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What investment firm is trust worthy?
- Thread starter Leonwood
- Start date
Triton
Gold Member
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- Aug 8, 2000
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- 36,217
I'd go with Vanguard, they have very low fees and a very good reputation. Heck Clark Howard recommends them all the time and he makes a living by trying to give investment advice to people.
bandaidman
Basic Member
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- Feb 11, 2001
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- 1,153
Vanguard is my choice. Jack Bogle who founded Vanguard is one of the few financial leaders who seems to care about the individual investor. While he does not run day to day operations anymore his ethos carries on.
In the long run low cost index funds are the way to go, and they have the best long term track records. Very few investment pros can outperform the market in the long run (even the peter lynchs and bill millers).
Look at his book "little book of common sense investing"
dont invest in anything you do not fully understand or feel comfortable with
In the long run low cost index funds are the way to go, and they have the best long term track records. Very few investment pros can outperform the market in the long run (even the peter lynchs and bill millers).
Look at his book "little book of common sense investing"
dont invest in anything you do not fully understand or feel comfortable with
UffDa
Gold Member
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- Sep 11, 1999
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- 42,596
I was going to say the same thing.
I have had my retirement at Smith Barney for 15 years. It has been :thumbup:&:thumbdn:. When things were going good, my money grew. When things went south, I lost money. Over all, I didn't do as bad as a lot of folks. I "only' lost 30%.
Right now, with nonexistent interest, you might as well keep your money under your mattress.
Vanguard is probably as good as any of them. Just don't expect miracles.
Gollnick
Musical Director
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- Mar 22, 1999
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- 29,258
Unless you want to be an active investor, I would avoid individual stocks directly and go with stock funds. Pay attention to fees.
Vanguard is well-reputed. Fidelity is good too.
No firm will pay you a lot of attention until you've got a six-figure balance. When you hit a out 500K$, things start to change fast as suddenly you have a new best friend.
Vanguard is well-reputed. Fidelity is good too.
No firm will pay you a lot of attention until you've got a six-figure balance. When you hit a out 500K$, things start to change fast as suddenly you have a new best friend.
Vanguard has very low fees and commissions... IF you buy THEIR products exclusively. Buy stocks or non-Vanguard funds, and you can take it in the shorts. Ditto with other fund-owned brokerages like T Rowe Price, Fidelity, etc. Even if the prices are reasonable, their entire brokerage pricing and organization is designed primarily to 'herd' you into their own products. Of course if you're interested in purchasing Vanguard funds, then buying directly through Vanguard is the way to go. Take note that Vanguard also has high minimum investment amounts for their funds, even for IRA accounts. Most of their funds have a $3000 min, while $1000 seems to be the industry standard and many funds are as low as $500.
Wellstrade gets good reviews, especially if you have other accounts there that qualify you for the free trades.
I've been very happy at Firstrade for several years. Not the absolute cheapest any longer, but their services and features meet my needs very well, and are priced in such a way to be friendly to new investors. Free dividend reinvesting, no annual fees, no min balance, no min to open an account, no fees to open/close accounts, and inexpensive commissions for trades and no-load funds.
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Personally though, I think you're going about the entire search backwards. Make a list of likely investments (mutual funds, ETFs, CEFs, individual stocks...) and search for the brokerage with access to those funds and the lowest fees. No sense in opening an account at a brokerage that doesn't even have the fund you want, or charges high fees for the products and services you're interested in.
It's akin to car shopping - find the car you want then shop around for the lowest price. Don't settle on a dealer right off and then be stuck with their pricing and selection.
Good Luck!
Wellstrade gets good reviews, especially if you have other accounts there that qualify you for the free trades.
I've been very happy at Firstrade for several years. Not the absolute cheapest any longer, but their services and features meet my needs very well, and are priced in such a way to be friendly to new investors. Free dividend reinvesting, no annual fees, no min balance, no min to open an account, no fees to open/close accounts, and inexpensive commissions for trades and no-load funds.
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Personally though, I think you're going about the entire search backwards. Make a list of likely investments (mutual funds, ETFs, CEFs, individual stocks...) and search for the brokerage with access to those funds and the lowest fees. No sense in opening an account at a brokerage that doesn't even have the fund you want, or charges high fees for the products and services you're interested in.
It's akin to car shopping - find the car you want then shop around for the lowest price. Don't settle on a dealer right off and then be stuck with their pricing and selection.
Good Luck!
Flatsman007
Gold Member
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- Apr 13, 2010
- Messages
- 2,802
One word on the matter "NONE".
So exactly which investment brokerages do you have experience with, and why were they untrustworthy?
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A guy from wells fargo took me to dinner last week and was talking about a custom portfolio, and how there is a chart they use to manage personal levels of risk. He was very into heavy diversification and emerging markets. In the end he would cost me 0.75% , and vanguard is at 0.21%, so there is a big difference .
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2001
- Messages
- 12,169
Edward Jones Investments have never let me down.
Be careful when investing through an adviser (aka salesman). They may not offer the low-cost options that you could find elsewhere, and they'll have extra fees too.
