The "angle" at Schwab

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frankmorris
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The "angle" at Schwab

Post by frankmorris »

I like the idea of a physical location, and have read through a lot of posts on BH with folks being pleased with the customer service at Schwab, balanced with the philosophy of respecting the DIY investor. I stopped by the local branch this week just to assess the experience, even though I know I can open an account online. The front desk person I talked to was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and suggested I speak with one of the main account people.

Here's my question: What "angle" should I expect, if any, from Schwab folks in terms of pushing products & services? Will they try to steer me towards opening one particular account over another? I'm not seeing that they charge an AUM, so will the person I speak to be trying to sell a product for commission, or are they generally motivated to help?

Also, how is opening account online different than in person? Will I be assigned an "advisor" either way? What is that advisor doing? Are they looking at my account and calling to pitch products, or are they simply "available" if I want to get in touch? Would I be better off opening an account online so I don't have to have that initial relationship with someone in particular?

Not out against people trying to make money necessarily, just want to know the angle and for it not to be aggressive.
Last edited by frankmorris on Sun Jun 25, 2017 9:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
Dottie57
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Dottie57 »

Duplicated
Last edited by Dottie57 on Sun Jun 25, 2017 9:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dottie57
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Dottie57 »

I am at fidelity. My advisor has a light touch. I have been a disappointment as I did not bite on a complicated annuity or higher expense funds. He will help me if i need help at retirement.

Just remember the advisor is trying to make a living.

Just remember you are in control.
Topic Author
frankmorris
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by frankmorris »

Thanks for the reply. So, I'm going to update my original thread with this question you made me think of: How is opening account online different than in person? Will I be assigned an "advisor" either way? What is that advisor doing? Are they looking at my account and calling to pitch products, or are they simply "available" if I want to get in touch?
lowndes
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by lowndes »

I just recently moved all my accounts to Schwab including banking and stopped by a local office to open up the trust accounts. They were knowledgeable and great people to chat with. Welcomed the business and didn't push any type of product on me.
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triceratop
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by triceratop »

frankmorris wrote:Thanks for the reply. So, I'm going to update my original thread with this question you made me think of: How is opening account online different than in person? Will I be assigned an "advisor" either way? What is that advisor doing? Are they looking at my account and calling to pitch products, or are they simply "available" if I want to get in touch?
I opened an account online. I have never been contacted by a Schwab rep or salesperson.

I have been offered generous perks when I asked about moving my investment accounts to Schwab, but that was self-initiated.

The customer service has been fantastic.
"To play the stock market is to play musical chairs under the chord progression of a bid-ask spread."
MnD
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by MnD »

My Schwab advisor was automatically assigned, is simply available if needed, and has been the same person for maybe 15 years.
When I do call it's generally a complex issue and he typically routes me to a specialist and stays on the line for the whole call to ensure the issue is satisfactorily resolved. That's an amazing level of customer service in this day and age.
He used to call me a couple of times a year to see if I had any questions or needs, but those calls stopped a couple of years ago.
He has never tried to sell me anything.
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Swansea
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Swansea »

I have had a Schwab IRA account for years and never have received a sales pitch or unsolicited call.
truenorth418
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by truenorth418 »

I was assigned an Schwab "advisor" at the local office without asking for one. When I retired (I was young, age 47), my expectation was to manage my portfolio myself, so I was a little annoyed when the advisor would call to ask how things were going. I met with him once to review my financial plan, and in preparation for that I ran the Schwab retirement planner and brought a hard copy to the meeting. I was surprised that my "advisor" had not already reviewed this for himself online as I knew he had access to it. The meeting consisted of reading through the work I had already done, he had nothing useful to add. It was a good reminder that I am the only person who truly cares about my financial plans and wellbeing, and that the "advisor" is largely disinterested unless he has something to gain.

On the other hand, he was extremely helpful in helping me transfer money to the U.S. from my late father's estate in another country, informing that to transfer the money from the foreign bank into my Schwab account would be inexpensive and seamless. He was right. This process saved me literally thousands of dollars vs transferring it from the foreign bank into my U.S. bank account. The Schwab exchange rate was extremely competitive and there were no large transaction fees. And the process was fast and extremely convenient. I will be eternally grateful to him for making that suggestion. He did not even suggest that I invest the cash in my Schwab account (in fact, I transferred it all out of the Schwab account into my Vanguard account).

He has also been helpful as a devil's advocate, helping me kick the tires on my investing decisions. He has stopped being directive and has taken on more of a light touch, which I appreciate. I guess it's a process, he has come to understand what level of service I am looking for and is now delivering it. Others might be looking for more involvement from him than I am, and I understand that.

