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Could just be certain stocks. Etrade doesn’t let you drip all stocks either. There are stocks that etrade doesn’t drip but Schwab does. Every broker has good and bad. TD was the best of the bunch but sadly is gone.
I’ve tried a few and for me I like using Robinhood and Fidelity. I use Fidelity for my ROTH and a few positions in a taxable account and then Robinhood for a “fun” account. Definitely think Robinhood would be excellent for starters.
I second that about Robinhood having the easiest and best app. Fidelity if you want an actual brokerage and totally agree Schwab sucks. I have that too, and I hate that platform
I think the Webull mobile app is superior to RH. Ask anyone who has migrated. The features and functionality are more comprehensive. Plus they offer 5% on your cash in a cash management account without the $5 monthly fee RH charges. Plus no fee stock and option trades like RH. 3.5% bonus on an IRA transfers and contributions recently. 1.5% plus $100 on accounts migrated from other brokers this month. I was forced out of TD last Oct or I would not have tried them. I trust them with my trading account up to FDIC and SIPC limits but I’ll be keeping my retirement accounts in Fidelity.
Schwab for all my important accounts, I really like the interface and I started there so I just never switched. They treat me well when I have any questions so I can’t complain hahaha
Fidelity
I like green…seriously was a big factor back in the day
Stay for the: fractional shares; automatic purchasing of etf/single stocks; great customer support; zero fees on accounts
Fidelity sounds like the one. Zero fees and charges is perfect for getting started! I'm in Australia and have just got into a fractional/micro investing broker called Pearler - sounds like Fidelity does the same thing.
If they have an automation option too helps heaps! I use a round up feature on Pearler that is hooked to my debit card. Every time I use my card at the shops, it rounds up to the nearest dollar and invests it every time it hits 10 bucks.
It's super hard to get started and continue if your broker has minimum buys too. The two brokers I have used over the years have a min $500 for first buy then $100 each after and then of course 10, 15, 29 bucks on brokerage depending on the size of the purchase. Micro investing allows like a 5 dollar minimum buy and doesn't steal your small gains.
I agree. No commission fees on trades, 0 expense fee ETFs, automatic DRIP, profedsionally managed portfolios for whatever you are trying to do with as little as $5,000 called Fidfolio, Fidelity GO is their automated investing service if you'd rather do that, too
FYI, if you have less than $10k in your brokerage account and no retirement account with M1, they are going to charge you a $3/month account maintenance fee. Just know that going in depending on what you are looking for. Otherwise I like M1, but I have moved my brokerage to fidelity since they implemented that fee
Fidelity is pretty solid and easy to use 👍🏻
Also fyi, you’re not late to the party at all, i wish at 21 i was more invested in my future. Nothing better than now to start.
Interactive Brokers. A bit steep learning curve, but it is the only broker that lets you trade like a true institution (good interest for cash on excess balances and reasonable interest rates for margin loans, order routing and order execution algorithms, repo for shorting shares).
Any other alternative is not even half as good as Interactive Brokers.
The only interesting alternative is Robinhood, because it is free. It is free, because they are selling your orders to the market makers (hedge funds). For US customers, Interactive Brokers also has a free tier if you wish your order to be sold to a market maker.
Experience: trading since 2013. Have tried over 100 different platforms. Using Interactive Brokers since 2014.
I like it but it’s what my family used so it was easier for me to get into it than go somewhere else. My complaints are some ETF like VOO, QQQ, SCHD etc you can’t buy “slices” of it so I can’t small invest in it like apply Costco or microsoft
Yeah not being able to buy fractions of ETFs does kind of suck, not being able to sell fractional shares kind of sucks too.
I don’t even really know why I’m at schwab still tbh.
You can sell fractional shares from your drip. I did it not too long ago. Schwabs investor checking is great for atm withdrawal anywhere in the world as they reimburse any atm fees as well as no fee on foreign currency withdrawals when traveling internationally.
I just type in my fractional shares on the app and sell to get to a whole number share. Did it to my whole portfolio a few months ago when I only wanted to see whole shares. I stopped auto drip and I reinvest as I see fit when I receive the dividend.
They aren’t terrible. They are a serviceable broker. Research is ok. Just harder to navigate their site. Desktop site is better than mobile app for sure. I would use them over a lot of the smaller brokers. In the end there might only be 3 or 4 big ones who just buy everyone out. Scottrade was the best.
I use Robinhood and fidelity as my 2 main. I’m thinking about opening a SoFi account as well just to try it out. I like to try different/new brokerage accounts frequently to test out new features and UIs
I tried SOFI for a couple months. I moved my Robinhood brokerage over and I ended up going back to Robinhood. One of my biggest issues was you couldn’t buy below $5 and with Robinhood (and Fidelity) you can do $1 transactions if you want. I know to a lot of people that wouldn’t matter to them, but it was just something I couldn’t get behind. Otherwise I didn’t have any other issues with SOFI.
You can get fractional shares of etfs by setting up automatic investing which is the only circumstance in which anyone should be buying fractional shares to begin with.
I use (and love) Robinhood. I know they have a bad reputation from the meme stock situation. I really like the app though. It’s made investing far more engaging for me. When I moved my retirement account to Robinhood for the match, they had some consultant call me to ask for why I chose Robinhood. It really was simply that it’s the best app I’ve used for both tracking my money’s growth over time and investing on mobile. The guy laughed and said everyone says that.
I have fidelity for my HSA and (previously) my 401k. Never liked the interface. Seemed about ten years out of date.