My immediate concern with you meeting with an adviser, that the 0.75% is a management fee that they'll charge IN ADDITION to a sales commission. If I were investing with Wells Fargo, it would be through Wellstrade, their online brokerage, not through an adviser.
Definitely find out before committing to anything.
Similarly, if you invest through Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch, or most any other firm with financial advisers, you'll have access ONLY to mutual funds with front-end sales commissions (4%, 5%, or more). Understandably, that's how they make their money.
Some people do appreciate, benefit from, and perhaps need the services provided by an adviser. Face-to-face contact, someone who understands their specific needs, and a company with local offices. If an adviser saves an individual from a single major mistake, the extra fees can pay off. Not a bad idea for someone who's new to investing and doesn't have the time or inclination to learn the basics themselves.
In fact I do both online investing and investing with an adviser.
My immediate concern with you meeting with an adviser, that the 0.75% is a management fee that they'll charge IN ADDITION to a sales commission. If I were investing with Wells Fargo, it would be through Wellstrade, their online brokerage, not through an adviser.
Definitely find out before committing to anything.
Similarly, if you invest through Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch, or most any other firm with financial advisers, you'll have access ONLY to mutual funds with front-end sales commissions (4%, 5%, or more). Understandably, that's how they make their money.
Some people do appreciate, benefit from, and perhaps need the services provided by an adviser. Face-to-face contact, someone who understands their specific needs, and a company with local offices. If an adviser saves an individual from a single major mistake, the extra fees can pay off. Not a bad idea for someone who's new to investing and doesn't have the time or inclination to learn the basics themselves.
In fact I do both online investing and investing with an adviser.
Okay, the first thing is to know how an advisor is getting paid. If you don't know, then the advisor is probably on commission--he/she is a paid salesperson. This is not necessarily a problem, but you should know that a broker (aka salesperson aka registered rep) gets paid to sell and is not required to put your interests first. A registered investment advisor (RIA) is required to put your interests first, and you pay an RIA a fee for their advice.
I am a financial professional (not an advisor though) and I have seen cases of brokers who were really good and gave the best advice they could. I have also seen some fairly unscrupulous people who advised clients to buy whatever funds put the most money in their pockets.
Be aware of 'revenue sharing' arrangements at a brokerage firm. I have an Edward Jones account and they recently sent me a disclosure on how much of their net revenue comes from revenue sharing by mutual fund firms--i.e. the fund firms give Edward Jones a cut of the funds that the brokerage sells. In the most recent years, revenue sharing was a major source of revenue. Does this give a broker at such a firm an incentive to push these funds? Absolutely.
So, I am simply saying that the first thing is to know whether an advisor is paid to sell or paid to give advice. You may decide to use a broker rather than an RIA, but you need to know the difference. I do not take advice from my broker.
I use eTrade as well, and I am very happy with this firm. Vanguard and T. Rowe Price are well regarded fund families, but I prefer ETFs myself.
Hope this helps.
I am a financial professional (not an advisor though) and I have seen cases of brokers who were really good and gave the best advice they could. I have also seen some fairly unscrupulous people who advised clients to buy whatever funds put the most money in their pockets.
Be aware of 'revenue sharing' arrangements at a brokerage firm. I have an Edward Jones account and they recently sent me a disclosure on how much of their net revenue comes from revenue sharing by mutual fund firms--i.e. the fund firms give Edward Jones a cut of the funds that the brokerage sells. In the most recent years, revenue sharing was a major source of revenue. Does this give a broker at such a firm an incentive to push these funds? Absolutely.
So, I am simply saying that the first thing is to know whether an advisor is paid to sell or paid to give advice. You may decide to use a broker rather than an RIA, but you need to know the difference. I do not take advice from my broker.
I use eTrade as well, and I am very happy with this firm. Vanguard and T. Rowe Price are well regarded fund families, but I prefer ETFs myself.
Hope this helps.
I'm with them also, for one of my IRAs, and like them just fine as far as commission-based brokerages go. They are well-known for being honest, serving small towns, and offering face-to-face interaction. Our local Edward Jones adviser has been here in our small New Mexico town for twenty years.
I do get disgruntled about the annual fee (now up to at least $40), but get it back in free luncheons and presentations. And I only invest a small amount of new money with them each year due to the sales commissions on every single product they offer.
They did get in trouble a few years ago for taking kickbacks from certain fund companies (American, for one) and not disclosing that to investors. It shouldn't have been hard to figure out, the way our adviser pushes American Funds (not to imply it isn't a good fund company - they have a long history of good returns. you'll pay a sales load with American, but their annual expense ratio is quite reasonable).
I find eTrade to be higher priced compared to other do-it-yourself online brokerages. They're twice as high on no-load fund fees and stock commissions (ETF and CEF trades included) as the true discount brokerages. But they offer significant discounts to frequent traders and seemingly offer more funds as NTF than other discount brokerages.
Thus my earlier suggestion to shop around brokerages based on the particular products and services that YOU are likely to invest in.
:thumbup: