Author Topic: Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?  (Read 2258 times)

Fuperw84

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Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« on: February 14, 2018, 04:25:26 AM »
I'm looking for cheapest possible option to buy stocks. I like to build my own portfolio of at least 10 stocks purchase per month. I currently have Fidelity but the fees are adding up big time even though they lowered to $4.94 per trade. I've heard Robinhood might be a good option for free stock trading. Does anyone have an opinion on Robinhood or any other free stock trading brokerage firm?

boarder42

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Re: Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2018, 04:35:18 AM »
Why. You're greatly increasing your risk and cost this way. Buy vtsax with vanguard for 0 trading fees.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2018, 06:01:21 AM »
Same. Never pay trading fees. I use Fidelity as well, but I've built my portfolio mostly with fee-free iShares ETFs.

For U.S. equities, I use ITOT (0.03% expense ratio)
For international equities, I use IXUS (0.14% expense ratio)
For bonds, I use AGG (0.05% expense ratio)

BTDretire

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Re: Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2018, 12:28:29 PM »
I'm looking for cheapest possible option to buy stocks. I like to build my own portfolio of at least 10 stocks purchase per month. I currently have Fidelity but the fees are adding up big time even though they lowered to $4.94 per trade. I've heard Robinhood might be a good option for free stock trading. Does anyone have an opinion on Robinhood or any other free stock trading brokerage firm?

 Put $1M into Vanguard and you get 25 free trades, $5M gets you 100 free trades.
https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/trading-fees-commissions

Radagast

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Re: Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2018, 12:39:42 PM »
Merril Edge will give you tons of free trades. It is (not based on personal experience, but probably will be once I can transfer enough money to max out the bonus) even a good deal for people who use simple etf portfolios. They will give you up to $600 just for moving over.

TomTX

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Re: Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2018, 08:15:45 PM »
Merril Edge will give you tons of free trades. It is (not based on personal experience, but probably will be once I can transfer enough money to max out the bonus) even a good deal for people who use simple etf portfolios. They will give you up to $600 just for moving over.

I moved to Merrill Edge for the signup bonus. Everything was handled professionally, and I'm paying nothing. VTI.

After you have been at Merrill Edge long enough to qualify*, sign up for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. This gets you free trades, and bonuses on (some) cash back credit cards. You do need to open a BoA checking account - signup bonus is typically $100, unless you are targeted for a higher one.

*So, 95% of people at BoA and Merrill Edge will give you wrong information on how qualifying works. You need a trailing 3 month balance of at least $20k, combined from all accounts across both BoA and Merrill Edge. About one week after the end of the month, your new 3 month balance for the prior month has been calculated percolated through the system. You to NOT have to wait 3 months, or 6 months or whatever they tell you. It does NOT calculate on the first of the month or the first business day of the month. It takes at least several days - probably a week.

Example: If you transfer over your $200k+ for the bonus mid-month, you should qualify about 3 weeks later. Tier increases within the program are automatic. You just have to sign up manually (call in) once you qualify for the lowest tier.

eaknet

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Which are the best $0 fee stock trading broker?
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2018, 06:15:23 PM »
Robinhood is free to use and dead simple. Unlimited free trades and no fees. No idea how well it does if you have piles of funds in there, but it's been fine for a small balance I've been using and growing. I've been perfectly happy with their service, and one of the best parts I've found is you don't have to wait three days for funds to settle before you can use that cash to trade again. They credit your account instantly upon a sale.

If you haven't signed up and want to try it out, they'll give you a free stock just for creating an account with a referral code. Plenty of people on this board have shared their codes. If you want to use mine it's in my signature.

I'd suggest you sign up using their app, that's kind of their core competency right now. They're working on adding more web based features, but for me the app-based interface has been sufficient. It's not like trading is a complicated thing. 
« Last Edit: February 26, 2018, 06:19:47 PM by eaknet »