Reviews Of The Best Online Discount Brokers
Updated List Of The 10 Best Discount Brokerage Firms Below
So, you are finally sold on the idea of signing up for an investment brokerage account so you can start making money by investing in the stock market. Or, perhaps you are already an experienced trader but at times still wonder what other brokerage options are out there? These days there are a lot of options out there but it can be sort of confusing trying to find the right online broker. There are many choices available, from full service premium brokerages to deep discount online brokers. Relying on authoritative financial and investment sites for guidance and opinion reviews isn’t always definitive either since they occasionally have differing opinions. The best way to choose the best and right broker to handle your investments is to do a combination – by sticking with the popular ones that have been around for some time and have been sufficiently subjected to adequate scrutiny by the investing community, as well as go with the brokerages that have consistently appeared at the top of reputable rankings and researched reviews.
Know Thyself To Better Determine Brokerage Fit
Factors to consider when choosing the right online broker include the type of investment vehicle you intend to trade (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, indexes, options), the amount of your investment, the type and amount of research material you want, customer service, website design and layout, and trading reliability. It’s important to know what type of investor you intend to be. Do you plan on being an active trader with numerous trades per week, or do you plan on being an index, mutual fund type investor who prefers to leave and then forget it. These things matter because many brokerages charge fees and commissions that differ depending on how much you invest and how frequently you trade.
Choosing Discount Brokers Over Full Service Brokerages
I am a hands on investor so I prefer to do things myself. This is not to say I want to handle every single minute detail, but I personally don’t need the services of an expensive account adviser for investment decisions. That’s why I prefer to go with more affordable online discount brokers over their more expensive full service cousins.
Full service brokers offer a much broader variety of financial products and provide a much wider array of investment advice and research than do discount brokers, but then they charge much higher fees for their services. They justify the much higher commission rates by offering a lot of investment advice and by providing active recommendations. However, keep in mind the advice they provide are usually just educated guesses. Frequently, much of the investment advice and research material can be found elsewhere for free and the educated guesses they provide doesn’t always lead to the best investment decisions since no one can truly predict or time the market. It’s primarily sales commission-based so they frequently have an incentive to solicit business and encourage active trading, which can occasionally cause suspect and even conflict of interest investment choices. Because of the excess premium you must pay for full service firms, I recommend sticking with discount brokers.
Due to continual competition, many discount brokers now also offer a decent wealth of financial research and investment material at your online fingertips. There are less frills than premium brokers like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, or Wells Fargo, but I think for most reasonably educated investors, the discount path is the way to go. The considerably lower fees will enable you to lose less money from unnecessary commissions and help you maximize your money.
There are many brokerage firms out there from expensive fancy pants full service brokerage firms to more affordable premium discount and deep discount brokers. Since I advocate sticking with much cheaper do-it-yourself online discount companies, I’m listing the best ones in my opinion. However, all of these discount broker choices would certainly benefit more experienced, seasoned investors as well. I’m also recommending a few popular more-premium brokers such as Fidelity and Vanguard that many like for the exceptional low cost funds they offer as part of their own transaction free network of mutual funds.
The Top 10 Best Online Discount Broker (Listed In No Particular Order)
1) Zecco – Zecco is a popular online broker choice among investors who want to enjoy free trades and not have to pay a fee for each equity transaction. Currently the commission cost is free for the first 10 trades per month if you maintain a minimum of at least $2,500 in total account equity (total balance of all cash and stock value). If you are unable to maintain the balance requirement, then each trade will require a $4.50 trading fee. Even with the fee, Zecco offers one of the lowest trading fees among all popular discount brokers. Also, there are no hidden inactivity fees, which is great for those who don’t intend to trade too often. For more information, check out my review of Zecco, and my account trading experience with them.