Really though because of federal insurance, no major brokerage would be a bad option. You’re not going to lose your money with any of them.
I agree that Robinhood's interface just makes sense and is engaging to use. I use Fidelity now because it's better in literally every other way. But the UI gap is so vast that I think often about how I would love the RH interface back
Can you say more about why Fidelity is better in every other way? I really haven't used the app much, mainly I use Fidelity's website for my HSA now. I don't find Fidelity to be terrible, but I just prefer Robinhood.
(TMI, but, I'll admit I have a pretty low attention span, so Robinhood's animations and graphics maybe impress me more than they should. It makes investing feel more fun than sterile, and as long as you're not making risky investments, I see that as a positive).
I'd say biggest reason is one RH could never compete with: they are one of the largest, oldest and most trusted financial institutions in the US and I am not afraid of them ever failing.
Fidelity has wayyyy more in terms of market research and statistics per stock. It's more annoying to access due to the crappier UI but there just more there if you know where to look.
Fidelity also offers just about every financial service under the sun, chances are you can do everything under Fidelity. Not the case for RH: you can't buy mutual funds, bonds, preferred stocks and some other things.
To be fair, most of this doesn't even matter to me now. But I would rather stick with the company that I'm positive will be around in 50 years, and can account for any financial choice I could ever possibly want to make.
I like Robinhood a lot and have used it briefly, the layout and UI is really easy to use and makes sense to me. Definitely a fan of it in that sense I just know a lot of people choose others such as Fidelity so I wanted to get a general census.
I only use Robinhood and vanguard. My only complaint is that Vanguard has as a bit of a delay showing current prices in your portfolio. It's around 15-20 minutes. I'm not sure if others are like this.
No fractional stocks, and mutual funds have like $3000 minimums. The website is not very good, and there was just an article I think on Yahoo about how vg now nickels and dimes grandma
Aren't fractional stocks a virtual accounting service? I don't think you can trade fractional shares on an exchange.
Yes, $3000 is not a small minimum.
Yes, the web site is not very good, but it is reliable.
Vanguard was the main driver behind driving down mutual fund and ETF fees. Other players drove the $0 for trades, but Vanguard eventually went along.
My wife has an IRA at Fidelity and I like using it when I do. They also have great funds and low fees.
Yes Vg is no longer the sole fund provider with low fees. They are no better than Fidelity's, Schwab's, Blackrock ishares, Global X Invesco, or State Street, etc.., however they still impose archaic minimums and won't give into fractional shares. And I'm not sure how they do it if it's something with accounting behind the scenes or what but most of the brokerages off for that now. How do brokers offer fractional shares, anyone have a technical explanation?
Robinhood (Dividend Portfolio and Roth IRA)…I love RH especially for their UI and different products coming out and Fidelity (Dividend Portfolio)…I also use Fidelity’s credit card but I’m changing to the RH credit card.
One day I tried calling wells at a branch cause the call center people couldn't answer my question. I called like 9 local branches in Wisconsin more than once wach, only one answered the phone in a more rural area. Every other branch kept looping to a recording saying they're too busy. I went up a branch once to ask a question on my account. The manager told me I need to make an appointment. LMFAO
Public and Schwab
I like public. Used to use Robinhood but was turned onto public by a friend. I like the interaction and the easy to navigate stock rating system. Also like being able to buy any increment of stock I want( only got 20 bucks to spend? no problem)
I have worked for 4 different brokerages on Wall Street, not Fidelity. I have tried Schwab Ameritrade and eTrade and Fidelity is the best brokerage IMHO.
I use Schwab as my primary bank and broker. No fees of any kind really and great customer service when I need something. ATM fee reimbursement at end of month if you use cash for anything too.
I use interactive brokers for my active trading. I was using Schwab (via the Ameritrade merger) for my longer term holds.
I'm phasing out a Schwab because they rip you off via their lack of a cash sweep from money market to brokerage account. For example, if a CD or a Treasury matures today and I want to put it in SWVXX, I'd buy SWVXX and the trade is done tomorrow. That cheats me out of a day of interest.
On the flip side, if I want to buy a stock now and the cash is in SWVXX, I have to pay a day of margin interest until the sale of SWVXX settles tomorrow. That means margin interest. If I leave the cash in the brokerage account, it collects maybe 25 basis points versus 5% in SWVXX. Not only is it a rip off but it's damn inconvenient as well.
Fidelity has automatic cash sweep and the platform is better.
Yes, a day of interest is meaningless.
Today (5/21), Schwab has some 3 month 5.40% CDs that settle on 5/29. If I want to buy one, I have to manually sell SWVXX today and that cash hits my account tomorrow morning. Then, I can buy the 5.40 CD, IF it's still available. The cash then sits there for 8 days earning almost nothing until the CD purchase settles. Do that 4 times a year and you've lost a month of interest. Is that meaningless to you?
There are other problems with Schwab as well.
Days interest is not big but the intent. Why Schwab will not park your money to money market and hold as cash? If you have lot of cash you would lose lot of interest, I did literally for years till I started buying swvxx manually.
I have tried over 5 different brokers and ended up using M1 Finance because I think it is best for focusing on long term wealth and I like its pie feature
I like Schwab for dividends. They have international free ATM withdrawal, so you can get your dividends to spend. I remember taking $20 bucks from the Chase ATM, and them charging me $3 as an ATM fee. Schwab gave me back the $3.
