Fidelity or Vanguard

[TechLead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister I use the Symantec VIP Access app on my phone for that. No cost and just as secure (AFAIK).

Not as secure. Any software can be hacked or have some bug that opens door for hackers.

As a Software Engineer I would never trust it. It is hardware keys for me.

[OldShooter]

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Originally Posted by DFW_M5 Unless you are holding large portions of your port in VG Admiral Shares and want their lower ERs, I would move everything to Fidelity. ...

Are you sure this is still the case? I believe that VG eliminated the "Investor" share class and moved everyone to "Admiral" class. IIRC that happened at Schwab a little more than a year ago. So while I was a lowly Schwab Investor with far more invested than the Admiral threshold, I have now been dubbed Admiral.

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter Are you sure this is still the case? I believe that VG eliminated the "Investor" share class and moved everyone to "Admiral" class. IIRC that happened at Schwab a little more than a year ago. So while I was a lowly Schwab Investor with far more invested than the Admiral threshold, I have now been dubbed Admiral.

I hold admiral share outside of Fidelity and when I inquired they told me the could convert the shares to investor class. That was quite a while ago, but morningstar still shows VWELX which is investor class:
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vwelx/quote

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 I hold admiral share outside of Fidelity and when I inquired they told me the could convert the shares to investor class. That was quite a while ago, but morningstar still shows VWELX which is investor class: https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vwelx/quote

Interesting. I hold only a few VG index funds at Schwab and all of those got automatically converted. I was quite happy as the inability to buy Admiral shares always annoyed me.

I just went to the Schwab site and VWENX (Wellington Admiral) is listed with very low minimum order sizes. I started to enter a trade and it seemed to go just fine. VWELX is also listed there and seems to be tradeable. Oddly, the VWELX minimum purchases are higher than VWENX. Expenses for VWENX are listed as 17bps and VWELX at 25bps. Not sure why anyone would ever buy VWELX.

So I guess anyone interested in this issue would probably have to contact Fido to see what their deal is.

[atmsmshr]

Fidelity because of:
- close by office that we have an established relationship (for DW)
- Good customer service
- Good web site
- Good phone app
- international ATM
- Credit card rebate
- my pension administrator
- previous custodian of 401k
- and just plain inertia

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter Are you sure this is still the case? I believe that VG eliminated the "Investor" share class and moved everyone to "Admiral" class. IIRC that happened at Schwab a little more than a year ago. So while I was a lowly Schwab Investor with far more invested than the Admiral threshold, I have now been dubbed Admiral.

I've only had Adm shares for years, but I didn't realize they'd eliminated the Inv share class. Thanks for the heads up.

[DrRoy]

I've also dealt with both, but have been Fidelity for decades.

[Markola]

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Originally Posted by atmsmshr Fidelity because of: - close by office that we have an established relationship (for DW) - Good customer service - Good web site - Good phone app - international ATM - Credit card rebate - my pension administrator - previous custodian of 401k - and just plain inertia

Good reasons. It’s difficult to put a value on the comfort level that comes with first one.

[Oilcan]

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Originally Posted by Markola Good reasons. It’s difficult to put a value on the comfort level that comes with first one.

Our office just closed nine days ago. I usually used to go in to their office about once per month for various reasons so I'm going to miss that part. But in today's world with all the technology we can still do all the things we used to do with Zoom, good old phone calls, etc.

I look for more of the brokerages to close there doors in the next year or two. With them reducing fees and in some cases eliminating fees on their products in the last couple of years, they have to cut their budgets somewhere and rely on tech to continue to do business with there clients.

[youbet]

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Originally Posted by Markola This thread is about Fido and VG but others have mentioned their Schwab experiences, too. I started investing in my 20s at Schwab and had good service experiences. After settling on an index fund strategy, I looked around one day and realized, a) I own nothing but VG funds, and b) Who is paying for all these fancy downtown offices? Answer: Probably me in ways that I can’t see. One day a Schwab advisor called me out of the blue to say I was making a big mistake being in index funds and he could do better. That’s when I moved everything to Vanguard and haven’t looked back. It was about $700K at the time, which generated a concerned call from a manager and an honest answer from me.

