US to my Schwab account. The currency conversion was outstanding and the process was seamless. A+ for Schwab on that benefit.


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[Gone4Good]

Schwab has a major advantage for me when travelling abroad for extended periods: They reimburse ATM fees from anywhere in the world and do not charge a currency conversion fee. Their currency conversion rates for ATM withdrawals have always seemed reasonable to me.

Schwab is the the best for this but Fidelity is a very close second. Fidelity also reimburses ATM fees for withdrawals from any Visa labeled cash machine (which is pretty much all of them). They do charge 1% for FX currency withdrawals, whereas Schwab does not.

So Schwab's a bit better, but Fidelity is still a completely reasonable alternative on this front too.

 

[gerntz]

Newbie here so sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum or already a thread elsewhere.

As noted in my intro I am looking to move from the Private manager I use now (0.9% fee) to a low cost home. ~$1M in a couple IRAs. I have read good things about Fidelity and Vanguard, and their pro and cons. I haven't seen much discussion about Schwab. Ideally, there is a side by side comparison of several sites somewhere in this forum. I am also going to give PNC Wealth Management a shot as well. My small mortgage and daily banking are there. I suspect they'll 3rd party it out and/or the fees will be above the 0.25% max goal of mine, they deserve an interview.

Any thoughts, views, comment, cat calls, etc are appreciated.

"There are no bad ideas. All information is good information. It's what you do with it that make it a good or bad idea."

DIY requires more knowledge & time & you are on your own. Many here will tell it's easy, no problem. For them, clearly so. Not everyone is so financially literate & confident. Net, hand-holding/a 2nd opinion can be right imo. However, 0.9% of assets is high wrong IMO. There are several flat fee advisors that work out as under 0.5% for $1M. Check them out if you're not comfortable heading off on your own.

 

[PapaBear67]

Hi all. I had meetings with both Schwab and Fidelity at their local brick and mortar locations. rom a very high level they are both really very similar. As I drill down there are some puts and takes. My neophyte thoughts....

Schwab
+ Website and research platform easier to use in my opinion.
+ More funds and ETFs to choose from but everything I my baseline portfolio available at both places.
+ Claims they can give access to Advisor class funds for a $19.95 transaction fee. I need to research that more. Not convinced they can.
~ Wishy washy on sign up bonus. "We'll match any other guy'" Nothing upfront or specific provided.
- Trade fees slightly higher, but not hugely.
- The advisor they hooked me up with was too much used car salesman. Came on real hard, and did a lot of competitor bashing.

Fidelity
+ Free seminars and training are plentiful.
+ Many specialists available directly in the office. They brought in 4 specialists for introductions at the meeting.
+ All but one fund I was looking to purchase were no transaction fee funds.
+ Advisor they assigned had more experience, and seemed more grounded.
+ $1200 sign up bonus
- Research platform not quite as robust.
- Universe of funds and ETFs smaller

I definitely save big on management fees over my current guy with either. On a handful of funds in my baseline, I'll pay a slightly higher load than today as all the Advisor class offering aren't available thru Schwab or Fidelity.

Still a lot to think about but we'll make a move net week.

 

[target2019]

PB,
Awesome research. Much appreciated.

I think my bias to Schwab was partially due to one individual who I've dealt with on 2 occasions. Definitely not a used car salesman. If I pull back from Vanguard, I'll definitely give the local Fidelity office a try.

Another insight is that Schwab has a bank. Pretty sure that Fidelity Investments, like Vanguard, does not have a bank. I don't think this matters at all, but it could have some unique bearing on your situation.

 

[braumeister]

Another insight is that Schwab has a bank. Pretty sure that Fidelity Investments, like Vanguard, does not have a bank.

The Fidelity Cash Management Account offers everything a bank does. I've been happy with it for years.

 

[target2019]

The Fidelity Cash Management Account offers everything a bank does. I've been happy with it for years.

Good to know. Features look terrific.

I use Vanguard checks on a money market account. Also, direct deposit goes there. Occasionally I have had difficulty. For example, it required support calls with Vanguard to set up direct deposit. Couldn't use what was printed on their check.

 

[GrayHare]

Much of the experience with these companies depends on the individual employee with whom you happen to interact. All have both helpful and unhelpful, hard working and lazy, types in their employ. The better employees tend to get kicked up to handling larger accounts.

 

[hesperus]

I am now self-directed, with some quarterly input from a fidelity private client advisor (by phone, no brick and mortar nearby). With fidelity, if you hold accounts over 1M, you do have access to their private client advisory services free of charge.
I do find her helpful, to discuss my goals, and how we get there. The fidelity website dashboard is one of the best, it makes research & self management very efficient. The fidelity advisor I have does not hard sell anything, is knowledgeable, and seems to really want to help me to self manage.

I also hold a vanguard account, which I opened mainly to have (no cost) access to vanguard admiral funds. I have had no conversations with vanguard, and their website is very basic.

 

[iac1003]

You might want to watch this:

https://www.ifa.com/videos/ep_201_2016-q1-market-review


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[fourinone]

The cheapest people are the Schwab investors, Vanguard and Fidelity people are at least more rational, IMHO.

 

[ziggy29]

Frankly I think for most folks, the decision is based on minor details and personal preferences. IMO you can't really go wrong with any of these three.

 

[target2019]

The cheapest people are the Schwab investors, Vanguard and Fidelity people are at least more rational, IMHO.

Is it fair to ask why you think this way?
I'm using Schwab and Vanguard currently. Have used Fidelity in the past.
Perhaps I multiple personality?

 

[bingybear]

Schwab
+ Website and research platform easier to use in my opinion.
+ More funds and ETFs to choose from but everything I my baseline portfolio available at both places.
+ Claims they can give access to Advisor class funds for a $19.95 transaction fee. I need to research that more. Not convinced they can.
- Trade fees slightly higher, but not hugely.
- The advisor they hooked me up with was too much used car salesman. Came on real hard, and did a lot of competitor bashing.

Fidelity
+ Free seminars and training are plentiful.
+ Many specialists available directly in the office. They brought in 4 specialists for introductions at the meeting.
+ All but one fund I was looking to purchase were no transaction fee funds.
+ Advisor they assigned had more experience, and seemed more grounded.
+ $1200 sign up bonus
- Research platform not quite as robust.
- Universe of funds and ETFs smaller

Still a lot to think about but we'll make a move net week.

I'm not sure that the universe of ETFs area really any different between the two unless you are looking at no transaction fee ETFs. In this case.. look at which ones are offered.
In my case, my schwab rep is more softly spoken than my fidelity one. I think this is not necessarily the character of the house, but the individual people. I would suspect you could ask for a different rep if you chose schwab.

good luck on your choice... I haven't decided which to down select and I'm in no real hurry