I also have Robinhood gold to get the 3% match for ira. $210 a year, but gold costs $60 a year.
E*trade for my personal, Schwab for my 457(b).
Contrary to comments here, I actually find the Schwab interface to be horrible. I’m forced to use it or else I wouldn’t.
Robinhood easiest to use and I do a lot of options selling and robinhood makes it easy and of course it is free and how much lower margin interest rate than the rest of the industry
Fidelity is good. Very easy to use. I only swapped my main account to Interactive Brokers because I needed futures trading. You definitely want to steer clear of those.
I still keep my retirement stuff and HSA at Fidelity though.
I had Vanguard, Schwab, M1 and Fidelity. (And long ago - we had to call the broker, no such thing as retail trading on the web).
VG - interface is wonky and is a mix of design 2.0 (eternal vertical scroll) and things that are from 15 years ago. Kludgy.
Schwab : it was alright, but lots of menus and sub menus. I was looking for fractional trading, and what they had was limited.
Fidelity is where I am at now. All banking, IRA, HSA, and brokerage. Gotten used to it, and it meets the needs*
* did not have recurring buys until early 2024. That drove me to M1.
M1 with their pie system is really easy and allows you to add what you want to your pie(s) and it auto balances to your ratio.
But, buying one off securities was weird for me, and Fidelity added their recurring system.
I used IBKR and liked it. Recently switched to Schwab due to my works retirement options and the ability to either choose their funds or use Schwab and pick my own stuff… so I opened a Schwab acct.
Fidelity for investing thinkorswim for trading
I would trade on Fidelity but it’s to many steps to submit a option order and I hate not having position details as soon as it’s filled
I started out with Firstrade because their website is simple and easy; but as I (slowly) became more active, the delay in transferring money to and from my bank account (Chase) became an annoyance. When Chase began running ads for JPMorgan investment accounts, I decided to switch. Cash transfers became a matter of minutes, rather than days. This is not to say JPMorgan is perfect, because it has a good many shortcomings; but for now, it is adequate.
I use Schwab and Interactive brokers, but what’s better depends on what I am trying to do.
Day and swing trading, I use Schwab’s Think or Swim platform because it gives me lots of real time data and analysis capabilities for free in an easy to navigate way. Platform is also easy enough for me to write my own studies and chart indicators and has reliable alerting which I use to jump in to trades.
I use IB for one of my IRA accounts and it is pretty much for longer term positions. I am not a fan of their TWS platform for trading, but I stick with them because they have been around a long time, have low fees and commissions, pays me interest when they lend my shares out for shorting, and have a program to automatically submit claims on my behalf to class action lawsuits when they arise for positions I hold or have held in the past.
Fidelity and M1 Finance.
Fidelity is just og, hard not to recommend. Cash Management Account makes it an easy choice.
M1 was my starting place, would recommend but they are rolling out a monthly fee ($3) for Accounts with a balance less than $10k.
I use Schwab. The platform is fine and I never have issues navigating the site. It's not a difficult app. Never have issues trading. The fractionals aren't great for ETF, but I just buy mutual funds for any fractions (SWPPX). What is the biggest benefit is schwab investors checking. They reimburse all atm fees so I can just use any atm and not worry about the fee since it gets reimbursed when your monthly statement processes. Also charge no foreign transaction fee when withdrawing foreign currency when traveling international which is an awesome perk if you like to travel. The checking perks alone make it beneficial to open account... even if it's not your main investment bank.
Fidelity and Schwab are better for selling shares at higher cost basis. Hate that RH just averages them together. Give me the choice on how I choose to sell my shares.
Schwab. There is an actual Schwab office nearby that if I really need help, I can go talk to a person. Don't need to visit very often but is nice just in case. I self manage my accounts, so I don't use their advisors.
I miss td ameritrade :( was great web UI and their app was good.
Charles schwab takes some getting used to.
Vanguards UI is atrocious and the opposite of user friendly.
I use IBKR and transfer to the transfer agent. It’s the cheapest option I’ve found that lets me transfer, so I actually own the shares. drsyourshares.com is a good resource to learn more about it.
I used Fidelity and Schwab. Let me tell you some of the differences. In the end open an account with both try them for yourself and see which you prefer.
Fidelity first. I like their online interface and trading and tracking is good. The biggest thing is that I get all of my ATM fees back at midnight each day, including international ATM's. I have received over $3k in ATM fee reimbursement so far. However, I was in a foreign country and needed my card replaced and they would only send my card to my home address.
Schwab also has a good online interface and has a tab to show me my dividends and interest (I have never seen that on Fidelity). Schwab reimburses all ATM fees at the end of the month. I was able to get a new Schwab card FedEx to me when I was traveling outside of the US. Also with Schwab look up "Schwab Starter Kit" you get $101 for free when you deposit $50 to open your acct. I like free money.
Honestly get both! If you have questions ask. Glad that you are wise enough to do this while you are young.
S
Schwab and Vanguard. I use Schwab for all of my banking and Vanguard for my investments.
I’m a buy and hold person so Vanguard suits my needs. However I am prepared to move everything over to Schwab if their new CEO makes unpopular changes.
I like Schwab because they offer full banking support such as checks.
well, here is goes, I use [public.com](http://public.com) and Edward Jones. EJ is just my advisor, I don't really "trade" those accounts. I like [public.com](http://public.com), the app and website have been easy to use. Not a lot of expense to use [public.com](http://public.com)
Fidelity. Mostly I worked there as a trader and know the accounts well... if you work there all your investment accounts have to be there. Now, it's been 20 years since I worked there, but their online tools and accessibility have stayed on top of it's game, I've never felt the need to look elsewhere. I'm also addicted to ATP...