2) TradeKing – (Note: Tradeking is currently offering new account applicants an instant free $50 bonus when they fund and trade via the provided link). TradeKing offers exceptionally low $4.95 equity trades, with no inactivity or maintenance fee, which is very good. The trading interface is pretty average but decent, and the online customer service chat feature is useful, although many brokers are starting to provide this function as well. For a more detailed breakdown of all that TradeKing has to offer in terms of combining low trading costs with premium online brokerage features, please read my TradeKing broker review.
3) E-trade – Bonus Offer: E-trade is currently offering a limited time exclusive offer of 100 free trades for both stocks and options. This special Etrade bonus offer is also available for new new IRA and Roth IRA accounts as well. If you haven’t yet opened a retirement Roth IRA, this may be your best opportunity. Etrade has been around for some time and is quite popular due to the wealth of tools and research information the company provides to account holders. Etrade is one of the few full service discount brokers out there that also offers an integrated online bank as well – complete with Etrade bank savings and Etrade checking privileges. Its stock commission rate is tiered at a standard rate of $12.99 but drops the more frequently you trade and the higher the value of your accounts. Customer service has occasionally been spotty, but it’s rapidly improving. If you’re looking for an all-in-one broker/bank, Etrade’s your best bet.
4) Scottrade – Scottrade offers actual brick and mortar branches throughout the country that some investors find useful. I personally don’t find it necessary but many appreciate the convenience of having actual branches nearby that they can visit, a benefit not offered by many other online brokers. Its biggest downsides include providing much less research material for account holders and offering a much lower interest rate for its cash accounts than its competitors. However, there are many pluses as the company offers very good customer service and provides a wide selection of No Transaction Fee (NTF) funds. Its commission fees for equity and limit trades are exceptionally low at only $7 with no share limit, and there are no inactivity fees.
5) ShareBuilder / ING Direct – (Note: ShareBuilder is offering a free $25 bonus when you open a new account). ShareBuilder was recently acquired by ING Direct. This broker provides good tutorials for beginners and is a great choice for those new to investing. I suggest sticking with the Standard subscription account as it provides more features, but those who don’t plan on trading too often may prefer the Basic account, which doesn’t charge a fee at all. Sharebuilder also offers the very useful option of automatic investments as well as dollar based investing, which allows you to invest in a particular dollar amount you choose rather than by a particular number of shares. The dollar based investing feature is very handy for trading stocks with high individual share prices like Berkshire Hathaway A Shares (BRK-A), which was last trading at $138,500 per share!
6) OptionsXpress – Options Express is a powerful online discount brokerage player that’s geared toward those who want to actively trade options and other derivative instruments as it offers very low fees for option trades. For regular equity market and limit trades, its commission charges start at $14.95 for the first 8 trades per quarter. The cost drops to $9.95 per trade thereafter. The company is popular among savvy investors and advanced traders.
7) Fidelity – I personally use Fidelity Investment as my primary individual stock and mutual fund account. Not only is the company’s customer service top notch, I think its online trading website is clean and easy to use. I invest in many of Fidelity’s high performing mutual funds and by having a brokerage account through Fidelity directly, I don’t have to worry about transaction fees when I trade Fidelity funds. Standard stock trades are $19.95, but due to its tiered system, the fees are much lower depending on the total value of your assets. I highly recommend this brokerage firm.
8) Vanguard – Vanguard is more expensive in terms of fees as each online trade costs $25 or $0.025 per share (whichever is greater). However, because Vanguard’s exceptionally low expense ratio mutual funds have performed so well, this company is great for people like me who want to invest in high performing diversified Vanguard funds without having to pay hefty fees through another broker.
9) Charles Schwab – Charles Schwab used to be a more expensive premium broker, but it seems to be matching itself up with its competition better these days by lowering and simplifying its commission tiers. The company offers an impressive wealth of research related information and fees are currently $12.95 per trade, with extra charges past 1000 shares. Schwab offers other financial features such as personal banking and credit cards, and its customer service has been decent and dependable.