I have come to appreciate Schwab more in recent years. Their systems and service are top notch. Their website is excellent. If I ever want to become a more frequent trader they are ready for me, if not then they largely leave me alone.
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Peter Foley
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Peter Foley »

I've been with Schwab for well over 20 years. I have found them to be helpful. I've had two advisers over the time I have been with Schwab. I would characterize both as having a "light touch." I have been contacted by my adviser once or twice a year with a simple inquiry along the lines of is everything okay and do you need anything.
DetroitRick
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by DetroitRick »

Based on my experiences with Schwab since the 90's, and including those experiences of two other Schwab customers (inlaws and a close friend), I don't find a huge difference in experience between local office service and online only. We happen to live only 5 miles from a local office, and THAT fact does offer some small advantages on occasion. My inlaws, now just mother-in-law, have had all three different Schwab advisor experiences in the past 10 years: local office with assigned rep, assigned 800-line rep and (now) no rep. My friend has no assigned rep, but gets an occasional call from Schwab.

We have collectively never had any problems in getting things done under any of these arrangements. With regard to my assigned local rep, I've had around 4 over the years. One excellent, one really bad (he lasted less than a year), one okay (my current rep) and one I don't even remember. Because our office is so close to home (and work before retirement), they've given 3 advantages over the years: 1)local seminars (nicely done, very useful content), 2)ability to make a quick deposit (but I quit bothering once online deposit capability started) and 3)occasional intervention to get something fixed or a new account set up (really super helpful to us, and time-saving, but a very rare need). Most of my contact with my rep has been an occasional touch-base phone call, or a general portfolio review in office every few years. It's all been vaguely helpful, but not earth-shattering. My assigned rep is not somebody I would discuss financial theory with, but he's helpful in his intended role.

I've never gotten a hard sell on anything. Not ever, and none of us have. If a new product is launched, they will make sure I know about it. No more than that. They've never, for example, looked at my portfolio and suggested more Schwab funds. Or attempted to sell me an annuity. My MIL's experience has been the same - first she got a yearly call from the local office, and then later an occasional call from an assigned phone rep (so same rep each call). Now just a general 800-rep call once a year. Just to see if she had any issues or questions. Her previously-assigned phone rep was probably the best rep I've experienced at Schwab, and I found him particularly competent. But overall, it really didn't matter too much. Lastly, my friend gets occasional "touch base" calls from Schwab (different reps each time), just checking to see if all is well. Those have been fine, and he's never missed local office accessibility one bit.

So, my conclusion based on all this - I'd still do business with Schwab without that local office. But I have a SLIGHT preference for one.

Keep in mind though that Schwab has all different services depending on what level of contact you need. You can exist just find in DIY mode, you can have Private Client develop and manage your portfolio with detailed interactions, you can work with with an advisor through their network, you can get use their robo service, or whatever level of service you need. But this is all backed up by a stellar web platform (and even their proprietary trading platform if you want) with a wealth of tools. It always been excellent, and is constantly improving. For example, many documents can be uploaded now that previously would have necessitate a mailing or an office trip. All-in-all, my need for local office interface would be greater without their extensive online capabilities.
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by dbr »

I have never had an "adviser" at any of several brokerage firms including Fidelity and Schwab. I tend to regard ending up with an "adviser" as something of a mistake on the part of the investor. I have found all the firms I have done business with to be very good at customer service without an advisor and without going to a physical location. A person should not need an adviser to get questions answered, to be directed to sources of information, to handle most transactions, etc. I can understand more personal attention being helpful for more complex arrangements such as using one of these firms as trustee for a trust or some such thing. Things like account transfers, rollovers, etc. should be able to be handled by a CSR. In any case a broker cannot and should not give tax advice or legal advice.
MnD
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by MnD »

I stand corrected - the person on the web site as my primary contact is listed as "my consultant".
I would characterize the relationship as having a dedicated and very available customer service representative that I utilize very infrequently because the vast majority of brokerage account things can be handled through the web site.

Both my young adult kids have the same consultant and both had some issues setting up accounts and could not get over the high level of Schwab service from their "consultant". They had never experienced that level of customer service with any organization in their lives prior to that.

I'd be surprised if people at Schwab didn't have a dedicated consultant listed on their account web page.
Both my kids do and they do not have big bucks at Schwab.
70/30 AA for life, Global market cap equity. Rebalance if fixed income <25% or >35%. Weighted ER< .10%. 5% of annual portfolio balance SWR, Proportional (to AA) withdrawals.
afan
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by afan »

We use Schwab, among other firms.