The tone of your post might inadvertently give the impression that Schwab might push for active management of your account by a Schwab compensated "advisor." They do offer a wide variety of services including relationships with FA's, robo-investing, etc. But, other than your anecdotal story, I've never heard of a Schwab employee pushing to bring assets under paid management.

I've been with Schwab for over 30 years and have never, even in the smallest way, been pushed towards using a "Schwab advisor." I see mention of these services on their site along with mention of many other services, but never feel pressured in the slightest to partake as I might if my funds were at Edward Jones, etc.

[Markola]

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Originally Posted by youbet The tone of your post might inadvertently give the impression that Schwab might push for active management of your account by a Schwab compensated "advisor." They do offer a wide variety of services including relationships with FA's, robo-investing, etc. But, other than your anecdotal story, I've never heard of a Schwab employee pushing to bring assets under paid management. I've been with Schwab for over 30 years and have never, even in the smallest way, been pushed towards using a "Schwab advisor." I see mention of these services on their site along with mention of many other services, but never feel pressured in the slightest to partake as I might if my funds were at Edward Jones, etc.

I don’t know that he was aiming to actively manage my money, as in an AUM arrangement, and Schwab’s reputation is infinitely better than Edward Jones’. As I said, I generally had a good experience as a Schwab client. The fact is, one day a Schwab agent called me out of the blue, insulted my index fund strategy and wanted me to come in to the office so he could advise me how to do it better. There was certainly some angle I didn’t like, and talk about “tone”. I’d been thinking of moving to Vanguard for the alignment reasons noted and this encounter sparked action.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet The tone of your post might inadvertently give the impression that Schwab might push for active management of your account by a Schwab compensated "advisor." They do offer a wide variety of services including relationships with FA's, robo-investing, etc. But, other than your anecdotal story, I've never heard of a Schwab employee pushing to bring assets under paid management. I've been with Schwab for over 30 years and have never, even in the smallest way, been pushed towards using a "Schwab advisor." I see mention of these services on their site along with mention of many other services, but never feel pressured in the slightest to partake as I might if my funds were at Edward Jones, etc.

Same with us. In fact I don't think our guy is allowed to pitch investments like specific mutual funds, etc I have asked maybe once and got pointed to the Schwab "select" list or whatever they call it. He does get a regular payment based on our account balances but it's not huge.

That said, I recently got a notice that their compensation is changing. Details here: https://www.schwab.com/legal/compens...s-compensation Reading this I could see where there might be more pressure on the reps to sell services, but there is an interesting statement: "We aggregate within each of these [compensation] categories a range of advisory programs or investment products that are similar in terms of complexity and the time, on average, it is expected to take a Financial Consultant to work with a client. We do this to guard against a Financial Consultant having undue incentives when giving investment advice." How serious they are and how it will work out in practice remains to be seen.

Personally I am not at all worried that my guy will morph into Fast Eddie.

[youbet]

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Originally Posted by Markola I don’t know that he was aiming to actively manage my money, as in an AUM arrangement, and Schwab’s reputation is infinitely better than Edward Jones’. As I said, I generally had a good experience as a Schwab client. The fact is, one day a Schwab agent called me out of the blue, insulted my index fund strategy and wanted me to come in to the office so he could advise me how to do it better. There was certainly some angle I didn’t like, and talk about “tone”. I’d been thinking of moving to Vanguard for the alignment reasons noted and this encounter sparked action.

OK, understood.

If it weren't for the fact that I actively trade about 5% of our assets (95% buy and hold), I might have gone with Vanguard years ago. But at that time, Vanguard's brokerage services were poor. And, I wanted to have a local, walk-in office for DW staffed with people that would handle administrative issues (transfers, setting up POA's, etc.) without hassle. So I interviewed Fidelity and Schwab and went with Schwab. Previously, I had been with Paine Webber.