10) TD Ameritrade – Ameritrade bought out Datek and merged with TD Waterhouse to finally become TD Ameritrade over the years. Among the features offered, one stands out – a predicable and single priced commission fee – a straightforward $9.99 for each market and limit trade. TD Ameritrade is not the best for mutual fund investing, but it’s very good for individual stock trading. The stock streamer program is a nice feature, but I’ve found it to be occasionally buggy and not always working properly.
For More Online Broker Rankings and Review, Please Check Out:
- Smart Money’s 2009 List Of The Best Stock Brokers
- Barron’s
- J.D. Power &, Associates
- Kiplinger
- USA Today
December 27th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Since I like Vanguard’s funds so much, I’m planning to set up through them when possible.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Hey Mrs. Micah, Yes I have Vanguard too, primarily to trade their funds as well. I wouldn’t use them for anything else though other than that since their regular commissions are rather pricey.
December 31st, 2007 at 11:11 am
Check out SogoInvest
February 12th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Also check out http://www.zecco.com
-Royce
September 1st, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I am looking for an online brokerage firm that allows so many stocks exchanges to be traded through its platform.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I am to my wits end with E*Trade. To sum it up, about 3 months ago, I opened up an account with etrade, and set up online transfer to transfer funds from my bank account. Made the transfer, and waited. After a week of no money in my account, and no word from E*Trade, I contacted customer service. They told me the funds should clear within 7 business days. 7 business days passed, and still no funds, so I called back, and they said the funds were returned and there was a “hold” on my account, and I needed to lift the hold by faxing them a form of government picture ID. I faxed them the ID, and tried to make a deposit again. Again, the funds were returned after 2 weeks, and I was charged a $25 fund return fee. I called customer service, and they said that because of the hold, I needed to sent a personal check, and they couldn’t give me any reason as to why my direct deposit wasn’t going through. I had the correct account number, and info for the account, but E*Trade wasn’t accepting it. I’ve set up multiple direct transfers before with other companies, and E*Trade is the only one I have had a problem with. I even “verified” the account with E*Trade before attempting the transfer, and it was shown as “verified” under my etrade account. Frustrated, I sent E*Trade a check to start up a new account. After they received it, it took 2 WEEKS to clear. In short, it took me almost 2 months just to get funds in to my account. I should have withdrawn my money and closed my account, but I decided to give them another chance. I optimistically thought that once I got the funds in to my account, E*Trade would function properly. I was wrong. I made a few trades (never got the “100 free trades” etrade was offering with a new account because they said it was only valid for the first 30 days the account is active. They had a “hold” on my account for the first 2 months!) and things were going fine, until last week when I checked my E*Trade account, and my net assets have completely vanished! $0.00 . I called customer service immediately, and they said they were just having technical issues with their online account, and to give it “24-48 hrs”. At this point I am fed up with the “24-48 hrs” line. I give it a WEEK and my net assets are still at $0.00, so I call them back today, and I’m informed that there is a “hold” on my account. I asked to speak with a supervisor, waited on hold for 20 minutes, and the same lady came back on and told me that the supervisor told her to send an email to one of their different accounts, and it would take “24-48 hours”. She said they would either lift the hold, or they would need me to fax in a form of government picture ID. I asked her what I could do with my existing portfolio, and the answer was “NOTHING”. I have thousands of dollars in a portfolio that I cant even see. I can’t buy, sell, or even check my balance. I can’t close the account, I can request a stock certificate and cut my losses, I can’t do a thing. I’m at the mercy of the incompetent customer service of E*Trade. I once heard someone say that “stupid people learn from their own mistakes. Smart people learn from the mistakes of other”. Be smart, and STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. You will save yourself TIME and FRUSTRATION.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Maybe you could do one day a list of discount online commodity and futures brokers.