We have a consultant. He is a very nice guy and was helpful in pointing us the right places at Schwab when I was settling an estate. He offered their money management services, I declined, and he has not brought it up again.

The consultants get paid in part based on total assets they serve at Schwab. So keeping customers happy does result in higher income for them.

They get paid more if you buy more expensive things, on which Schwab makes more profit. We have only stocks and rock bottom fee mutual funds. Not all the mutual funds are Schwab.

I don't see how Schwab makes a profit even on the Schwab on the funds we hold there, since the fees are a tad lower than Vanguard, which are probably at cost for V.

Nonetheless, when I told my consultant that he did a great job, we don't generate much profit, and asked whether he was actually getting paid for his services, he laughed and said that the compensation model rewarded consultants to hang on to happy customers.

He can see our portfolios and recognize that I am a strict, lowest cost, total market indexer. So perhaps he realizes there is no point in trying to sell expensive funds or investment advice.

Schwab has a bewildering variety of asset management deals. If you express any interest I assume they would be delighted to sell you. But our experience suggests you can be a buy and hold, minimum fee, cap weighted indexer and be treated very well.

I have found Fidelity is much more likely to push its active funds and advisory services. I constantly get emails about how great they are. Thankfully, they believed me when I demanded they stop calling. Like Schwab, Fidelity has some competitively priced index funds on which I assume they lose money. As long as they do not jack up the prices the funds themselves are fine. Service does not begin to compare with Schwab.
We don't know how to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, and we don't know anyone that does know either | --Swedroe | We assume that markets are efficient, that prices are right | --Fama
afan
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by afan »

Here is a link that defines how the consultants are compensated. They make a lot more if you buy there expensive asset management offerings. Schwab shares some of the revenue with the consultants. Low revenue products-> low payments to consultants.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/ ... sentatives

As I said, I don't see that our guy makes much off of us, we don't demand much, but when we have contacted him he has been great.
We don't know how to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, and we don't know anyone that does know either | --Swedroe | We assume that markets are efficient, that prices are right | --Fama
NotWhoYouThink
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by NotWhoYouThink »

We have had self-managed accounts at Schwab for 25 years or so. Most of the money has since been moved to Vanguard, but one account is still at Schwab. We have always had a consultant assigned to our accounts, and the first one lasted about 10 years and the second one is still in place. Expect them to email monthly or so, and call your phone number if they have it once or twice a year to offer a "free" review of your investments, with suggestions for what you can do to improve your portfolio. Their suggestions will be to transition to some sort of managed account, either their newer robo-advisor account or a more personal approach. Nothing hard sell, and you can avoid the sales pitch by avoiding the annual review.

In particular, I get a lot of invitations for events on the topic of women and investing. If you think you know all you need to manage your finances, but think your widow might be susceptible to sales pitch, then knowing that about Schwab can open up some good family conversations.
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Wricha
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Wricha »

Schwab, has been first rate no hard sell. It's service excellent, local people great. Arranged a very large loan ( excellent rates) for me in hours to bridge a gap on new monies that were not available. Can't say enough good things about these folks.
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TimeRunner
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by TimeRunner »

I'm in the process of getting POA in place for three trust accounts and an IRA at Schwab. I have been dealing with their Operations Center in Texas, and the folks there have been very helpful. When my 88 year old Mom forgot to make an appointment at her local Schwab office (far from me) for us to get the POA's notarized, and we just showed up (me as reluctant, Mom as expectant) walk-ins, Schwab had no notary available. They called a local notary, had her come to the office to deal with our paperwork, had us pay the notary, and then credited my Mom's accounts for the notary's cost. On top of that, they validated our parking (in major urban setting). That's service.

The Ops center folk have been very understanding and have kept me updated as the paperwork goes through their legal team. The original trust accounts were wrongly registered (as irrevocable trusts), and they are fixing all that.

I like their website (as I do Fido's), and they do have a bunch of low-cost mutual funds and ETFs that are competitive with Vanguard. When this is all said and done, I wouldn't be unhappy at either Schwab or Fido. Having a walk-in office (vice Vanguard) can also be very useful when dealing with notarized docs, medallion signatures, etc.
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dn123

Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by dn123 »

Have been with Schwab for over 20 years and only have good things to say about them. Never have received any hard sells from them, and have found them to be helpful. I can't compare to Fidelity. They run lots of (free) workshops at my branch which are helpful. The physical branch location is a big plus for me - I can make an appt and go talk to a CFP at any time. They have incentives for bringing new money to them. I like their web page and find it to be easy for navigate and read (vs ETrade - which chose smaller and harder to read fonts). Their web pages are actually quite extensive and they have additional (free) tools for more serious traders. The Schwab bank features free ATM usage at any other bank (they absorb all ATM fees) which is another perk worth something to me. I haven't had any bad experiences with them and feel like they are a high quality organization. I have also started using their Intelligent Portfolio (their robo system) but Im still evaluating it.
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frankmorris
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by frankmorris »

Really, really appreciate everyone'e insight and perspective about this. This is such a helpful place to get insight, and people like you all are an invaluable resource. Thank you.

