Datek vs Schwab vs Ameritrade vs Fidelity vs ...

self | 12/18/2001 | LivingNet

[LivingNet]

I need to move my 401k money to a self-directed IRA and am looking for advice on a good on-line broker to convert to. Anyone have any experiences with these? done research comparing pros and cons?
I'm interested in feedback on service, delay times, hidden costs/fees, etc.

Thanks in advance for any comments/help.

[sixmil]

The only one I have ever used is E*TRADE, which I hate because of their horrible customer service. I am going to try Datek next.

[TheCPA]

Consider using CREF no load mutual funds from TIAA CREF http://www.tiaa-cref.org/iras/index.html

[donozark]

check out mdbi.com

[LivingNet]

Thanks. I had forgotten about e-trade but doesn't sound too good from your experience.

[SP67]

I have an IRA account with Fidelity. They have good resources for analyzing stocks, but recently they raised their commission rates after lowering them about a year ago.

If you plan to buy some mutual funds (of which Fidelity has a great selection), then go with Fidelity. They have very good customer service also. Their customer service has been their strongest selling point. But if you plan to buy some stocks for your IRA, Fidelity is not the cheapest, but still about what other brokerages charge.

You should also go to http://www.gomezadvisors.com for a good ranking of brokerages based on price, service, quality.

[evad]

I use T D Waterhouse. I confess it's because my daughter used them first and recommended them to me when I decided to go self directed.

I'm not sure how their rates compare with others, I hear a lot about DATEK being pretty good. I can tell you that I am very satisfied with TD's online service and on rare occasions when you need to talk to a human, you can reach them. They have very good reports, history, etc and I find them very user friendly when trading.

If you're thinking about day trading (which I don't recommend) you probably want the fastest & cheapest you can get.

GOOD LUCK

[Moridin]

Take a gander at this book. IMO, the first two chapters will be the best knowledge you ever gained about investing in stocks or even MF.

Stan Weinstein's Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets

I know this isn't what you asked, but IMO, a bit more important.

[GEC]

My father-in-law uses TD Waterhouse as well.

He's no online trading wiz, but he's a careful shopper and the one time I called them on his behalf, they were very helpful.

Recently called TIAA-CREF as well and they were very informative about my options re 401k.

[RichardW]

I've used Scottrade for about a year and a half. $7.00 per trade and they have streaming trade data that works great. Just click on the stock you are interested and bingo you have bought or sold instantly. I haven't seen any problems that I am aware of. Strongly recommend.

[evad]

I forgot that I had that Gomez bookmarked from a while ago that's mentioned above

Firm Score 1. Charles Schwab (review) 7.48 2. Fidelity Investments (review) 7.44 3. E*TRADE (review) 7.23 4. CSFBdirect (review) 6.39 5. TD Waterhouse (review) 6.16 6. Ameritrade (review) 6.01 7. Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (review) 5.84 8. Scottrade (review) 5.79 9. WellsFargo Online Brokerage (review) 5.66 10. American Express Brokerage (review) 5.59 11. Muriel Siebert (review) 5.55 12. Quick & Reilly (review) 5.53 13. Cititrade (review) 5.52 14. Datek (review) 5.51 15. My Discount Broker (review) 5.44 16. Firstrade (review) 5.31 17. Harris InvestorLine (review) 5.30 18. Financial Cafe (review) 5.24 19. Morgan Stanley Online (review) 5.23 20. Netvest (review) 5.13 View all firms...

[grania]

I opened a Schwab account, with the goal of learning about the stock market. Their phone assistance has been an incredibly useful way to learn about stock trading and evaluating data.

[tubebender]

I have read numerous times that if not switched properly the transfer can cause penalties for you. Do your research first.

[Doctor Freeze]

I'm in the same position as you. I am going to roll my 401k into a Schwab IRA. Great customer service and no fees if you have a minimum balance for all your Schwab accounts (I think it's $50,000).

[Tinman]

I also need to do a "roll-over". Will be watching this thread. Thanks for posting.

Regards

[LivingNet]

no fees if you have a minimum balance for all your Schwab accounts (I think it's $50,000).

Do you mean no fees at all even trading fees? or do you just mean like holding fees, statement fees, etc.? Thanks.

[jungleboy]

I like Scottrade. I've never had any problems with them. Also, having a "local" office was one requirement of mine (in case there are problems).

[OK]

Many brokers are having a tough time financially right now. If your broker goes bankrupt, your money could be frozen for a while in whatever investments you have. In other words you might not be able to place a trade for a while.

The point is that low commissions are not the holy grail in choosing a broker.

Another thing to consider is that for the highly paranoid, you can split your IRA's among two or more brokers.

I have used CSFBdirect for many years. They were formerly DLJdirect. They have been rated the top online broker by Forbes Magazine. The story gets complicated because DLJdirect was bought by Credit Suisse First Boston, and now they have just sold it to a large Canadian bank. The situation at any broker changes with time, so you have to keep paying attention.

[monkeyshine]

I have several online accounts. For service, I went to a Quick and Reilly (quickandreilly.com) office and met with a broker. They do online trading and have personal brokers you can talk to as well. If you sign up in an office near you you will meet your personal broker. They are good for that, but in the past they had execution problems online. Now for online trading it has improved.

For fast executions I go with Datek. They are fast indeed, just like their ads say. Great for small time traders.

I also have Ameritrade, don't use it much just a place to stash some stocks. Can't really say how good the service is because I never did anything but open the account and put some stocks in it.

If I were starting today I wouldn't have 3 accounts. but the reason I did is because I like to do some trading (datek) I like to trade some BB stocks from time to time (and at the time datek didn't offer it but now they do, however they limit the size of the execution while Ameritrade doesn't) and I chose Quick & Reilly because they have several offices in the area where I can go talk to a broker.

[LivingNet]

Thanks for the note. I'm leaning heavily towards Datek right now. They have a comparison chart on their web site to other brokers and they look very attractive to me plus I want to be able to do quick trades with real-time quotes for free (which ameritrade charges extra for). Does Datek have any annual/holding/statement/checks/etc fees that are hidden? Thanks.

Link to Datek Broker Comparison Chart