First Brokerage account

[SSMRI74]

Looking to open a brokerage account, who would you pick and why? Thanks folks

 

[MRG]

Fidelity's order execution and transparency is hard to beat. They're listening to the Wallstreetbets crowd and improving their mobile app to better than the competitions.

 

[finnski1]

I've been in TD Ameritrade and Fidelity forever. Very happy with both and use both often. Everyone has cheap transaction fees these days.

 

[OldShooter]

Here is the general advice I give people in my Adult-Ed investing class:

First, it is highly unlikely that any broker or advisor can make more money for you than you can make for yourself if you know a very few simple investing rules. A quick read: "If You Can" by William Bernstein https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf (free 16 page download)

Avoid the storefront "investment advisors." In particular, Fast Eddy Jones. These folks' goal is to transfer your money to themselves by selling high-cost products and charging ridiculous fees.

Avoid brokers owned by large banks, like Merrill Lynch, RBC, Morgan Stanley, etc. Their goal is to transfer your money to themselves. If you have less than about $10M the process will be highly automated. Over $10M it will be more personalized.

Avoid brokers owned by insurance companies like Prudential, Thrivent, etc. Their goal is to sell you high-cost insurance products. Insurance is almost never a good investment. Plain jane term life is the only insurance product you should buy until it comes time to consider long-term care insurance.

Avoid brokers that are new to the business, like within the last ten or twenty years. This will help you avoid insanity like RobinHood.

Before committing to any individual, check them out at https://brokercheck.finra.org/

Seek out brokers whose main business is to serve the individual investor market, not those for whom it is a sideline.

The result of all this filtering will probably lead you to the three brokers that are popular here: Schwab, Fidelity (aka Fido), and Vanguard (aka VG). Schwab and Fido are pretty much equals in every aspect; VG tends to be slightly lower cost and slightly less service. In the happy event you have Schwab and Fido offices nearby, pay each a visit and listen to the pitch. Talk to VG on the phone and get the pitch. Assuming you are a new investor, I think you'll be happier with a broker where you can visit and talk face-to-face.

(You may read about TDAmeritrade; they are being acquired by Schwab, so not worth your time to investigate.)

Fidelity's order execution and transparency is hard to beat. They're listening to the Wallstreetbets crowd and improving their mobile app to better than the competitions.

WADR to @MRG, this should not matter to you. You should be an investor, not a trader. If you do not understand this or are not convinced, I suggest some reading:

"The Coffee House Investor" by Bill Schultheis https://www.coffeehouseinvestor.com/

"The Bogleheads Guide to Investing" by Taylor Larimore et al https://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/0470067365

"Winning the Loser's Game" by Charles Ellis https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Losers-Game-6th-Strategies/dp/0071813659

 

[NW-Bound]

I have accounts at Schwab and Merrill Edge. I used to have accounts with a couple other brokerages as well, which have gone defunct or merged with another.

My accounts at Schwab go back 25+ years. Their service is the best. That's why I keep my accounts, even before they slash their trading fee to 0.

Some people say Fidelity is also good, but I have not tried them. See no reason to.

I opened some accounts at Vanguard 12 years ago to test them out. After seeing the service level, I decided that Schwab and Merrill Edge would be more suitable for me as an active investor, even though I rarely need anything from my brokers. I decided not to move more money over. My accounts at Vanguard currently hold only some Vanguard MFs.

 

[SSMRI74]

Update….

So I decided to go with fidelity I’ve deposited 30k. I was thinking about the 3 fund portfolio all which have little to zero expense ratio

FZROX. Fidelity zero total index
FZILX. Fidelity zero International index.
FXNAX. Fidelity total bond


Any thoughts on these or other suggestions?

I do plan on retirement between 5-8 years range. I’ll turn 47 this year.

Ive got a pretty good nest egg from 20+ years of 401k and personal ROTh contributions

Thanks

 

[WhatsIRR]

Those are the 3 funds I use in my 401K/IRA.

You may check on taxes using mutual funds in a taxable brokerage. I’ve read that ETFs can be more tax efficient, I have ITOT and IXUS in my brokerage. I also have a bunch of dividend stocks so I am not the most tax efficient…

 

[SnowballCamper]

Sounds good. I was going to comment that you should pick the broker to match the funds... e.g. not hold vanguard funds in a fidelity account. I have some Vanguard funds in a Schwab account, and the transaction fees are a bit high.

 

[1242Vintage]

The guy I use is an old friend from MBA school days twenty+ years ago. He is with Merrill Lynch private client group and has done an excellent job over the decades with our investments.

He also cares for my Mom’s portfolio. Mom and I have a q’tly conference call with him to review performance and to make necessary adjustments to mitigate risk and tax implications.

In my case the Financial Advisor I work with is more important than the firm that employs him. If my friend changed firms, I would likely follow him.

 

[old medic]

I too have just opened my 1st brokerage account. Its more for a transfer starting point from our savings to Roth, but will be leaving some to try playing with.

 

[jazz4cash]

Fidelity's order execution and transparency is hard to beat. They're listening to the Wallstreetbets crowd

I like Fidelity but this would be a negative for me. I hope it’s not true.

 

[MRG]

I like Fidelity but this would be a negative for me. I hope it’s not true.

They are, go look at the u/fidelity accounts history. The WSB group has some good criticism about the current software, especially the mobile app. Look no further than the current beta that was driven by WSB. I'm using it now still not sure of the value add for me. I trade mostly options and it doesn't do much for them yet. It's geared towards active stock trade and fixed glaring deficiencies in the current system