Many if the traders who trade options, also trade e-mini S&P.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Can you do a comparison of the top 10 brokerage services offered by banks. Like Bank of America, Chase,etc.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I am looking for an on-line broker who does not cancel trailing stop losses automatically after 30 days. Scottrade cancels mine without notice.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I like to broker with the first and foremost leading companies. This is so helpful!
December 11th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I use TD Ameritrade and let me tell you of my experience:
I had bought 20,000 shares of xyz stock for under $4.00 p/s. According to the margin-account agreement, I was suppose to put-up 100% of the purchase price if the value dropped below $3.00 p/s. Within a few weeks and given our wonderful market volatility, the stock dropped to $1.25 cents p/s. WAY OVERSOLD! I didn’t panic, but TD Ameritrade did issue a small margin call for $4,000, which I promptly deposited into my account. Within two days, the stock declined again to $.86 cents p/s, and WITHOUT NOTICE
December 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I use TD Ameritrade and let me tell you of my experience:
I had bought 20,000 shares of xyz stock for under $4.00 p/s. According to the margin-account agreement, I was suppose to put-up 100% of the purchase price if the value dropped below $3.00 p/s. Within a few weeks and given our wonderful market volatility, the stock dropped to $1.25 cents p/s. WAY OVERSOLD! I didn’t panic, but TD Ameritrade did issue a small margin call for $4,000, which I promptly deposited into my account. Within two days, the stock declined again to $.86 cents p/s, and WITHOUT NOTICE they sold out approximately 4,000 shares I had in the position to cover a $3,400 margin call which was due that day, but they decided to pull the trigger early at 9:30 a.m., without giving me any chance of depositing the funds in the account or even calling to advice me or anything for that matter. I was a knee-jerk reaction on their part and absolutely unecessarily done. About 12 noon, the stock was trading at over $1.00 p/s. These companies are suppose to sell you out before the close of business AFTER the issuance of a margin call provided you don’t comply.
But given this experience and my discussion with their risk analyst and manager, they really didn’t give a s**t and the risk analyst sounded like some newbie fresh-out of college with no “REAL” world experience on the functioning of the markets. The risk analyst further stated that they had been selling-out other people for the last few weeks, like if that was suppose to restore confidence or something in their company. How foolish can they be! This company is operated by people who don’t give a crap about clients because they have so many that loosing one will not have any impact on their business.
WATCH-OUT, THEY WILL SELL YOU OUT WITHOUT WARNING! And for the record, I was NOT in federal violation of the account at the time of the sell-out. I have filed reports with the SEC, FINRA and to date have already received a reply from their cheif compliance officer stating on this letter that their will not reverse their decision because such facts are stated in the margin agreement in VERY FINE PRINT!
I am currently shopping around for another brokerage firm, but I would highly recommend that you STAY-AWAY from this company. They are crooks!
December 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’m a new investor looking for a brokerage. Based on the above, I’m completely removing E-Trade and TD Ameritrade from my short list. Thanks for the comments everyone!
January 21st, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Has anyone heard of Noble Trading.com? I am looking for an online brokerage account that I can trade on international exchanges with. Right now I have Trade King, and I love it, but I can’t trade internationally. Any suggestions?
January 24th, 2009 at 4:02 am
looking for an online broker that offers unlimited OTCBB and pinksheets stocks with a moderate commision.
January 31st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Zecco Warning! Zecco has announced they will change to $25,000 account balance to receive free trades or $4.50 commission per trade, sticking it to their current customers.
January 31st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I just got that zecco notice too. Since opening that account I have had nothing but Negative surprises. I also have a Scottrade acct and Ameritrade acct. Mostly satisfied with both of these. Was looking at thinkorswim but now they are merging with Ameritrade, so will have to see what happens there. Also just yesterday had a gtc order at zecco that did not execute and it should have.
