Charles Schwab has been known as a leading discount broker for decades, and its online brokerage outfit maintains that reputation. Schwab isn’t cutting any corners with it’s online operation, and clients enjoy a lot more than just inexpensive investing.

In addition to no trading fees and no minimums, you’ll receive great around-the-clock customer service, solid execution, an easy-to-navigate website with a sophisticated trading platform, and a wealth of research and educational tools. It’s really hard to go wrong here.

VISIT CHARLES SCHWABSecuredon Charles Schwab’s secure site

The bottom line: With no trading fees and excellent tools, Schwab is a great choice for any level of investor.

• Trading platforms and tools for both beginner and advanced investors
• Excellent customer service
• Wide range of no-fee investment options

Who should consider Charles Schwab

Schwab is a great option for all types of investors. Beginners will enjoy its extensive educational resources and responsive customer service, while advanced investors will love its sophisticated trading platform and screeners. All investors will appreciate fee-free trading with the benefits of a full-service broker.

Cost-conscious investors will also like Schwab for its research and plethora of commission-free exchange traded funds (ETFs) and no-load mutual funds. Anyone looking for a complete experience at a bargain price — free — will feel right at home here.

Charles Schwab trading platforms and tools

Charles Schwab offers three ways to trade: a web platform, a downloadable software platform, and a mobile platform.

• Web trading: On Schwab’s website, clients can track investments, watch the market and place trades. Customizable screeners allow you to search for specific trade opportunities. The Strategy Screener lets you search for ideas based on different technical strategies, such as which equities are performing better or worse than other stocks in their sector. News updates give you the latest intel on your holdings, and the Gain/Loss Analyzer offers analysis on your trade history.
• Software: Schwab’s StreetSmart Edge trading platform offers streaming real-time data, including quotes and news. Customize your screen layout and take advantage of stock and ETF screeners and advanced stock charting to make decisions. View a commercial-free stream of CNBC with the latest news. You can build and place stock, ETF and options trade orders within a single window, and get alerts based on real-time bullish or bearish signals. Clients can access it via downloadable software or online via the cloud.
• Mobile: The Schwab mobile trading app is available for iOS and Android platforms, plus the Apple Watch. From the app, you can manage your account, place trades and monitor orders and positions, and view market data in real-time. You can also access a live stream of CNBC TV and research opportunities with interactive charts.
• Alexa: It’s worth mentioning that by enabling Schwab Skills on Amazon’s Alexa, you can use voice commands to request quotes, get market news or get a summary analysis of your favorite securities.

In addition to trading platforms, Schwab has a variety of research tools clients can use:

• Schwab BondSource: Lets clients review Schwab’s range of fixed income offerings including new issues, bond ETFs, individual corporate and government bonds, and bond mutual funds with no loads or transaction fees.
• ETF Screener: Schwab’s ETF Screener offers more than 100 criteria, including performance, ratings and technical data, and allows users to compare up to five ETFs at once. Schwab expert picks are available in the ETF Select List.
• Mutual funds: Compare up to three funds at once or use Schwab’s screener to filter funds by category, fees and ratings, among other things. Expert fund picks can be found in the Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource Select List.
• Stock screeners: Screen stocks on more than 100 criteria, including earnings, analyst ratings, company and price performance and financial strength. Clients also get access to Schwab Equity Ratings Reports, as well as Morningstar reports.

Charles Schwab investment options

Charles Schwab clients can choose from a healthy selection of investments, including more than 7,200 no-load mutual funds. The platform offers the ability to trade options, futures, bonds and fixed income products.

Although there are no trade fees for stocks, ETFs or Schwab-managed mutual funds, there are some fees associated with other trades:

• Options: $0.65 per contract
• Futures: $1.50 per contract
• Futures options: $1.50 per contract
• Treasury bonds: $0 per trade
• CDs: $1 per certificate, $10 minimum
• Corporate bonds: $1 per bond, $10 minimum
• Municipal bonds: $1 per bond, $10 minimum

Margin rates at Schwab start at 9.325% for balances under $25,000. While Fidelity’s rate is the same, TD Ameritrade and E*TRADE have higher rates.

