Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

Fido

Cool, they let you open an account with $0.
Suck-ass: the website thinks it knows better than YOU do, the way you want things done. No, no, no. You can't proceed until, for security purposes, you give us your cell number. (You mean, the one you already have? ) No, it can't possibly be the one we already have, because there's a separate box for daytime and evening phone (cell.)

"I want you to communicate with me by email, not phone." OK, I've got your cell number entered. Those annoying prompts should stop. Oops, what is this? I'm getting a text confirming that my cell phone number has been entered. Did I not just tell you (Fido) I want EMAIL to be the way we communicate, if necessary? Well, there will be occasional this and that sent to you, blah blah blah. (Goddam Marketing dept.)

"Close my account, please."
OK, done.

Comments

  • edited August 2019
    Your description made me laugh. But sorry it didn't work out for you. image I have been with Fido for decades and am happy with them. Maybe I just signed up before all of the options and designations you describe were available....when life was somewhat simpler. They probably did ask for my cell number somewhere along the way.
    All I have is a cell phone (no land line) but Fido still gets in touch with me by email.....
  • Same here. We have been with Fidelity for several decades along with Vanguard. Their customer support, website reliability, and stock research are second to none. They also have offices in large cities if you need to talk directly with someone (we seldom use them). Vanguard is the opposite but they were our 401(K) administor and they offer lots inexpensive index funds. Between these brokerages we able to do just about everything.
  • Wouldn't they have to send a text to verify the cell connection and verify you are who you are? There is quite a bit of fraud out there so it sounds more like they are trying to safe guard a fake account for your safety and their own. Pretty common. Your interaction with them seems strange.
  • they are by far the least intrusive marketer of any institution I deal with, financial or otherwise
  • @Sven and @davfor I currently have accounts at Schwab and Merrill. I've been happy with Schwab over the past 10 years but will be moving my Merrill account to either Schwab or Fido. I'm a buy and hold investor and primarily hold mutual funds. Do you have any sense if Fido provides stronger offerings or better services than Schwab? thanks for your inputs.
  • edited August 2019
    @mikeW-

    I also use Schwab and am quite happy- none of the stupid BS that Crash details. I've never used Fido, but Catch22 likes them a lot. Since you already have the Schwab account, if I were in your position I would seriously consider opening a Fido account just so that you could compare the two. If you later wanted to consolidate to one brokerage, you would then have the experience to know which of the two best suited your needs.
  • Though I'm neither of the people you asked, allow me to volunteer that it's hard to go wrong with either Schwab or Fidelity. I've used Fidelity more extensively, but have been a customer of Schwab, off and on, for decades. The service provided by both these brokers is exemplary, and offerings differ primarily around the edges.

    By that I mean things like: Schwab has its own real bank; Fidelity cash management services are through UMB Bank. (This matters in a few oddball cases where institutions refuse to link to anything but a "real" bank.)

    Fidelity provides a MMF paying almost 2% as your transaction (core) account. Schwab sweeps cash into a low paying, but FDIC-insured, bank account. Schwab offers a debit/ATM card with zero foreign fees (they absorb the 1% network fee), and worldwide ATM rebates. Fidelity's debit card may cost you 1% on foreign transactions, and they only rebate ATM fees in the US. (I've never been charged a fee outside the US, though.) Fidelity's CC gives 2% cash back; Schwab's gives 1.5%.

    Schwab charges $49.95 for all TF funds; Fidelity charges $75 for a few fund families (e.g. Vanguard). Once you own a TF fund at Fidelity, you can add more to the fund for just $5 (using their automatic investment system). I don't believe Schwab has a similar feature.

    You'll find the occasional fund that is NTF or load waived at one brokerage but not the other. Not enough difference to worry about unless there are particular funds that you're interested in checking out.

    There are differences in their advisory and robo-advisory services, but I don't think you're asking about that. They both have many branch offices, but whether one is close to you depends on exactly where you are. My local Schwab office doesn't keep a notary around, which is a shame since it is just three blocks away.

    Fidelity has some fine house funds. I tend not to think of Schwab in terms of funds outside of index funds.

  • MikeM said:

    Wouldn't they have to send a text to verify the cell connection and verify you are who you are? There is quite a bit of fraud out there so it sounds more like they are trying to safe guard a fake account for your safety and their own. Pretty common. Your interaction with them seems strange.