February 8th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Just got that notice this mourning myself, I went on and pulled out my cash and will look elsewhere. I am going to look at Sogotrade.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Looking for online trader that will absorb transfer charges from old trader
March 7th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I have looked all around for discount brokers SOGOTRADE IS THE BEST 3.00 TRADES
no inactivety fees it basic for hell im a premium member an a get 1.50 trades for 10 a month really check them out tell them lloyd wolfford sent ok buy………oh and no extra fo unlimited shares 5000 100000 whatever.they have done me right…
March 13th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I wish that more of these discount brokers offered Digital Tokens for logging in.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
SogoTrade is ok but lacking in features, research, or tools. And sometimes their site does not respond and place your requested trade – I have had to re-enter the info and try again. Plus there are no options or mutual funds – just stocks and ETFs. Their customer service is OK – they pickup and respond well enough but don’t usually have a decent answer (mostly just generic info). OH – you cannot even subscribe to the Premium plan unless you have at least $2k in your account. I’m a small-timer so that’s a disappointment (harder to make a profit sometimes when your cost is $3 on both ends and you don’t have a whole lot to invest). All-in-all they are not bad. Tell them I sent you (Chris Metzger) and maybe I can get some free trades!
BTW – I used to be with ShareBuilder before they were bought by ING and stayed with them after that. They SUCK – their prices are high for what you get and their customer service is AWFUL. Unless you’re a newbie (which I was) you should steer clear of them. If you are new to investing then they would be a good choice – higher cost but you get a lot of tutorials and hand-holding (plus they have dollar-based investing). Just word to the wise.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I’m a newbie doing research to decide which online broker to join. Thanks for all the feedback as it is helpful.
Having said that… and after doing research on several sites, it seems like I can find negative comments about EVERY online broker. So, which one do I go with? Is it a case of the lesser of several evils? I realize forums are a place for people to vent and you’re likely to hear more negative than positive – but I’m now more confused than ever.
Bottom line: If more than a couple of people say, “Don’t go with company X” I cross them off my list. Every company has now been crossed off my list! LOL. HELP!
March 29th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Has anyone heard of or tried Vector vest as a broker? I heard good things and am excited about giving it a try.
Please advise or comment Thanks.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Avoid FirstTrade they are not responsive – a necessity for online trading – so they are a fish out of water.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Whatever you decide, avoid Schwab altogether! Do not even give them a chance because it will certainly cost you dearly.
I have been w/ Schwab for about 16 years as an active investor and depositor. My accounts with them are 100% owned with strong positions in cash and paid equities. My accounts net worth are closed to 7 figures. I have an outstanding credit history.
When I responded to their multiple emails about a credit card service, I was turnt out. They provided zero explanations even though they are required to do so in writing, by laws. Things simply just could not get resolved at a very basic level as almost everyone I spoke with possess minimal business-know hows and common intelligence to resolve simple business issues. It then get escalated very quickly to an internal group called Client Advocacy Team. This was where all the nastiness, incompetence, and brazen displays of abuse took place.
The individual, who came on the line was clearly a bombastic Greenhorn and who was ready to demonstrate abhorrent incompetence with boorish statements like “the buck stops here”, and “if the clients are not satisfied, they can take it outside of Schwab”. Not only he could not form complete sentences but enjoyed his poor choices of word-usage like “emotion”, “entitlement”. He also exuded an incredibly thoughtless attitude unwise for anyone who works in the financial industry during this severe economic downturn. He
Surely, this little boy who works at this Company’s Client Advocacy Team is a slimy sample of the abusive people this company is consisted of, and the ways they treat their fund depositors. In fact, I was briefed by more than one of their working associates “NOT to do business with Schwab”. When I first heard, I thought it was an inside joke. Looking back, the real joke is on anyone who continues to do bring their hard-earnt money to them. Other people I know have more horrific experiences w/ this Schwab firm, so mine was relatively more tolerable, but not forgiving one —http://www.hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/001599.html
I also have worked w/ Fidelity Inv. and find them to be more professional in the works they do. If they don’t know something, they will try to find the answers for you. They have not resorted to abusive language and certainly have not been *stupid* like their competitors at Schwab to tell the depositors to basically “take it outside”. Knock on woods!