When it comes to cryptocurrency, clients with a Charles Schwab Futures account can trade Cboe Bitcoin Futures on Schwab’s StreetSmart Central or StreetSmart Mobile trading platforms. Real-time quotes for Cboe or CME Bitcoin futures prices can be monitored on StreetSmart trading platforms.

Too many options? Schwab also offers a Personalized Portfolio Builder tool that will use Schwab’s asset allocation models to help you build a diversified portfolio based on your fund preferences (mutual funds or ETFs), risk tolerance and initial investment. (There is no minimum, but Schwab recommends at least $5,000 to allow for proper diversification.)

Charles Schwab news and research resources

As a Schwab client, you have access to a wide swath of research tools, from earnings reports and breaking news from Reuters and Briefing.com to customizable options screeners and charting tools. Schwab offers Morningstar Ratings for mutual funds and ETFs, as well as market commentaries from Credit Suisse, Ned Davis, Argus and Market Edge. For stocks, Schwab offers its own proprietary Equity Ratings, Stock Lists and stock screeners, alongside third-party research from Morningstar and others. Schwab also offers ratings on over 4,000 international stocks by Schwab Equity Ratings International.

Schwab Intelligent Portfolios

If you’d rather not DIY, Schwab offers two robo-advisor options:

Schwab Intelligent Portfolios gives clients access to algorithm-based recommendations and portfolio management with no fees aside from the expenses you’ll pay on the investments themselves. You’ll get a portfolio created from ETFs chosen by experts (from a pool of 53), and your investments will be rebalanced as needed. This option requires a minimum investment of $5,000, which isn’t bad, but other robos require less: Wealthfront and E*TRADE both have account minimums of just $500, and Wealthsimple has no account minimum. (That said, Wealthfront, E*TRADE and Wealthsimple all charge for their services: 0.25% to 0.50%.)

Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium™ is less of a slam-dunk unless you’ve got a sizable portfolio. Clients here must bring a minimum investment of $25,000 and get access to both the site’s robo-advisor recommendations, plus one-on-one guidance from a certified financial planner. However, the service requires a one-time planning fee of $300, and a $30/month advisory fee after that. If you’re just investing $25,000, this fee is on the steep side (percentage wise), but the more you invest, the lower this fee becomes in relation to your portfolio. At $100,000, the $360 per year is just 0.36% of your portfolio. Compare that with Vanguard Personal Advisor Services fees, which are 0.30% of your portfolio and require a $50,000 minimum.

Is Charles Schwab safe?

Charles Schwab & Co. is a member of the SIPC and carries insurance of securities up to $500,000, plus excess insurance on securities and cash up to an aggregate claim amount of $600 million. Your cash deposits at Charles Schwab-affiliated banks are FDIC-protected up to the legal limit. Schwab also guarantees 100% loss coverage if you lose any assets due to unauthorized activity.

In terms of site and account technology, Schwab uses multiple layers of controls and technologies, including advanced encryption, to protect client data. They use pattern analysis and other analytics to sniff out suspicious activity, and the platform alerts you when sensitive transactions occur in your account. They also limit the number of employees who have access to your info.

Final thoughts

With no fees and no minimums, Charles Schwab investors can access thousands of low-cost funds, along with stocks and other investments. They can access a full gamut of research, 24/7 customer service and trading platforms with advanced features if needed. It’s hard to beat the total package that Schwab offers investors here. With all these perks, Schwab ranks among the best of the full-service brokers.

Personal Capital is a hybrid of a traditional brokerage and a robo-advisor. It offers portfolio design via algorithm—like many competing robo-advisors—and also lets you buy individual stocks, design portfolios and access human financial advisors. In fact, the company dislikes the term robo-advisor, and prefers to call itself a “digital wealth manager.”