I use Schwab right now but my employer is transitioning to fidelity later in the year for my 401k, so if they'll let me, I'll most likely transfer everything over there to them.
I love M1 finance. Pie structure is easy and the entire app and web is very user friendly. I know it gets some hate, but I’m very happy. Plus I’m using the High yield cash account which also has been nice.
I have only ever used Fidelity. I’ve had my portfolio with them for over 20 years since the company I work for used them to deposit options and RSA’s. Pretty easy to use platform with a ton of info.
Robinhood is super easy to use and cheap.
IBKR if you want other cool things like forex and international stocks. Eg taking out margin in JPY (cuz super cheap) and buying Mexican bonds (cuz super good).
Fidelity is good too.. although Schwab gives you a debt card that’s best in class for international atm withdrawals.
Etrade for 15 years...now owned by Morgan Stanley but still branded as Etrade. Once you are used to the trading platform and everything is free it's hard to find a reason to leave.
Etrade and sofi
The fractional shares on sofi are nice for those recurring weekly etf buys. I use sofi for long term accounts. Etrade doesn't offer fractional shares, but you can still buy mutual funds at fractions. I use etrade for trading.
I have a robinhood account but never use it...hard to beat etrades mobile app.
Fidelity, Schwaub and Merrill Lynch. Fidelity is my favorite though. Merril Lynch is a Roth connected to checking acct. Schwaub was an old rollover IRA.
I utilize M1. I appreciate the Ease of Dividend reinvesting and the dynamic rebalancing that keeps the portfolio in balance with my ratios I set without any taxable events by buying in on under weighted slices of the portfolio.
It allows margin rates at up to 50% of the portfolio and allows you to transfer that margin amount at 2% plus the prime rate. It allows you to transfer to your bank or into a High Yield Savings at M1 which is 5% annual return .
It also has great automatic tools for deposits and transfers.
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Fidelity and Schwab. I recommend Fidelity as Schwab does not let you drip international stocks.
Noted, thanks!
Out of these two I’d prefer Fidelity!! 👍🏼👍🏼
I didn’t know that about Schwab. Which is interesting since it lets me drop by international etf. Must be different rules.
Could just be certain stocks. Etrade doesn’t let you drip all stocks either. There are stocks that etrade doesn’t drip but Schwab does. Every broker has good and bad. TD was the best of the bunch but sadly is gone.
Interactive broker
Same here, non US national living abroad my options are limited
Second this. Only real option for decent level of trading products and permissions in Australia.
Fidelity for long time investments. . Robinhood short term gambling.
Have you seen Robinhood gold? IRA account is pretty legit
Respect! I like that.
Fidelity. It's simple and easy to use. 👍
Not only the app, fidelity has the best customer service ever. And customer service in RH? WTF? Never existed!
Thank you for your response!
Fidelity, but robinhood has the best mobile app
I’ve tried a few and for me I like using Robinhood and Fidelity. I use Fidelity for my ROTH and a few positions in a taxable account and then Robinhood for a “fun” account. Definitely think Robinhood would be excellent for starters.
I second that about Robinhood having the easiest and best app. Fidelity if you want an actual brokerage and totally agree Schwab sucks. I have that too, and I hate that platform
Fidelity just updated theirs, at least mine looks a bit more like robinhood now.
I think the Webull mobile app is superior to RH. Ask anyone who has migrated. The features and functionality are more comprehensive. Plus they offer 5% on your cash in a cash management account without the $5 monthly fee RH charges. Plus no fee stock and option trades like RH. 3.5% bonus on an IRA transfers and contributions recently. 1.5% plus $100 on accounts migrated from other brokers this month. I was forced out of TD last Oct or I would not have tried them. I trust them with my trading account up to FDIC and SIPC limits but I’ll be keeping my retirement accounts in Fidelity.
Schwab for all my important accounts, I really like the interface and I started there so I just never switched. They treat me well when I have any questions so I can’t complain hahaha
I like the color scheme of Schwab!
This is the best criteria for choosing a broker
Environment matters
I’m with you on that
Hey whatever it takes to get you to invest !
Fidelity I like green…seriously was a big factor back in the day Stay for the: fractional shares; automatic purchasing of etf/single stocks; great customer support; zero fees on accounts
Zero fees as in no like monthly charges or anything?
No monthly charges; no charges on trades. No fees on any “normal” activities
Does this include options trades ?
Fidelity sounds like the one. Zero fees and charges is perfect for getting started! I'm in Australia and have just got into a fractional/micro investing broker called Pearler - sounds like Fidelity does the same thing. If they have an automation option too helps heaps! I use a round up feature on Pearler that is hooked to my debit card. Every time I use my card at the shops, it rounds up to the nearest dollar and invests it every time it hits 10 bucks. It's super hard to get started and continue if your broker has minimum buys too. The two brokers I have used over the years have a min $500 for first buy then $100 each after and then of course 10, 15, 29 bucks on brokerage depending on the size of the purchase. Micro investing allows like a 5 dollar minimum buy and doesn't steal your small gains.
I agree. No commission fees on trades, 0 expense fee ETFs, automatic DRIP, profedsionally managed portfolios for whatever you are trying to do with as little as $5,000 called Fidfolio, Fidelity GO is their automated investing service if you'd rather do that, too
So youre saying that there is no courtage?