Schwab hasn't been entirely issue-free over the decades, for sure. At one time, you couldn't hold Vanguard Admiral shares there, for example. (My largest holding, by far, is VTSAX.) And today, their interest rates on idle cash are poor and you have to do some maneuvering around that. And you can see evidence of fewer perks (classes, seminars, etc.) than in the past likely due to the competitive cost structure they find themselves in.

But all in all, I can't find anyplace today I'd rather be at this time of life and have no regrets over having been a long term customer.

[youbet]

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Originally Posted by OldShooter Same with us. In fact I don't think our guy is allowed to pitch investments like specific mutual funds, etc I have asked maybe once and got pointed to the Schwab "select" list or whatever they call it. He does get a regular payment based on our account balances but it's not huge. That said, I recently got a notice that their compensation is changing. Details here: https://www.schwab.com/legal/compens...s-compensation Reading this I could see where there might be more pressure on the reps to sell services, but there is an interesting statement: "We aggregate within each of these [compensation] categories a range of advisory programs or investment products that are similar in terms of complexity and the time, on average, it is expected to take a Financial Consultant to work with a client. We do this to guard against a Financial Consultant having undue incentives when giving investment advice." How serious they are and how it will work out in practice remains to be seen. Personally I am not at all worried that my guy will morph into Fast Eddie.

I read the compensation notice with interest too.......

Since I don't receive any individualized investment advise or pay for any services from Schwab, I'm not too concerned. Generally, when I see my rep in person it's because I wanted to have some administrative service taken care of for me (setting up some POA's for example) and I dropped by to get some explanations and sign the forms. While I'm there I usually ask about some of the fee-based FA services so I'm informed. If I should predecease DW, she'd need help both managing the FIRE portfolio and with taxes. I want to be sure I understand that Schwab would be a good place for her to be and the rep and I usually chat about that scenario and the services (and their costs) that are available. Of course he'd like to sell me some services now! But he knows I'm a DIYer and just tells me what they offer, what the costs are and sends me home with some brochures. And I go on being a DIYer, low cost, investor.

So, I'm not worried about my guy becoming "Fast Eddie" either.

[mickeyd]

With FIDO the Johnson family owns it. With VG, investors do. Your choice though.

[PatrickA5]

We moved everything from VG to Fido last year (in kind). Mainly for the CMA account, better customer service and the ability to go to an actual storefront. I think this will be better for DW when I'm gone.

[PatrickA5]

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Originally Posted by mickeyd With FIDO the Johnson family owns it. With VG, investors do. Your choice though.

I was with VG for years (before moving to Fidelity), but not sure I ever really understood what benefit the above provided for me. With fees being for the most part equal these days, I don't see the benefit.

[MRG]

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Originally Posted by PatrickA5 I was with VG for years (before moving to Fidelity), but not sure I ever really understood what benefit the above provided for me. With fees being for the most part equal these days, I don't see the benefit.

I spent two days of my life arguing with a new Fidelity private client representative about him wanting my to buy an annuity with ALL my assets. When I complained to the branch manager I no longer have a private client representative.

While you can stay on the inexpensive side of Fidelity it's not guaranteed.

[PatrickA5]

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Originally Posted by MRG I spent two days of my life arguing with a new Fidelity private client representative about him wanting my to buy an annuity with ALL my assets. When I complained to the branch manager I no longer have a private client representative. While you can stay on the inexpensive side of Fidelity it's not guaranteed.

While my local advisor has never tried to sell me on anything, I can see how a over eager advisor could try to lead us DIYers astray. I have been "grooming" DW to say NO.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 While my local advisor has never tried to sell me on anything, I can see how a over eager advisor could try to lead us DIYers astray. I have been "grooming" DW to say NO.

I have assets at Fidelity and Vanguard. DW'S been instructed if I go first move everything to Vanguard and put it in PAS and just take whatever she needs.