Be advised that the minimum balance requirement is $100,000, meaning that Personal Capital is only a viable choice for investors who have already accumulated a sizable nest egg. It’s not a product for beginners, although it is a great choice for people who have sufficient funds.

Founded in 2009 by a former CEO of PayPal and Intuit, the company claims that it offers “full financial planning at no additional cost.” It charges an asset management fee of 0.89%, which is on the low side for personal financial planning, but it’s on the high side for robo-advisors, most of whom charge less than 0.50% per year. The fee drops as low as 0.49% for high-balance investors, but need a balance of more than $10 million to qualify for the lower rate.

Visit Personal CapitalSecuredon Personal Capital’s secure site

The Bottom Line: Personal Capital offers automated and active investing features, as well as in-depth financial planning advice, all of which should appeal to users who can swing the minimum balance requirement of $100,000.

• Access to financial advisors at all asset levels
• Individual stock investing and customized portfolios
• Useful financial dashboard tools

Who should consider Personal Capital

Personal Capital is best suited to high-balance investors looking for a less expensive and more hands-off strategy than working with a full-service investment firm. The initial phone consultation with an advisor can help users evaluate their financial position and what they need to do to hit their goals.

The minimum balance required to begin investing with Personal Capital is $100,000, and you need at least $200,000 in investable assets to unlock the ability to customize a portfolio with individual stocks. This level also earns you recommendations and support from two dedicated financial advisors.

Note that anyone can take advantage of the site’s free account aggregation and monitoring tools, which let you test retirement and savings assumptions and make sure your plan will help you achieve your goals.

If you are a socially conscious investor, Personal Capital offers an investment strategy that restricts certain businesses or industries based on their ESG rankings.

Fee tiers and wealth management options

Personal Capital charges variable annual management fees depending on your total account balance:

• Up to $1 million: 0.89%
• First $3 million: 0.79%
• Next $2 million: 0.69%
• Next $5 million: 0.59%
• Over $10 million: 0.49%

It offers three levels of wealth management services, depending on your total account balance:

• Investment Service: Balances of $100,000 to $200,000 get access to a team of financial advisors and an actively managed portfolio of ETFs.
• Wealth Management: Account balances of $200,000 to $1 million unlock access to two dedicated financial advisors, specialists in real estate and stock options and a customized portfolio with regular reviews, as well as enhanced tax optimization.
• Private Client: When your account balance includes more than $1 million, you get two dedicated financial advisors; priority access to specialists and the firm’s investment committee; in-depth support for retirement, wealth and estate planning; and private equity investment options.

If your balance is below $200,000, you can invest in ETFs but you cannot customize your portfolio. Personal Capital will recommend a target allocation that’s based on the profile questions you answered during the sign-up process, plus other financial information you’ve provided. While you can choose from among different target allocations, you won’t be able to create a custom allocation.

That said, Personal Capital does offer an ESG-optimized portfolio for users interested in socially responsible investing. In addition to limiting exposure to fossil fuels, the company’s ESG basket filters out companies with material exposure to things like adult entertainment, gambling, tobacco, military contracting and guns.

Tax optimization is available at all portfolio levels. Personal Capital “tax optimizes” by making sure people put the right investments in the right accounts (i.e. taxable accounts versus retirement accounts) and by tax loss harvesting, which means realizing losses to offset gains. All levels of service also offer portfolio rebalancing. Accounts are reviewed daily for tax-efficient rebalancing opportunities.

All accounts above $200,000 can invest in individual stocks and customize portfolios. Certain accounts with assets over $1 million may be able to invest in individual bonds. With assets over $5 million invested with Personal Capital, users may gain access to private equity investments.

Personal Capital Cash

Personal Capital recently launched a cash management account, Personal Capital Cash. The account earns 1.55% APY for people without a Personal Capital advisory account, and 1.60% APY for customers with an advisory account. Personal Capital Cash pays slightly less than other similar high-yield savings accounts, but there’s also no minimum balance and there are no fees associated with it.