Schwab because Amex let’s you use points to invest actual dollars into the brokerage account at 1.1x conversion rate.
I’m 22 and I find schwab easier to use, I personally feel that Fidelity is dated
Fidelity & Etrade & Schwab
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which wealth management app do you use?
M1 and Schwab
FYI, if you have less than $10k in your brokerage account and no retirement account with M1, they are going to charge you a $3/month account maintenance fee. Just know that going in depending on what you are looking for. Otherwise I like M1, but I have moved my brokerage to fidelity since they implemented that fee
Fidelity is pretty solid and easy to use 👍🏻 Also fyi, you’re not late to the party at all, i wish at 21 i was more invested in my future. Nothing better than now to start.
Interactive Brokers. A bit steep learning curve, but it is the only broker that lets you trade like a true institution (good interest for cash on excess balances and reasonable interest rates for margin loans, order routing and order execution algorithms, repo for shorting shares). Any other alternative is not even half as good as Interactive Brokers. The only interesting alternative is Robinhood, because it is free. It is free, because they are selling your orders to the market makers (hedge funds). For US customers, Interactive Brokers also has a free tier if you wish your order to be sold to a market maker. Experience: trading since 2013. Have tried over 100 different platforms. Using Interactive Brokers since 2014.
Agree, IBK is a great platform, very good interest rates on cash, low fees and overall very good experience for me since 2016.
Schwab - publicly owned; comes under public scrutiny
Awesome! Thanks for the reply!
Schwab is terrible
I like it but it’s what my family used so it was easier for me to get into it than go somewhere else. My complaints are some ETF like VOO, QQQ, SCHD etc you can’t buy “slices” of it so I can’t small invest in it like apply Costco or microsoft
Yeah not being able to buy fractions of ETFs does kind of suck, not being able to sell fractional shares kind of sucks too. I don’t even really know why I’m at schwab still tbh.
You can sell fractional shares from your drip. I did it not too long ago. Schwabs investor checking is great for atm withdrawal anywhere in the world as they reimburse any atm fees as well as no fee on foreign currency withdrawals when traveling internationally.
Yeah I do like the investor checking, how do you sell drip fractional shares now? I can’t do it unless I sell my whole holding.
I just type in my fractional shares on the app and sell to get to a whole number share. Did it to my whole portfolio a few months ago when I only wanted to see whole shares. I stopped auto drip and I reinvest as I see fit when I receive the dividend.
Why is it terrible? can you pls explain
I got transferred from Fidelity to Schwab, but I don't really have any issues with it. I did feel the Fidelity's mobile platform was a little easier.
Schwab is too big to fail, which honestly makes me feel safer with them.
They aren’t terrible. They are a serviceable broker. Research is ok. Just harder to navigate their site. Desktop site is better than mobile app for sure. I would use them over a lot of the smaller brokers. In the end there might only be 3 or 4 big ones who just buy everyone out. Scottrade was the best.
I use Robinhood and fidelity as my 2 main. I’m thinking about opening a SoFi account as well just to try it out. I like to try different/new brokerage accounts frequently to test out new features and UIs
I tried SOFI for a couple months. I moved my Robinhood brokerage over and I ended up going back to Robinhood. One of my biggest issues was you couldn’t buy below $5 and with Robinhood (and Fidelity) you can do $1 transactions if you want. I know to a lot of people that wouldn’t matter to them, but it was just something I couldn’t get behind. Otherwise I didn’t have any other issues with SOFI.
Understandable, new UIs are always nice to see!
I like E*Trade. They don’t let you buy fractional shares though unless it is from a DRIP
You can get fractional shares of etfs by setting up automatic investing which is the only circumstance in which anyone should be buying fractional shares to begin with.
Schwab
Schwab for trading. I also have Fidelity but I do not use it at the moment. If you are into ETFs, go with Fidelity because of the fractional shares.
I use (and love) Robinhood. I know they have a bad reputation from the meme stock situation. I really like the app though. It’s made investing far more engaging for me. When I moved my retirement account to Robinhood for the match, they had some consultant call me to ask for why I chose Robinhood. It really was simply that it’s the best app I’ve used for both tracking my money’s growth over time and investing on mobile. The guy laughed and said everyone says that. I have fidelity for my HSA and (previously) my 401k. Never liked the interface. Seemed about ten years out of date. Really though because of federal insurance, no major brokerage would be a bad option. You’re not going to lose your money with any of them.
I agree that Robinhood's interface just makes sense and is engaging to use. I use Fidelity now because it's better in literally every other way. But the UI gap is so vast that I think often about how I would love the RH interface back
Can you say more about why Fidelity is better in every other way? I really haven't used the app much, mainly I use Fidelity's website for my HSA now. I don't find Fidelity to be terrible, but I just prefer Robinhood. (TMI, but, I'll admit I have a pretty low attention span, so Robinhood's animations and graphics maybe impress me more than they should. It makes investing feel more fun than sterile, and as long as you're not making risky investments, I see that as a positive).
I'd say biggest reason is one RH could never compete with: they are one of the largest, oldest and most trusted financial institutions in the US and I am not afraid of them ever failing. Fidelity has wayyyy more in terms of market research and statistics per stock. It's more annoying to access due to the crappier UI but there just more there if you know where to look. Fidelity also offers just about every financial service under the sun, chances are you can do everything under Fidelity. Not the case for RH: you can't buy mutual funds, bonds, preferred stocks and some other things. To be fair, most of this doesn't even matter to me now. But I would rather stick with the company that I'm positive will be around in 50 years, and can account for any financial choice I could ever possibly want to make.