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
The new bonus offer of 100 commission-free trades from Etrade looks pretty enticing. Those out there who aren’t Etrade customers yet ought to take a test run of the online broker bank…it’s not a bad choice.
As the blogger indicates, those looking for a one stop shopping bank and broker source will do well with E-Trade. They’re not the best in any one bank or broker function, but they do almost everything pretty well. Jack of all trades, but master of none, so to speak…
I have my Roth IRA invested with them and do all of my online banking, checking, savings, CD’s, and even recently…credit card accounting with them. Sometimes it’s good to put all of your eggs in one basket for convenience sake. Fear not…it also appears the Etrade mortgage backed security crisis is behind them. They were really struggling with mortgage issues at Etrade 1-2 years ago but it appears things are looking up for the brighter. Just giving my 3 cents.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:56 am
If you intend to open a new Scott Trade account, you can get three free Scottrade online trades (worth $21). Enter the code TRYP3208 in the box after selecting “referred by friend/received a promo code” on the application page.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Zecco is only offering free 10 trades every month now if you can maintain at least $25,000 a month or make at least 25 trades a month. Else it’s $4.50 per trade (still very cheap in my opinion. Zecco is a terribly stripped down deep discount online brokerage company, but if you’re in the market for a cheapo solution to your trading and investing news, Zecco is it. It’s hard to beat free in this market. But TradeKing comes pretty close with its $4.95 trades. TradeKing doesn’t offer free trades, but its overall cheap transaction rates and better customer service features+trading tools makes it super competitive as discount online brokers go.
May 31st, 2009 at 8:46 pm
TradeKing is a good broker. Low trading fees and great customer service support. I wish they’d offer lower fees for mutual funds of certain providers though…but other than that they are great. My recommendation — use TradeKing for your individual stock, index, ETF, and mutual funds trading needs…but go directly to sites like Vanguard and Fidelity if you want to purchase and invest in their branded mutual funds.
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I am also an Etrade customer with a bad experience. Etrade absolutely sucks in the customer service department. They regularly lock up accounts because they have a habit of LOSING personal documents send by mail to their offices. Their representatives have been caught lying to clients on the phone (monitored and recorder phone conversations) and have failed repeatedly to follow up on client’s requests. They have locked up funds due to their own incompetence and lost investors millions of dollars without accountability. In short, Etrade is pathetic.
Here is my advise. Do NOT go into business with Etrade. Do your research on other discount brokers. Save your money and your sanity.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Hey looks like Smart Money’s 2009 survey list of the best online brokers has been released. From top to bottom, according to SmartMoney, here are the review rankings:
1. Etrade,
2) Fidelity
3) Charles Schwab
4) TradeKing
5) TD Ameritrade
6) Muriel Siebert
7) Scottrade
8) FirstTrade
9) Options Express
10) Bank of America
I agree with the ranked ones at the top…Etrade is pretty top notch despite the naysayers on this blog forum. Schwab and Fidelity are always decent. TradeKing deserves its high brokerage ranking as well. Main surprise is Bank of America…I had no idea they even had a brokerage department…ha!
June 14th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
TD Ameritrade charges EXTRA fess on sell trades! THEY ADVERTISE ” STRIGHT FORWARD PRICING $9.99 PER TRADE, NO HIDDEN FEES!”
These guys hide these fees, the only place you can find them is to go into reports, pull up your cost basis for any sale trade and you will see this charges in the far right hand column, the column header even states “FEE”
CAN YOU SAY DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING!
Additionally they have sever proplems filling trades, lost 2 trades in 30 days, I am no longer with them.
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I think this is not updated. No Interactive Brokers in your short list?
You gotta be kidding.
Happy trading.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I have an account with Scottrade and no problems. But I have been looking at stocks on global markets, specifically Hong Kong.