Personal Capital partners with UMB Bank, which holds Personal Capital Cash deposits in a network of different banks. The account offers up to $1,500,000 in FDIC insurance coverage, well above the standard limit of $250,000 per deposit account. That’s because Personal Capital works with UMB bank to distribute your money among accounts at different partner banks. When one account reaches the FDIC limit, another account with a different bank will be opened for you. This is done up to six times, providing a FDIC deposit insurance total of up to $1,500,000.

Financial dashboard tools

One of Personal Capital’s strengths is that it offers financial tools to help you understand and track your entire financial life. These tools are free and available to anyone who downloads the app. You may register and link all your financial accounts to Personal Capital, such as bank accounts, brokerage accounts, loans and credit cards. Once they are linked to the app, your personalized financial dashboard gives you a view of your:

• Net worth: You can see your current net worth for the past 30 days, including the change in this measure over the last 30 days and today’s change.
• Cash flow: The dashboard offers a graphic representation of your cash inflows and outflows for the past 30 days, arranged by category (paychecks and deposits on the inflow side, mortgage and other expenses on the outflow side). Click on any category to dive into the detailed transactions there, or click the whole category to compare this month’s spending to last month’s spending and see transactions by category.
• Portfolio balances: You’ll see the value of your investment accounts for the past 30 days, along with change values over the past month and today’s value.
• Portfolio allocation: This is a top-down view of your investments across all asset classes—although only if your assets are invested with Personal Capital. If you’ve linked outside investment accounts, their value will be included in your portfolio balance, but the site doesn’t include those assets among your allocation.
• Gainers and losers: If you’ve got individual stocks in your portfolio — which would make you a higher-level investor—you’ll see how they’re performing versus the S&P 500.
• Retirement savings: The dashboard recommends how much you should be saving toward retirement each year and how much you’ve saved to date this year. It can also predict whether your retirement portfolio will support your retirement spending.
• Emergency fund: You’ll see how much cash you’ve got stashed away. If the dashboard feels you could be investing part of that for greater return, it will recommend moving some money around.

Is Personal Capital safe?

Most fintech users are comfortable linking their financial accounts to an investment platform, and Personal Capital’s safeguards are in line with standards. They partner with financial tech industry veteran Yodlee to facilitate account aggregation, and user bank and brokerage credentials are only stored at Yodlee.

The site uses two-factor authentication when you sign in and encrypts your credentials and personal data with military-grade encryption algorithms. The company protects its data centers with various systems designed to prevent hacking and monitor for suspicious activity, and the data centers follow stringent financial and international security standards protocol.

Personal Capital also helps you keep an eye on things by sending an (optional) daily email with every transaction that occurred during the previous 24 hours in all your linked accounts, including your bank, broker and credit cards. Keep an eye on the activity and make sure you recognize all the transactions.

As far as insurance, all investment securities are held by an SIPC member broker custodian, protecting your securities up to $500,000, and Personal Capital Cash is FDIC insured up to $1,500,000.

Final thoughts on Personal Capital

Personal Capital is worth considering if you have $100,000 or more to invest on this platform. Though lower-level users can’t customize their portfolios, asset allocation models seem to outperform comparative benchmarks much of the time.

Investors should carefully consider whether they’d like more control over their investments or whether they’re willing to pay higher-than-average fees for the services Personal Capital offers. In the meantime, the financial planning tools and initial consultation will give the average investor some insight into how they’re doing and where they’d like to go.

Zacks Trade is an online broker oriented to self-directed investors who want to trade U.S. and foreign stocks, bonds and funds. The platform provides robust trading tools and a bundle of no-fee (and paid) research. However, unlike many competing brokers, you still pay per-trade commission fees.