    No. And especially NO, since I told them I wanted to communicate with them by email, not by phone. So, what do they do? They send me a text ON MY PHONE. And I was only providing the stoopid cell phone number so the g-d website would stop throwing pop-up obstacles at me, insisting that I give them the same phone number they already had. So, when they filled the SAME phone number into the 2nd box for a 2nd phone number, the system was happy, but it doesn't matter what CLIENTS want. Even after specifying that I want ZERO phone contact. No worries, now. I'm done with them. I figure I'll have to find a truly local somebody in a truly local brokerage office after I make my move. The only ones I can find online are with the big chains. E. Jones, Schwab...
  • edited August 2019
    Crash
    Appears you have come full circle for any choice of a suitable brokerage for your potential investment.
    The point of R.O.I., Return on Investment; may be offset by R.O.H., Risk on Health.
    The angst, for you; of this journey may not be so much related in the future to the risk of the investment; as much as to the risk of a healthy, long term physical well being.
    Happy trails,
    Catch
  • edited August 2019
    Any time I run into a snag at Fido, I call a rep (never had to wait on hold) and it's resolved. Only thing worth noting is that there are some issues the first rep you get may not know about; but normally if they don't, they find somebody who does, without pushing from me.
  • @MikeW, msf provided a very detailed description of two largest brokerages - Fidelity and Schwab. Both have their pros and cons and it is really depend on what you are seeking. As you can see many opinions are offered since our individual needs and experience differ greatly.

    Way back then (before internet age) we were able to rollover IRAs at Fido's office where the representative filled out the paperwork and within one week the accounts were established. Prior to Fidelity we tried with Schwab via mail and they responded a month later. By that time our accounts were established with Fidelity (plus another taxable account). Both Fidelity and Schwab offer an incredible number of mutual funds on their no-transaction fee platforms. Each house has their own fee policy. As msf pointed out one can use Fido's automatic investment route to buy more for $5, and there is no fee on the sell side.

    Before ETFs came along, Fidelity used to dominate this space with their sector funds. Fidelity's mutual funds are good with few stand-out. Biggest complain about Fidelity is their fund managers tend to have short track record as they rotate between funds to further their management experience. On the other hand, Contra and Low-priced stocks funds have the same managers for over several decades. I have use both in the past in my 401(K) on and off. Today I use Fidelity REIT Income, FRIFX which is a unique hybrid REIT fund. Majority of my mutual funds are from their NTF platform and there are lots to choose from.

    Lately T. Rowe Price funds appeared on their NTF list which make Fidelity even more attractive. Overall MF choices is excellent with Fidelity. If one get frustrated with M* lately, Fidelity offer a very good analysis on MF.

    Reports for ETFs are also available. Many (not all) ETFs are traded without fee at Fidelity.

    One factor you may want to consider is customer service, reliability of online trading is excellent, even in heavy trading days. Security-wise Fidelity implemented the two-factor authentication early on with either your email or text messaging. If I want to communicate with Fidelity, their Secured Message works great. At one point when we rollover our pension to an IRA at Fidelity, they arrange to have a three way phone conference involving our former employer, ourselves, and Fidelity. Again the rollover was completed in less than 2 weeks without a hitch.

    On the other hand, my experience with Schwab is very limited (and it was years ago) and thus cannot offer you a full breath of opinion. Best luck in your transfer.
  • @msf thanks so much for the detailed analysis. This is a wealth of information that I didn't know and greatly appreciated. have you ever used Fidelity's advisory services for retirement planning? Please let me know if you've gotten some good value there and what they charge. Schwab now has a flat fee where I can access a financial planner on an ongoing basis for about $700 a year. Does Fido have anything like that? My main use would be to evaluate my asset allocation every year or so. thanks again.
  • @Sven thanks for sharing your experiences with Fido. Very helpful. I'll ask the same question I asked @msf, have you used their advisory services for retirement planning?
  • Thanks @Old_Joe . Yes that's what I'm thinking right now too. I'd also get access to Fido research on funds and stocks. I can't say that I've gotten alot of value from Schwab's research. I find the screeners on MFO premium on funds much more valuable.
  • AndyJ said:

    Any time I run into a snag at Fido, I call a rep (never had to wait on hold) and it's resolved. Only thing worth noting is that there are some issues the first rep you get may not know about; but normally if they don't, they find somebody who does, without pushing from me.

    +1

    @MikeW, you pay / would pay $700 each year or so to evaluate your AA?
  • @MikeW, I have not use Fidelity's advisory service. Awhile back they want to talk with us to see if their service would be of value. We declined since they charge 1% of the total asset under management every year, and that is a lot of money. Schwab's latest offering an attractive, $700 service. I believe we had this discussion on MFO board several months ago and you may need to search for it. I believe Schwab offers a combination of human and robotic advisory service that lowers the overall cost. By the way, Vanguard offers a low cost, asset-based advisory service at 0.3% of the asset.