Sounds like consensus is almost uniformly positive, and while I might expect a light suggestion for more expensive products, I'll be free to manage my account the way I'd like. Also seems like there is no real difference between opening an account online vs in store.

Again, thanks everyone
afan
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by afan »

NotWhoYouThink wrote:Expect them to email monthly or so, and call your phone number if they have it once or twice a year to offer a "free" review of your investments, with suggestions for what you can do to improve your portfolio.

This has not been our experience. Our consultant only contacts us when there is something to do. Once he got to know us, years ago, he only reaches out to get back with the answer to a question we had asked.

Schwab does push out some emails that pretend to be from the consultant but are actually form messages. When they did that offering a retirement consultation I contacted our consultant, who did not realize they had done it. But we went through the retirement planning process anyway. It did not reveal anything new, but I do lots of such planning anyway, just wanted to see how a different firm would handle it.

I think it is a well run company. They market to people who are receptive but do not torture those who are not interested.
The Schwab bank features free ATM usage at any other bank (they absorb all ATM fees)
And no foreign transaction fees!
We don't know how to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, and we don't know anyone that does know either | --Swedroe | We assume that markets are efficient, that prices are right | --Fama
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frankmorris
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by frankmorris »

Thanks afan...
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Lieutenant.Columbo
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Lieutenant.Columbo »

truenorth418 wrote:...transfer the money from the foreign bank into my Schwab account would be inexpensive and seamless. He was right. This process saved me literally thousands of dollars vs transferring it from the foreign bank into my U.S. bank account. The Schwab exchange rate was extremely competitive and there were no large transaction fees. And the process was fast and extremely convenient...
truenorth418,
In addition to Schwab's currency exchange rate being extremely competitive, was there any other factor that caused the transfer to result in such large savings? Thanks.
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hoops777
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by hoops777 »

Switched to Schwab from Vanguard 6 months ago.Could not be happier and they have done nothing to annoy me in any way.
K.I.S.S........so easy to say so difficult to do.
Karamatsu
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Karamatsu »

Here's my question: What "angle" should I expect...
I've been at Schwab more than 25 years now and have seen the angles change now and then, but generally they are not pushy at all. At my first visit with them (also at a physical office), the representative recommended index funds with age in bonds. If only I'd listened!! In my experience they've never pushed any specific product. The closest that ever came was their list of no-fee mutual funds and offering to help me get set up with their (free) trading platform. They did assign an advisor but I don't remember her ever recommending any purchases, so... not like the usual broker, so no cold calls, no "hot tips." She's been more like a contact person in case I needed anything, and she was very helpful when I introduced a friend who wanted to set up an account.

I think Schwab's philosophy has always been to support DIY investors, for me, at least, they've been good all around. Great research, great web site, great tax reporting... It's easy to place limit orders and to do specific identification when selling. Most important, they support expatriates. One time a bunch of us here compared things like the time for dividend reinvestment, etc, and at that time Schwab was a bit slower than some of the others, but I think order execution itself is fine and I frequently get price improvement on my limit orders. Oh... if you buy individual bonds or brokered CD's, my sense is that they're more expensive than, say, Fidelity. No fees for buying treasuries at auction, though, and since I don't buy corporates anymore it's become a non-issue for me. CD's though... shop around if you want to buy those.
How is opening account online different than in person?
I can't say since I set up my account at one of their offices, but the friend I mentioned did his remotely and I don't think there was any real difference. Just that, if you go to an office, they'll have someone there to answer questions if you have any, maybe offer you a cup of coffee, etc. I'm not sure how they assign advisors. In my case, even though I did start my account at an office, I wasn't assigned an "advisor" until much later. Maybe they just didn't do it back in those days? Anyway, I'm a happy customer, so I imagine you will be, too.
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whodidntante
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by whodidntante »

Expect them to encourage you transfer assets you have elsewhere to Schwab. Their business model is to first get the money in house and then find ways to monetize the business relationship with you. It is possible to exploit that to your advantage, if you want. For example, you can take a cash bonus offer to bring money there for a year and then avoid any fee generating activities.
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F150HD
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by F150HD »

frankmorris wrote:
Here's my question: What "angle" should I expect, if any, from Schwab folks in terms of pushing products & services? Will they try to steer me towards opening one particular account over another? I'm not seeing that they charge an AUM, so will the person I speak to be trying to sell a product for commission, or are they generally motivated to help?