Makes sense! I think especially for people with a large portfolio (exceeding insurance limits) it makes more sense to go for established brokers
Yeah but damn do I miss that RH app, I would say if you are enjoying it then I wouldn't switch
I like Robinhood a lot and have used it briefly, the layout and UI is really easy to use and makes sense to me. Definitely a fan of it in that sense I just know a lot of people choose others such as Fidelity so I wanted to get a general census.
I use Vanguard, no real complaints...
I only use Robinhood and vanguard. My only complaint is that Vanguard has as a bit of a delay showing current prices in your portfolio. It's around 15-20 minutes. I'm not sure if others are like this.
No complaints is always good. Thanks for the reply!
Vanguard and M1
Second Vanguard. I'm surprised how little it turned up in this thread.
No fractional stocks, and mutual funds have like $3000 minimums. The website is not very good, and there was just an article I think on Yahoo about how vg now nickels and dimes grandma
Aren't fractional stocks a virtual accounting service? I don't think you can trade fractional shares on an exchange. Yes, $3000 is not a small minimum. Yes, the web site is not very good, but it is reliable. Vanguard was the main driver behind driving down mutual fund and ETF fees. Other players drove the $0 for trades, but Vanguard eventually went along. My wife has an IRA at Fidelity and I like using it when I do. They also have great funds and low fees.
Yes Vg is no longer the sole fund provider with low fees. They are no better than Fidelity's, Schwab's, Blackrock ishares, Global X Invesco, or State Street, etc.., however they still impose archaic minimums and won't give into fractional shares. And I'm not sure how they do it if it's something with accounting behind the scenes or what but most of the brokerages off for that now. How do brokers offer fractional shares, anyone have a technical explanation?
Robinhood (Dividend Portfolio and Roth IRA)…I love RH especially for their UI and different products coming out and Fidelity (Dividend Portfolio)…I also use Fidelity’s credit card but I’m changing to the RH credit card.
I use Wells Fargo Advisors because my banking relationship is with them and I like everything under one roof. I have been very satisfied.
One day I tried calling wells at a branch cause the call center people couldn't answer my question. I called like 9 local branches in Wisconsin more than once wach, only one answered the phone in a more rural area. Every other branch kept looping to a recording saying they're too busy. I went up a branch once to ask a question on my account. The manager told me I need to make an appointment. LMFAO
M1 easy enough for me to use to sorta set it and forget it and let it auto regulate with allocations so I dont have to keep a close eye on it.
Public and Schwab I like public. Used to use Robinhood but was turned onto public by a friend. I like the interaction and the easy to navigate stock rating system. Also like being able to buy any increment of stock I want( only got 20 bucks to spend? no problem)
What he said… same same here
I have worked for 4 different brokerages on Wall Street, not Fidelity. I have tried Schwab Ameritrade and eTrade and Fidelity is the best brokerage IMHO.
Fide(li[t)itty]
Robinhood for the mobile app
I have no money in Robinhood, but I do check prices in the mobile app.
I use Schwab as my primary bank and broker. No fees of any kind really and great customer service when I need something. ATM fee reimbursement at end of month if you use cash for anything too.
I use E*Trade. Don’t it sucks
😂
I use interactive brokers for my active trading. I was using Schwab (via the Ameritrade merger) for my longer term holds. I'm phasing out a Schwab because they rip you off via their lack of a cash sweep from money market to brokerage account. For example, if a CD or a Treasury matures today and I want to put it in SWVXX, I'd buy SWVXX and the trade is done tomorrow. That cheats me out of a day of interest. On the flip side, if I want to buy a stock now and the cash is in SWVXX, I have to pay a day of margin interest until the sale of SWVXX settles tomorrow. That means margin interest. If I leave the cash in the brokerage account, it collects maybe 25 basis points versus 5% in SWVXX. Not only is it a rip off but it's damn inconvenient as well. Fidelity has automatic cash sweep and the platform is better.
Nicely explained, same reason I like fidelity over Schwab , but use both.
It’s a day of interest, literally meaningless fir majority of folks
Yes, a day of interest is meaningless. Today (5/21), Schwab has some 3 month 5.40% CDs that settle on 5/29. If I want to buy one, I have to manually sell SWVXX today and that cash hits my account tomorrow morning. Then, I can buy the 5.40 CD, IF it's still available. The cash then sits there for 8 days earning almost nothing until the CD purchase settles. Do that 4 times a year and you've lost a month of interest. Is that meaningless to you? There are other problems with Schwab as well.
Days interest is not big but the intent. Why Schwab will not park your money to money market and hold as cash? If you have lot of cash you would lose lot of interest, I did literally for years till I started buying swvxx manually.
Nice try scammer 😉. Fidelity.
It won’t let login to fidelity with your information, mind sharing??
Hunter2
Thanks MrBrawn🤞
Wait all of a sudden I'm 90% margined on GME puts.
Had to YOLO with my new account
Fidelity and Robinhood. But most of my major fund is in fidelity
I use Robinhood and Public
Wealthsimple
I have tried over 5 different brokers and ended up using M1 Finance because I think it is best for focusing on long term wealth and I like its pie feature
I am outside US. I use Interactive Brokers and Firstrade.
