What Makes Schwab a Great Broker for Long-Term Investors
Main Points:
• Long-term investors get plenty of useful resources at Charles Schwab, including both investment and banking features.
• Financial planning, annuities, and investment guidance are among the services Schwab clients can use.
• Schwab offers low-cost index funds with no commissions, helping investors build an affordable long-term portfolio.
If you're a buy-and-hold investor, Charles Schwab offers many appealing features. Take a look at the following to see why Schwab is excellent for long-term investing:
Low Fees
High fees can gradually reduce returns on investments. That's why long-term investors prefer low-cost investments from discount brokers. Schwab is ideal here, providing zero commissions for most U.S.-listed funds, popular among long-term investors.
All ETFs and most mutual funds have zero trading fees, significantly reducing the cost of investing over time. Many of these funds have low expense ratios (generally below 0.50%), so investing at Schwab remains cost-effective.
Large Selection of Asset Classes
Besides index funds, Schwab offers many other investment types suitable for long-term investors. These include:
- Stocks
- Bonds and fixed-income investments
- Options
- Futures
- Forex
- Closed-end funds
Schwab's stock offerings include foreign stocks, American Depository Receipts, Real Estate Investment Trusts, OTC stocks, and Initial Public Offerings.
Schwab also provides annuities, often used by investors to generate retirement income. Schwab offers annuities without commission (the company earns compensation from insurance providers for selling these products).
Beyond annuities, Schwab has other insurance options, such as life insurance (whole and term), disability insurance, and long-term care coverage.
Large Assortment of Accounts
Over time, investors often need multiple account types for different purposes. While some brokers fall short here, Schwab offers an impressive range of account types, each with specific tax benefits. Accounts at Schwab include:
- Joint and individual taxable accounts
- Coverdell Education Savings Account
- 529 plans
- Custodial accounts
- Trust accounts
- Estate accounts
- Organization accounts
- Personal defined benefit plan
- 401k plans
- Donor-advised funds
- Personal choice retirement accounts
- Multiple Individual Retirement Accounts:
- Roth
- Traditional
- SEP
- SIMPLE
- Custodial
- Rollover
- Inherited
Free Charles Schwab Account
Visit Schwab Website
Advisory and Planning Services
Alongside self-directed investing, Schwab offers extensive advisory services. Through Schwab's financial planners, you can access many valuable long-term investing strategies, such as:
- Personalized financial plans
- Charitable giving strategies
- Estate planning
- Trust and will preparation
- Education funding strategies
Besides human advisors, Schwab has automated solutions at the lowest possible cost. Intelligent Portfolios® is Schwab's free robo-advisor. Additionally, the free robo financial plan tool is available under the Products tab on Schwab's website.
The highest tier of guidance at Schwab comes through its Wealth Management service. It requires at least $500,000, with fees ranging from 0.80% down to 0.30%, which is competitive.
Investment Education
If you prefer independent investing, Schwab offers learning resources on its website, thinkorswim platforms, and mobile app. On Schwab's website, you'll find various useful calculators, such as:
- Mortgage calculator
- IRA analyzer
- College savings calculator
- Required minimum distribution calculator
- Roth IRA conversion calculator
Schwab also provides general investment education through articles from Morningstar and CFRA. Additionally, Schwab operates its own video service, Schwab Network, and provides free access to CNBC content.
Help When You Need It
Schwab offers 24/7 customer support by phone. Additionally, the broker provides messaging and live chat on its website, and a useful virtual chat bot on its mobile app.
Schwab also has a large network of branch offices. Across the United States, there are over 300 locations in most states, plus several international offices.
Great Banking Features
Beyond investing, Schwab offers comprehensive banking features essential for long-term financial management. Schwab Bank provides useful services, including a checking account for daily use. This checking account includes checks and a Visa debit card with unlimited ATM fee refunds. Schwab also offers credit cards and securities-based loans. The company's technology connects investment and banking accounts seamlessly, making money transfers between accounts easy.
Free Charles Schwab Account
Visit Schwab Website
Updated on 7/4/2025.
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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