*Schwab .. $100 per trade or 0.5% whichever is GREATER plus Hong Kong markup 1.5%
E-trade… $38 per trade + HK cost of $7.75
NobelTrading … $19.95 (must be over the phone) + ?? HK
Anybody got anything better? thanks
July 11th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
The reverse split in FAS/FAZ has caused all kinds of problems in my account with SCOTTRADE. Generally speaking, this bare bones broker is very good. Margin acct. with $2,000, $7 a trade.
The problem is they dropped the ball with the R/S. Customer service is excellent, but what good is that if I can’t trade my desired etf without calling it in (and getting charged an extra $20). They say all will be cleared up early next week, but that’s a lifetime in the trading world.
I am currently scouting other brokers.
RCB
July 31st, 2009 at 3:50 pm
As a person considering online trading, I find this site to be useful. Schwab is at $8.95 or $12.95 for trading (depending on your account). I have found Scottrade to be very professional as well as Schwab. I have friends that are very happy with Schwab. I found Fidelity to be ok too.
August 1st, 2009 at 11:40 am
I was looking for some clarification about choosing an online broker but came away more confused than ever after reading the comments.
Guess I’ll keep researching.
August 1st, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Brian,
If you’re confused about the conflicting comments and opinions reflected by fellow readers in the comments section, you’re not alone. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that everyone has their own personal opinions about everything as determined by their own unique experiences. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. One person’s favorite online discount brokerage firm may be another person’s worst nightmare.
To reach some type of reasonable consensus however, one commonly accepted way to choose from among the best is to go with professional editorial reviews. These reviewers examine financial institutions and brokerage services for a living so they are bound to have special in depth insights beyond what you or I may know.
Here’s a list of the top online brokers as voted by Smart Money magazine for 2009 – Ranked List of The Best Brokers
August 30th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Hi, thanks for this handy blog post. Came upon it after watching the Suze Orman show and deciding to run a Google search on the subject. She was talking about how one particular guest ought to switch from his premium expensive full service broker company with Citibank/Citi Group and go with a discount brokerage firm instead for the extra savings. With the way online investing using ETF’s and mutual funds (for those who still want them) can otherwise be a do it yourself (DIY) trading system, I’m surprised people still choose to leave their money with the price gouging big box brokerages.
Not convinced about Zecco…really free trades? No way…I’m suspicious.
TradeKing looks good. Thanks for the review. Scottrade advertises a lot on TV and they look good so far. ETrade I like for the all in one banking and investing features they offer. I like that quite a bit. I also like Charles Schwab due to that new credit card they have out that offers like 2% cash back rewards with no foreign currency fee charge. So basically…lots of discount brokerage firms to choose from. Will definitely have to ponder this.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I am looking for a brokerage firm that would be good for a first time solo investor mainly interested in dollar based investing for a Roth/retirment? Any thoughts?
October 1st, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Nicole, I’m a big fan of dollar cost averaging as well. To do it in a brokerage account, you’re going to need to find one with very low commissions or they will eat up your investments. TradeKing, Zecco and SogoTrade fit that bill. I have an account with Scottrade (great service!) but I set up an account with SogoTrade to cut down on trading fees. Unfortunately, I found the customer service and operation at SogoTrade to be so bad that I’m closing that account before I even funded it.
I”m now considering TradeKing even though the commission savings isn’t that great over Scottrade. They seem to get stellar grades all over the web.
Of course, if you’re looking for a full-service broker or someone who can really hold your hand, then discount brokers are probably not for you.
Good luck!
October 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
All of the above comments are good of the above reviews of the companies. The best of all the online companies based on the comments and the review is the Fidelity online. If anyone decide to use Fidelity, further make sure you do your own due diligence. Best of luck!
October 16th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I’ve opened Zecco two months ago and found not so great except the low commission fees. I have to pay things that Scottrade offers free and glad still keep that account. I am still looking for a better online co. and keep reading this web site.