Scottrade vs USAA Brokerage: Commissions, Fees and Investments 2012
|
|
- Stocks and ETFs: $7
- Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $27
- Stocks and ETFs interactive voice response (IVR) telephone system: $17
- Options: $7 plus $1.25 per contract
- Mutual Funds: 2,800+ free mutual funds, $17 for others
- CDs, OTC Secondary Corporates, OTC Secondary Municipals, U.S. Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds and STRIPS, New Corporate Offerings: subject to a markup or markdown
- Listed Corporate Bonds: $35 fee plus $3 per bond (minimum investment $1,000)
- Unit Investment Trusts (UIT): $50 liquidation fee
- Foreign Stocks Transferring In or Out: $60 per transaction
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, CDs, munis, U.S. Treasury, Canadian and foreign stocks, ETFs
- Minimum to open Scottrade account: $500 for a cash account, $2,000 for a margin account
- All Scottrade fees
|
- Stocks and ETFs: $8.95 for Gold members and $5.95 for Platinum members (an additional $0.01 per share and $0.005 is charged for each share over 1,000 for Gold and Platinum, respectively)
- Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $50 (an additional $0.005 per share is charged for each share over 1,000)
- Options: $8.95 + $0.75 per contract for Gold members and $5.95 + $0.75 per contract for Platinum members
- Transaction-Fee No-Load Funds: $45 minimum
- All Listed Corporate Bonds: $25 plus $3 per bond
- U.S. Treasury Securities at Auction: $45
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, U.S. Treasury Securities, ETFs
- Minimum to open USAA Brokerage account: $0
- All USAA Brokerage fees
|
Scottrade vs USAA Brokerage: Pros
|
|
- No inactivity, account maintenance or hidden fees
- No-fee IRAs
- One of the highest customer satisfaction ratings according to JD Power and Associates
- 500+ local branches
- Great support for beginner investors with massive amount of educational resources
- Online user community
- Banking services: savings, CDs, money market and checking accounts (visa check card and first order of checks is free)
- No ACAT fee
- Only $500 minimum to open account
- Free real-time streaming quotes and charts
- Free dividend reinvestment for mutual funds (but not for stocks)
|
- No account maintenance, inactivity or hidden fees
- Good banking services
|
Scottrade vs USAA Brokerage: Cons
|
|
- Additional 0.5% of the principal value commission for stocks under $1
- No electronic withdrawals (but can use debit card or checks)
|
- Higher than average commissions for Gold Members
- Surcharge of $0.01 per share and $0.005 is charged for each share over 1,000 for Gold and Platinum, respectively
- Poor trading platform
- Few educational resources
- Few research services
|
Scottrade or USAA Brokerage: Comparison Summary
USAA Brokerage (USAA Brokerage Review)
offers the more expensive rates of buying and selling stocks and ETFs as
Scottrade (Scottrade Review):
$8.95 per trade versus $7 per trade.
Because Scottrade is a stable, seasoned brokerage firm with a good reputation, it is a very appealing choice for people who
would not trust their money with newer companies but also don't want to pay $10 or more for trades (and multiple fees) with other
established brokerage houses. Ability to visit local branch and talk with someone face-to-face is very valuable too.
We ranked Scottrade #2 among Top Brokerage Firms in 2012.
Scottrade is a great brokerage for beginners, IRA accounts, mutual funds and buy-and-hold investors.
Scottrade is our recommensation between these two discount brokerage houses.
|
|
USAA
|
|
|
|
|