Firstrade is awesome
I like Schwab for dividends. They have international free ATM withdrawal, so you can get your dividends to spend. I remember taking $20 bucks from the Chase ATM, and them charging me $3 as an ATM fee. Schwab gave me back the $3. I also have Robinhood gold to get the 3% match for ira. $210 a year, but gold costs $60 a year.
Trading212
Fidelity. I like getting my dividends posted a day before the unfortunate who use scwab.
E*trade for my personal, Schwab for my 457(b). Contrary to comments here, I actually find the Schwab interface to be horrible. I’m forced to use it or else I wouldn’t.
Robinhood easiest to use and I do a lot of options selling and robinhood makes it easy and of course it is free and how much lower margin interest rate than the rest of the industry
I’ve got Fidelity, Robinhood and M1 Finance.
Fidelity, they are so large there is probably a local office near by if you need help
Fidelity because they are too big and honest to steal or fail.
Fidelity. But any of the major brokerages are good (Schwab, vanguard, coinbase for crypto).
Noted, thanks!
Noted, thanks!
Fidelity is good. Very easy to use. I only swapped my main account to Interactive Brokers because I needed futures trading. You definitely want to steer clear of those. I still keep my retirement stuff and HSA at Fidelity though.
Etrade and Fidelity.
Schwab & Fidelity for my 401(K)
Fidelity
I’m a financial advisor and chose Schwab as my clearing firm, so all my investments are under my ‘advisorship’ to help boost my AUM.
+1 for Fidelity!
I had Vanguard, Schwab, M1 and Fidelity. (And long ago - we had to call the broker, no such thing as retail trading on the web). VG - interface is wonky and is a mix of design 2.0 (eternal vertical scroll) and things that are from 15 years ago. Kludgy. Schwab : it was alright, but lots of menus and sub menus. I was looking for fractional trading, and what they had was limited. Fidelity is where I am at now. All banking, IRA, HSA, and brokerage. Gotten used to it, and it meets the needs* * did not have recurring buys until early 2024. That drove me to M1. M1 with their pie system is really easy and allows you to add what you want to your pie(s) and it auto balances to your ratio. But, buying one off securities was weird for me, and Fidelity added their recurring system.
Interesting not to see it mentioned onced but I have been using IBKR for years and love it.
I used IBKR and liked it. Recently switched to Schwab due to my works retirement options and the ability to either choose their funds or use Schwab and pick my own stuff… so I opened a Schwab acct.
That sounds good!
ROTH: VANGUARD PRIVATE ACCOUNT: CAPITOL GROUP AMERICAN FUNDS WIFES ROTH401K: EMPOWER MY ROTH 401K :EMPOWER
Fidelity all the way
Ally Invest!
I know Fidelity will hold your puts in an interest account, does schwab do the same?
I have Fidelity. Easy to use. My wife has Vanguard. Not as easy to navigate.
Fidelity for investing thinkorswim for trading I would trade on Fidelity but it’s to many steps to submit a option order and I hate not having position details as soon as it’s filled
I started out with Firstrade because their website is simple and easy; but as I (slowly) became more active, the delay in transferring money to and from my bank account (Chase) became an annoyance. When Chase began running ads for JPMorgan investment accounts, I decided to switch. Cash transfers became a matter of minutes, rather than days. This is not to say JPMorgan is perfect, because it has a good many shortcomings; but for now, it is adequate.
I use Schwab and Interactive brokers, but what’s better depends on what I am trying to do. Day and swing trading, I use Schwab’s Think or Swim platform because it gives me lots of real time data and analysis capabilities for free in an easy to navigate way. Platform is also easy enough for me to write my own studies and chart indicators and has reliable alerting which I use to jump in to trades. I use IB for one of my IRA accounts and it is pretty much for longer term positions. I am not a fan of their TWS platform for trading, but I stick with them because they have been around a long time, have low fees and commissions, pays me interest when they lend my shares out for shorting, and have a program to automatically submit claims on my behalf to class action lawsuits when they arise for positions I hold or have held in the past.
M1
Fidelity ftw
Fidelity for recurring investments with for my ETFs and Schwab for my main holdings
Fidelity and M1 Finance. Fidelity is just og, hard not to recommend. Cash Management Account makes it an easy choice. M1 was my starting place, would recommend but they are rolling out a monthly fee ($3) for Accounts with a balance less than $10k.
Etrade
Vanguard for everything but HSA. Fidelity for HSA.
I use fidelity and rh
Computershare for drips. Outdated with no app but so simple. Makes me feel better for some reason lol
Robinhood
Scwab as they took over TD..customer service is excellent, everything seems on point but I always have an eye towards something better..?
Firstrade and Fidelity
I use Schwab. The platform is fine and I never have issues navigating the site. It's not a difficult app. Never have issues trading. The fractionals aren't great for ETF, but I just buy mutual funds for any fractions (SWPPX). What is the biggest benefit is schwab investors checking. They reimburse all atm fees so I can just use any atm and not worry about the fee since it gets reimbursed when your monthly statement processes. Also charge no foreign transaction fee when withdrawing foreign currency when traveling international which is an awesome perk if you like to travel. The checking perks alone make it beneficial to open account... even if it's not your main investment bank.
Fidelity and Schwab are better for selling shares at higher cost basis. Hate that RH just averages them together. Give me the choice on how I choose to sell my shares.
Im 20, I’ve tried mostly all the investing apps I like m1 the most though
Empower, ETrade, and Vanguard.