The main selling points of Zacks Trade are that it offers sophisticated, feature-rich trading software; broker-assisted trades for no additional fee; and easy trading of foreign assets. Clients in more than 200 countries can trade on this platform, and traders can buy and sell assets on more than 90 international exchanges. Zacks Trade allows investors to open individual or joint taxable accounts, as well as retirement accounts.

The downside to Zacks Trade is the $3-per-trade minimum commission fee ($1 during the first year). If you want expert help developing a portfolio or no-fee trades, Zacks Trade isn’t the best fit for you.

Visit ZacksSecuredon Zacks Trade’s secure site

The Bottom Line: Zacks Trade provides access to dozens of international exchanges and fee-free broker-assisted trades—all on a feature-rich platform—but it still charges trading fees when many competitors don’t.

• Trade fees are per share and cost clients one penny per share for stocks and ETFs, with a $3 minimum fee.
• There’s a $2,500 minimum balance requirement, which earns you a $1-per-trade promotion, but there are no inactivity fees, and margin rates started at just 5.06% as of November 2019.
• Investors get a choice of three trading platforms and can trade on the web and on mobile devices.

Who should consider Zacks Trade ?

If you want a choice of full-featured trading platforms, you’re interested in trading on international exchanges or you prefer broker-assisted trades, Zacks Trade might be the right fit.

Zacks Trade’s per-share pricing is low, but it isn’t $0, as it is with competitors. Plus, after the first promotional year, trades go back up to a $3 minimum from the $1 introductory fee. That said, the margin rates are lower than are competitors’ rates, and foreign trading is easy and relatively affordable. Commissions when trading foreign stocks are steeper at Charles Schwab and Fidelity.

Zacks Trade clients also benefit from a massive amount of market insight: Clients have access to more than 20 subscription services for free. But if you’re hands off and won’t use the research and tools available—or you seek more guidance, as with a robo-advisor, or zero-commission stock trading—Zacks Trade probably isn’t what you want.

Zacks Trade commissions and fees

Most of Zacks Trade’s fees are related to trades. Zacks Trade has no inactivity fee, no fee for automated customer account transfer and no fee for order cancellations. Clients also get one free withdrawal per month. (All withdrawals after the first one cost $1 for an ACH, $4 for a check and $10 for a wire.)

The fees for trading are low—a penny per share for stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) worth $1 or more per share and 1% of trade value for those worth less than a dollar, with a $3 minimum. Also, Zacks Trade will allow new clients to trade for $1 for the first year, with a minimum balance of $2,500. These aren’t the lowest fees, however. Charles Schwab and E*TRADE have $0 trades.

Zacks Trade also has steep charges for mutual fund trades: $12.55 per trade for those valued at $1 or more per share. You can trade certain mutual funds for $0 at E*TRADE and Fidelity.

It’s notable that Zacks Trade provides broker-assisted trades for no extra charge, including for foreign stocks. Compare that with E*TRADE, which charges an additional $25 for broker-assisted trades, as does Charles Schwab. If you believe that you’ll require a broker’s assistance on a regular basis, Zacks Trade would be a good place for you.

Margin trading also is a good deal at Zacks Trade, with margin rates starting at 5.06% as of November 2019. The site even has a Margin Rate calculator, so clients can see how much they’ll save compared with other firms. Charles Schwab charges 9.325% for debit balances under $25,000, although Interactive Brokers charges just 3.06% for loans under $25,000. (Nevertheless, Interactive Brokers also charges a $10 monthly fee if you don’t pay at least $10 in commissions each month or if your account falls under $100,000. So you’ll pay at least $10 a month there in fees regardless.)

Real-time quotes cost money. Regular clients of Zacks Trade see data on their platforms on a 15-minute delay. If you want live, streaming data, you’ll have to pay at least $9.95 per month plus $3 per month to cover all exchange fees for Zacks Real Time Quotes Gold. Schwab provides real-time data for free.