Also, how is opening account online different than in person? Will I be assigned an "advisor" either way? What is that advisor doing? Are they looking at my account and calling to pitch products, or are they simply "available" if I want to get in touch?
I opened an account online this past week and I was not assigned an 'advisor'. I did start receiving marketing emails for X, Y or Z, but I simply unsubscribed.
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Stormbringer
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Stormbringer »

frankmorris wrote:What "angle" should I expect, if any, from Schwab folks in terms of pushing products & services? Will they try to steer me towards opening one particular account over another? I'm not seeing that they charge an AUM, so will the person I speak to be trying to sell a product for commission, or are they generally motivated to help?
I've used Schwab for about 25 years now, and I've never felt like anything was being pushed on me. They do work on commission, and they provided a pamphlet that laid it all out.

In my early years of investing, I was all over the place. I had a mix of funds and individual stocks and no real plan or knowledge of what I was doing. As I accumulated more, I recognized that I needed help and signed up for their Managed Portfolio service.

It did come with a fee (.5% as I recall) and they did place me in quite a few actively managed Schwab funds with fees of their own, but they did construct a portfolio for me that at least made some sense in terms of asset allocation. By adding some bonds, they put me in better position to ride out 2008-2009. No doubt I could have done better indexing, but still it was an improvement over the mess of a portfolio I had prior to that.

Around 2010 I switched to indexing, and while my manager was sorry to lose, he didn't pressure me to stay.
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Taylor Larimore
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by Taylor Larimore »

afan wrote:Here is a link that defines how the consultants are compensated. They make a lot more if you buy there expensive asset management offerings. Schwab shares some of the revenue with the consultants. Low revenue products-> low payments to consultants.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/ ... sentatives

As I said, I don't see that our guy makes much off of us, we don't demand much, but when we have contacted him he has been great.
afan;

Thank you for the link. The Schwab compensation plan is the most complicated I have seen. Nevertheless, based on the replies, above, it seems to work.

To my (limited) knowledge, Vanguard has no compensation plan. They simply pay employees a salary. Does anyone know different?

Best wishes.
Taylor
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
multiham
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by multiham »

I've been with them for about 20 years. 95% positive things to say about them. No pressure, no phone calls. I even did their 1 hour conference call with a CFP to discuss my portfolio and their relatively new Schwab Intelligent Advisory. Other than receiving his recommendations by e-mail, no one else has contacted me to try and get me to sign up.

The only reason I say 95% positive has been a couple of mistakes they have made over the last 2 years. I was doing a partial transfer of shares from another investment company to Schwab. Instead of doing a partial transfer, they transferred all the shares and the original investment company sold the partial share that was left. I contacted Schwab and they investigated, admitted it was their mistake, transferred back the appropriate amount of shares, and covered the commission charge that the original investment company charged to sell a partial share. Easy to work with, made it right, but it was a careless mistake.
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by *3!4!/5! »

I opened a Schwab account for the debit card and an account opening bonus, (though they reneged on the bonus) and it automatically came with a brokerage account. I was thinking of transferring some assets into the brokerage for another bonus, but it was too troublesome, so I didn't bother.

Anyway, I got a couple of phone calls from Schwab and they were really quite grueling and invasive. Based on this nasty experience, I definitely do not want to ever deal with Schwab brokerage (though I will keep the debit card).
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frankmorris
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by frankmorris »

Thanks everyone. Yes, Taylor - seems that folks are happy with the model (except the response immediately above me), despite the compensation plan being commission-based, at least in part. Certainly something to keep an eye on and be aware of, but looks like for most folks it hasn't been a deal breaker yet.
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tangy
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Re: The "angle" at Schwab

Post by tangy »

Before I opened an account at Schwab I made an appointment to see how they "behave" and found them helpful and pleasant. No hard sell, but I found they did keep bringing up their "intelligent Portfolio." A few weeks later I did open up a Roth IRA by dropping off a check and also moved some stock shares over there. So far, no hard sell, no constant phone calls or anything. I declined to invest in the Intelligent Portfolio--I want to be a bit more hands on than that. I will be doing more Schwab, which is in addition to my Vanguard accounts. I appreciate having a local office to visit should the need arise.
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