Charles Schwab review

3-star brokerage firm rating

Charles Schwab Review


Great service but high trading commissions



Charles Schwab Review 2012: Commissions, Fees and Investments


  • Stocks and ETFs: $8.95
  • Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $33.95
  • Stocks and ETFs phone trades: $13.95
  • Options: $8.95 plus $0.75 per contract
  • Mutual funds: $49.95. Mutual Fund OneSource® Funds - free
  • CDs, Corporate Bonds, Municipal Bonds, Government Agencies, Zero-Coupon Treasuries, including STRIPS and Mortgage-Backed Securities: $1 per bond, $10 minimum, $250 maximum
  • Preferred Stocks and REITs: $8.95
  • Commercial Paper and Foreign Bonds, Unit Investment Trusts: call for pricing
  • Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures, treasury issues, options, CDs, insurance, ETFs, annuities, non-U.S. securities and ADRs, WEBs and Canadian foreign orders
  • Minimum to open Charles Schwab account: $1,000
  • All Charles Schwab fees


Charles Schwab Account Application

Charles Schwab new account application is very frustrating. There are some unnecessary questions, like drivers license information. Then there was a bug on a screen where user enters the password - with two different password requirements. It took 5 minutes of frustration to get past that screen and one ridiculous, forced on us password to remember.

The place for entering bank information is well hidden: it's located on Account Features screen, is called Schwab MoneyLink and you have to expand it. After entering your bank information you'll see message: "Complete your MoneyLink enrollment. In about three days, you’ll receive an email with instructions to verify your deposit. Once enrolled, you can transfer money into your account." Three days later we received email that deposits Schwab made into our bank account are ready to be verified. After we verified the deposits, we still had to call Schwab to "activate" the account. When you transfer actual money from bank to the brokerage - let's say you start on Monday - the cash will become available only on Friday. It's way too long and complicated process - Schwab can learn a lot from Scottrade.

Uninvested cash in your account will earn interest in accordance with Schwab One® interest feature. What it is and how much interest? Charles Schwab graciously offers customers a 23 pages document to find this out.

On the brighter side, Charles Schwab offers checks and Visa debit card for managing money. You also will get a phone call at the same day from customer service representative that will answer all your questions.


Charles Schwab Website (Schwab.com)/Trading Tools Review


Schwab Securities review

Trading tools at Charles Schwab are just average. All the screens are well-designed and orders are executed reasonably fast. Trading tools, however, lack richness of features, versatility and customization found in many more advanced trading platforms.

Customers that execute 3 or more trades per month can get access to StreetSmart Edge - advanced trading platform that has charts, news, order entry, live data, options chains, even technical and fundamental research - all in a single window. One will have to call customer service to have that set up.


Charles Schwab Pros


  • Traditional banking features: credit cards and checking accounts
  • Around 300 offices for personal visits, deposits and 24/7 support
  • Great, varied research
  • Rich selection of investment products
  • Low minimum balance requirement: $1,000
  • Excellent customer service
  • Free dividend reinvestment


Charles Schwab Cons


  • High commissions on stocks, options, mutual funds and ETFs
  • Average trading tools


Charles Schwab Review Summary


Charles Schwab brokerage offers an impressive choice of investing products and some of them are not to be found in many other discount brokerage firms: CDs, insurance annuities, ADRs, WEBs and Canadian foreign orders. On the other hand, most customers do not invest in these assets.

Charles Schwab does not have account maintenance and inactivity fees. There are no surcharges for large orders, penny stocks and after-hours trading. Having an option of opening a checking account or credit card with one's brokerage firm is always nice. Company is offering top-notch customer service.

Charles Schwab does not charge IRA setup and annual IRA fees, but due to high commissions it did not make it into Best IRA Accounts list.

Despite having great customer service, the firm is not an ideal choice for beginner investors, because it doesn't offer investor community like that in Scottrade or TradeKing, where clients could learn from and interact with each other.

Charles Schwab was one of the first discount brokerage firms in the US but it's not considered as inexpensive as it used to be. Firm's $8.95 rate per stock trade is pretty high for 2012 and $49.95 rate per mutual fund transaction is one of the most expensive among all brokerage companies.


Charles Schwab Promotional Code/Offer: none right now


Open Schwab Securities account

Charles Schwab Reviewed by Brokerage Review on . Rating: 3.5



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