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Brokers With Automatic Investment Plans in 2025
See which online brokerages are best for automatic investment plans
(monthly/weekly AIP, dollar cost averaging) for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds.
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Best Brokerage For Automatic Investment
Investors at Charles Schwab can take advantage of a convenient automatic investing plan (AIP), which is free of
charge. Charles Schwab allows any type of mutual fund to be registered for automatic purchases. Both load and
no-load funds, and both transaction-fee and no-transaction-fee funds can be enrolled. Over 4,000 mutual funds
are available on the Charles Schwab of which 3,200 are commission-free.
Visit Schwab Website
List of Brokers Offering Automatic Investment
Automatic Investment Plan Overview
Just as it sounds, an Automatic Investment Plan (AIP) is a service that allows for systematic purchases of investments. Instead of logging into a broker’s website and manually submitting orders every month, it’s possible to set up a recurring investment schedule that will automatically buy a pre-determined amount of an asset. Just set it up once, and the software does all future work. Obviously, this is a great system for busy folks who can’t trade during the day. The other nice perk of an AIP is that it removes the need or desire to time the market.
Besides purchases, some investment firms allow sales to be done in the same manner. The trade frequency also varies by broker. Some permit daily, weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly, and annual transactions.
Eligible Securities for Automatic Investment Plan
Although mutual funds are the most common assets to be traded in an AIP, some brokerage firms offer recurring investments in other assets, most notably stocks and ETFs. Robinhood and Interactive Brokers are two such firms to offer automatic investments in these securities.
Other brokerage houses restrict their Automatic Investment Plans to a limited selection of securities. Vanguard, for example, limits its AIP to only Vanguard-branded mutual funds.
Dollar Cost Averaging
An AIP can be used to perform dollar cost averaging, which is a method of investing that uses whole dollars instead of whole shares to buy securities. When whole dollars are used on the buy side, more shares are purchased when the price of the security is low.
Setting up an AIP
Thanks to modern software, it’s really easy to establish an Automatic Investment Plan at most brokerage firms. On Schwab’s website, for example, there is an AIP hub under the Trade tab (look for the ‘Automatic Investing’ link). On this page, any eligible mutual fund will appear. Simply click on the enroll link to sign it up for automatic investments.
Schwab permits both purchases and sales in its AIP. Frequency choices include:
- Weekly
- Every other week
- Twice a month
- Monthly
- Every 3 months
- Every 6 months
- Annually
Every mutual-fund profile at Schwab shows eligibility status for the firm’s AIP. Simply scroll down to the Status section on the profile to find this information. A position in the fund does need to be established before automatic purchases can be turned on. Schwab’s regular order ticket does not have an AIP selection.
Once systematic trades have been established on a fund, they can always be turned off. Simply go back to the AIP hub and unenroll the fund.
Automatic Trades of Stocks and ETFs
Establishing an AIP for a stock or exchange-traded fund will follow a similar path at brokerage firms that offer the service. On the Interactive Brokers website, there is a link for recurring investments under the Trade tab. Just fill in the necessary fields on this special trade ticket to set up your favorite stock or ETF for recurring purchases. Daily is one of the possible intervals.
Robinhood integrates recurring investments on its regular order ticket. It also permits a recurring trade to be funded from an external bank account rather than the investment account’s buying power.
Taxable Accounts and IRAs
Because recurring investments can be set up for securities inside both taxable and tax-advantaged accounts, such as Individual Retirement Accounts, they can be incorporated into a retirement strategy for building a nest egg over time. Most investment firms that offer Automatic Investment Plans also offer retirement accounts with thousands of mutual funds and even more stocks and ETFs.
Updated on 2/11/2025.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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