    Question is how robust is Schwab's plan, especially in the next drawdown cycles? Have their plan been back-tested ? Are their plan competitive with target date funds which have pre-determine glide paths? There is lots of information out there and experienced investors including MFO that you can learn from.
  • A question you may want to ask . If one was to split assets in to two pools, 1 under their management & the other self guided ,would you pay fee on total or just half ? I think I know the answer, but will wait & see if others have tried this.
    Derf
  • @Sven and @MikeW, not sure what the $700 advisor fee is at Schwab but if that is the cost it is much lower than the typical 1% of assets most-all advisors charge for sure. I do know if you have an Intelligent Portfolio account, their robo, the advisor cost is $300 for the initial consultation to build your total plan, and then $30/month after that (my local Schwab guy told me though that you can cancel the monthly plan at any time). I have not used the intelligent advisor service but am considering it. I've had the robo for 3-4 years now, whenever it first came out, and it's been on par with some of the target date funds but really no better. Half my money is in one right now but I plan to cut back that percentage soon. It has always been heavier International and EM than I prefer. Plus the substantial cash holding, 12% in my case, earns pretty much nothing.

    From their site:

    Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium™
    Our robo-advisor builds, monitors, and automatically rebalances a diversified portfolio based on your goals. Get unlimited 1:1 guidance from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional, interactive planning tools, and a personalized roadmap for reaching your goals.

    $25K to start. Pay a one-time planning fee of $300, and just a $30/month advisory fee after that.
  • Yup, what @Sven and @MikeM said. I think this is the discussion Sven is thinking of:
    https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/48772/schwab-moving-to-subscription-fees-could-be-watershed-moment-for-advice-industry

    As I noted in that thread, and as Schwab shows on its Intelligent Portfolios comparison page, with the for fee program ($300 + $30/mo) Schwab is doing more than just "evaluat[ing] your AA". Whether you get the free service (just AA) or the pay service, you're "paying" for the service by keeping lots of money in cash.

    Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Services (PAS) will send you a sample portfolio if you ask. Many years ago I looked at one out of curiosity. They appear to place you in one of a dozen or two "model portfolios" based on your profile. Sort of like filling out an AA questionnaire. They may tweak slightly (e.g. use muni bonds for your particular state). The model portfolios have a gazillion different funds. Nothing particularly wrong with that, but what's the point? IMHO a high fee (around 1%+) for relatively little service.

    Here are a couple of pages from Marketwatch. Can you tell the difference between a robo portfolio and a human portfolio (quiz), and the accompanying article. The first slide in that article shows a Schwab portfolio. Also lots and lots of funds.

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/can-you-tell-a-human-financial-adviser-from-a-robot-2015-04-21
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/we-asked-4-robo-advisers-4-human-advisers-for-portfolios-for-the-same-investor-2015-04-21

    Schwab's program is a hybrid, like Vanguard's. Fidelity's PAS is supposedly human. Fidelity also offers a new pure robo service (Fidelity Go) for 0.35%. No hybrid.

    Vanguard's service, not surprisingly, revolves around Total Stock, Total Bond, Total Int'l Stock, Total Int'l Bond, with other funds added as needed.

    Keep in mind that unlike others here, I'm just an observer. I've never put my own money into one of these services.
  • @msf, Agree. I don't use these services either.
  • Fidelity gave me $5000 for transferring funds there, so I didn't mind giving them my cell number. And I have been very happy there.

  • Fidelity has given me bonuses and they still don't have a cell number for me. What's your point?
  • msf said:

    Fidelity has given me bonuses and they still don't have a cell number for me. What's your point?

    Take a chill pill and read the OP.

  • @MikeM thanks very much for sharing your experience with the Schwab portfolio. Just curious what % have they been allocating to international and to EM? The 12% cash requirement is also a killer. I received a portfolio review from Merrill Lynch a year ago and they wanted to put me 25% international which would have underperformed. they also were very heavy on value funds over growth. I ended up going my own route in selecting funds through research I did on MFO Premium.

    @msf. Thanks for providing information on Fidelity's advisory and robo services and their fees. Very helpful. I can't see using the personal advisory service and paying the 1% fee. I'm assuming that Fidelity's robo service puts you into ETFs? thanks for all the inputs.

Sign In or Register to comment.