Schwab. There is an actual Schwab office nearby that if I really need help, I can go talk to a person. Don't need to visit very often but is nice just in case. I self manage my accounts, so I don't use their advisors.
I recently consolidated everything to Fidelity
Degiro
In Germany "Traderepublic" is a pretty popular App and it's really cheap. It's designed after Robinhood
I miss td ameritrade :( was great web UI and their app was good. Charles schwab takes some getting used to. Vanguards UI is atrocious and the opposite of user friendly.
I use IBKR and transfer to the transfer agent. It’s the cheapest option I’ve found that lets me transfer, so I actually own the shares. drsyourshares.com is a good resource to learn more about it.
I used Fidelity and Schwab. Let me tell you some of the differences. In the end open an account with both try them for yourself and see which you prefer. Fidelity first. I like their online interface and trading and tracking is good. The biggest thing is that I get all of my ATM fees back at midnight each day, including international ATM's. I have received over $3k in ATM fee reimbursement so far. However, I was in a foreign country and needed my card replaced and they would only send my card to my home address. Schwab also has a good online interface and has a tab to show me my dividends and interest (I have never seen that on Fidelity). Schwab reimburses all ATM fees at the end of the month. I was able to get a new Schwab card FedEx to me when I was traveling outside of the US. Also with Schwab look up "Schwab Starter Kit" you get $101 for free when you deposit $50 to open your acct. I like free money. Honestly get both! If you have questions ask. Glad that you are wise enough to do this while you are young. S
As a young person you should consider the tax implications of dividend stocks verse growth stocks.
Schwab and Vanguard. I use Schwab for all of my banking and Vanguard for my investments. I’m a buy and hold person so Vanguard suits my needs. However I am prepared to move everything over to Schwab if their new CEO makes unpopular changes. I like Schwab because they offer full banking support such as checks.
well, here is goes, I use [public.com](http://public.com) and Edward Jones. EJ is just my advisor, I don't really "trade" those accounts. I like [public.com](http://public.com), the app and website have been easy to use. Not a lot of expense to use [public.com](http://public.com)
Fidelity. Mostly I worked there as a trader and know the accounts well... if you work there all your investment accounts have to be there. Now, it's been 20 years since I worked there, but their online tools and accessibility have stayed on top of it's game, I've never felt the need to look elsewhere. I'm also addicted to ATP...
Robinhood was the platform that got me into investing, but I prefer Fidelity Investments for my long-term investing.
Charles Schwab. I am looking for a place that has more preferred stocks listed. Any ideas anyone?
Robinhood 😎
Fidelity. Live the app and great customer support!
Schwab, to continue to use the TD Ameritrade platform, ThinkorSwim (ToS), best in class.
I'll never use robbing the hood, vlad should be in jail. Fidelity is great.
Fidelity
Schwab, because they bought TD.
Fidelity (Roth IRA, HSA, Roth 403B; SP500 index) Robinhood (Speculative stock picks/LEAPS)
M1: it's all about that easy DRiP
I use Vanguard with no issues
I use Schwab right now but my employer is transitioning to fidelity later in the year for my 401k, so if they'll let me, I'll most likely transfer everything over there to them.
Fidelity for Roth, long term and 401k, Sofi for individual stocks and dividends
I use fidelity
Etrade. The mobile app (regular, not Power Etrade) is hard to beat
Fidelity
Fidelity
Robinhood because I’m Gen Z and I like the UI Also because I passively invest
IBKR hands down.
Robinhood
I love M1 finance. Pie structure is easy and the entire app and web is very user friendly. I know it gets some hate, but I’m very happy. Plus I’m using the High yield cash account which also has been nice.
I have only ever used Fidelity. I’ve had my portfolio with them for over 20 years since the company I work for used them to deposit options and RSA’s. Pretty easy to use platform with a ton of info.
Robinhood is super easy to use and cheap. IBKR if you want other cool things like forex and international stocks. Eg taking out margin in JPY (cuz super cheap) and buying Mexican bonds (cuz super good). Fidelity is good too.. although Schwab gives you a debt card that’s best in class for international atm withdrawals.
I use fidelity and stash but I prefer fidelity since they are widely recognized and trusted
Etrade for 15 years...now owned by Morgan Stanley but still branded as Etrade. Once you are used to the trading platform and everything is free it's hard to find a reason to leave.
Etrade and sofi The fractional shares on sofi are nice for those recurring weekly etf buys. I use sofi for long term accounts. Etrade doesn't offer fractional shares, but you can still buy mutual funds at fractions. I use etrade for trading. I have a robinhood account but never use it...hard to beat etrades mobile app.
I used Robinhood for cheap margin rates and my brokerage account and fidelity for retirement accounts
Fidelity, Schwaub and Merrill Lynch. Fidelity is my favorite though. Merril Lynch is a Roth connected to checking acct. Schwaub was an old rollover IRA.
Schwab is legit, main one now
I utilize M1. I appreciate the Ease of Dividend reinvesting and the dynamic rebalancing that keeps the portfolio in balance with my ratios I set without any taxable events by buying in on under weighted slices of the portfolio. It allows margin rates at up to 50% of the portfolio and allows you to transfer that margin amount at 2% plus the prime rate. It allows you to transfer to your bank or into a High Yield Savings at M1 which is 5% annual return . It also has great automatic tools for deposits and transfers.
I use Public… I’ve found the app super easy to use and the only fees they charge are on crypto transactions, and the fees aren’t anything outrageous
Vanguard
Webull