Foreign Stock Commissions:

• Broker-assisted trades: no extra charge
• Canada ($1 or more CAD per share): $0.02 CAD per share ($4.50 CAD minimum)
• Canada (less than $1 CAD per share): 1% of trade value CAD ($4.50 CAD minimum)
• Mexico: 0.3% of trade value MXN (180 MXN minimum)
• Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain: 0.3% of trade value EUR (12 EUR minimum)
• Norway: 0.1% of trade value NOK (150 NOK minimum)
• Sweden: 1% of trade value SEK (100 SEK minimum)
• United Kingdom: 0.3% of trade value GPB (12 GPB minimum)
• Currency conversion from USD: $2 to $2.50 estimate

Commissions for Asian and Australian transactions are here.

Trading platforms and tools

At Zacks Trade, clients can trade stocks (including penny stocks and OTC stocks), options, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds. The platform doesn’t support futures, commodities or Forex for purposes besides currency exchange.

Zacks Trade has three trading platforms, plus their mobile platform:

• Zacks Trade Pro: This is the company’s flagship trading platform and meant for active, high-volume traders. The layout is customizable, and clients can trade stocks, options, bonds and funds in 19 countries. Charting and technical analysis is available, and useful tools include SpreadTrader to handle complex option orders or Basket Trader to import baskets of stock orders and execute them quickly. This platform must be downloaded and installed on your computer.
• Client Portal: This is a console meant for placing and managing simple trades, reviewing your statements and adjusting account settings.
• Zacks Trader: This operates like a light version of Zacks Trade Pro, providing a simpler interface along with trading features and tools. If you work behind a firewall, you still can access this platform, which provides order execution, market data, charts and customization.
• Handy Trader: This mobile app, available for iOS and Android, allows users to trade stocks, options, bonds and mutual funds from their devices. You can route orders using the company’s SmartRouting technology, and you can access trade reports, and portfolio and account information.

When routing orders on any Zacks Trade platform, you can use either SmartRouting, which searches for the best price and dynamically routes and reroutes all or part of your order for maximum benefit, or you can choose the exchange you want your order to be sent to.

Trading options is easiest on Zacks Trade Pro, where you can click on the bid, or ask of an option chain. You can use Zacks Trade’s Strategy Builder feature to create spread orders or option orders that have multiple legs. Options tools, including Options Trader, Rollover Options and SpreadTrader, help you analyze and manage options orders.

Research is one area in which Zacks Trade shines. The company gives users free access to more than 20 sources, including 24/7 Wall Street, StreetInsider.com and The Motley Fool. For an additional cost, dozens of other research subscription products are available, including international ones, such as the Euronext All Indices Real-Time Data (EUR $17 per month).

Is Zacks Trade safe?

Zacks Trade requires clients to log in using two-factor authentication—the username and password on the account plus a unique code that’s generated to a free device that clients receive or to their Handy Trader app. The site also uses industry-standard 128-bit SSL encryption and has a dedicated security team monitoring for suspicious activity. Zacks Trade Pro customers also can restrict account access to specific IP addresses.

In terms of insurance, Zacks Trade is a division of LBMZ Securities, which is a member of the Securities Investment Protection Corporation (SIPC) and carries insurance on investments up to $500,000. Under Zacks Trade’s clearing firm’s excess SIPC policy, investments are insured up to an additional $30 million (with a cash sublimit of $900,000).

Final thoughts about Zacks Trade

Zacks Trade is something to consider for investors who have at least $2,500, want to trade foreign stocks and believe that they might require access to broker-assisted trades. The available research and choice of trading platforms give you flexibility and a wide pool of investments to choose from. Zacks Trade’s margin rates also are extremely competitive.

However, Zacks Trade doesn’t provide any guidance (this isn’t a robo-advisor), and you can execute nonbroker-assisted trades for $0 at other companies. Also, if you want to invest in mutual funds, other companies allow investments in no-load funds for much less.

Rates & Fees mentioned in this article are accurate as of the date of publishing.