Schwab or Vanguard?????

[Watertree]

First time poster, long time lurker.
Wife and I both 63 and retired. We have husband IRA, wife IRA and husband wife taxable account with Schwab. Two adult children have taxable accounts @ Schwab. I have employed independent financial advisor since 2006, charges .75% assets under management. Combined accounts total $500K. I have recently done the math on investments rate of return %. I am not happy with overall results, average 2% per year and not happy with current asset allocation. I have posted on other boards, Bogleheads, Morningstar and Early Retirement org. Received great advice from all replies. First fire financial advisor and become my own financial advisor, second adjust asset allocation.

My next step is to decide to stay with Schwab using their ETF's or index mutual funds or go with Vanguard using their ETF's or mutual funds. What has your experience been with Vanguard or Schwab as a do it yourself advisor??

[matchewed]

See all the other threads on Vanguard vs. XXXXX -
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/t-rowe-price-vs-vanguard/

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/fidelity-vs-vanguard/

Summary - It doesn't matter focus on low cost options such as index funds they are competitive with each other.

[AlanStache]

I have everything (401k, roth, taxable, checking) with Schwab, never had any problems.  I probably call them for one thing or another yearly and is always quick and pleasant, all other interactions are done via web and are fine.  I think they have half dozen major index etf funds you can trade with no transaction fees and very low ongoing fees.  I can move money between taxable account and checking instantly during banking hours and still quickly other times.  Have not used Vanguard but I have no reason to look into switching.  I am 100% self advised.

[soccerluvof4]

 I have everything with Vanguard . I went this route because of basically what Matchewed presented above.

[kyleaaa]

Schwab is a better brokerage than Vanguard but if you are investing in Vanguard funds, the best and cheapest place to hold them is usually at Vanguard itself.

[gecko10x]

I use Schwab. They have over 100 ETFs that trade free; it's a lot, but it isn't everything if you're a big slice-n-dice or tilter. (I'm not sure how Vanguard compares.) If you want basic broad index ETFs, Schwab's are very cheap; even cheaper than Vanguard in some cases. You can find them here.

[mandies]

My parents, who are in roughly the same age/investment level just switched over to Vanguard from Edward Jones, and it was a painless process. I don't know much about Schwab, but Edward Jones was a nightmare of worthless expenses.

If you move to Vanguard, you'll get a person assigned to you because of your investment level for personalized advice. My parents just did some reading for themselves, and focused on investing in the lowest expense ratio funds, as well as having some inflation-proofing in there. It was a seamless, easy process. FWIW, because they are withdrawing some of it currently, they did:

50% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
25% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
25% Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund

We also have everything at Vanguard as well and are very happy.

[seattlecyclone]

You can't go too wrong with Schwab's index ETF collection. The fees are comparable to what Vanguard charges on their index funds, and Schwab allows you to trade them commission-free.

[soccerluvof4]

My parents, who are in roughly the same age/investment level just switched over to Vanguard from Edward Jones, and it was a painless process. I don't know much about Schwab, but Edward Jones was a nightmare of worthless expenses.

If you move to Vanguard, you'll get a person assigned to you because of your investment level for personalized advice. My parents just did some reading for themselves, and focused on investing in the lowest expense ratio funds, as well as having some inflation-proofing in there. It was a seamless, easy process. FWIW, because they are withdrawing some of it currently, they did:

50% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
25% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
25% Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund

We also have everything at Vanguard as well and are very happy.

haha...I had to laugh. I must be close to your parents age as thats very similar to what i hold in Vanguard except i have in my stocks also there global fund. So 4 instead of 3.  The people there as you say are wonderful to work with. And you can trade ETF's or Index funds, only difference is ETF's are the current rate of the market and Index funds are days end.