Schwab or Vanguard

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whatthehay
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Schwab or Vanguard

Post by whatthehay »

I'm going to move an inherited IRA to Schwab or Vanguard, does anyone have a preference. I have a Schwab account, but was thinking about moving it to Vanguard. I spoke to a flat fee advisor and he said Schwab had better customer service and I might have to wait online at Vanguard to talk to someone and that Schwab is a much bigger company.
rkhusky
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by rkhusky »

There’s no waiting if you do things online on the Vanguard website.

You can easily open a Vanguard account and give it a test drive.

Watch out for low rates on cash holdings. It’s one way that Schwab makes money.
Last edited by rkhusky on Wed Oct 30, 2024 10:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
jebmke
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by jebmke »

If my other money was at Schwab, that's what I'd do.
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hicabob
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by hicabob »

I have accounts at both and find them both to be decent. 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
steadyosmosis
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by steadyosmosis »

Schwab.
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Halicar
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by Halicar »

I predict that as this thread continues, the answers will approach 1/3 Schwab, 1/3 Vanguard, and 1/3 it doesn't matter.
livesoft
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by livesoft »

Vanguard simply sucks when it comes to providing web interface to buy and sell shares of ETFs. Go with Schwab if you ever want to buy anything but Vanguard mutual funds.
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the_wiki
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by the_wiki »

If you already have an account at one, that should be enough to make the decision for you. Keep it simple and just stick with Schwab.
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sycamore
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by sycamore »

Halicar wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 11:02 am I predict that as this thread continues, the answers will approach 1/3 Schwab, 1/3 Vanguard, and 1/3 it doesn't matter.
Don't forget those crazy bonus chasers who suggest opening an account with whoever has the biggest bonus offer!
Claudia Whitten
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by Claudia Whitten »

hicabob wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 10:58 am I have accounts at both and find them both to be decent. 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
Agree. Vanguard has better mutual funds, so I'd go there. Mutual funds are easier to invest in. Vanguard is also owned by the people who invest in the funds, not publicly traded, which is another advantage, IMO. Schwab pays you nothing on your cash settlement account. Its website and app are arguably better than Vanguard's, but you shouldn't be spending a lot of time in either. Schwab has checking account w/ reimbursement of foreign ATM fees.
Last edited by Claudia Whitten on Wed Oct 30, 2024 12:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
TN_Boy
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by TN_Boy »

livesoft wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 11:08 am Vanguard simply sucks when it comes to providing web interface to buy and sell shares of ETFs. Go with Schwab if you ever want to buy anything but Vanguard mutual funds.
Why Schwab? Fidelity seems fine for ETFs to me. And they have some good funds (obviously weaker selection than Vanguard) if not doing ETFs.
Vinny_in_NJ
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by Vinny_in_NJ »

livesoft wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 11:08 am Vanguard simply sucks when it comes to providing web interface to buy and sell shares of ETFs. Go with Schwab if you ever want to buy anything but Vanguard mutual funds.
I've used Vanguard to buy Schwab ETFs without any issues. You can't buy fractional shares but you can buy them without any issues. Vanguard is not a trading platform like Schwab is so there is a slight difference but suck - no.
Vinny_in_NJ
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by Vinny_in_NJ »

I use both Schwab and Vanguard and they are both fine, no experience with Fidelity so can't comment on them. I do not have either brokerage send money to the other but do have both set up to electronically transfer money to my checking. Vanguard is strictly IRAs and Schwab is a combo of taxable brokerage and IRAs.

Schwab and Vanguard both have advantages and disadvantages - either one id fine IMO. I actually use Vanguard's T Bill data to get info to buy T Bills at Schwab and Schwabs info if I want to buy an ETF.
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beernutz
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by beernutz »

My joint investment account is at Schwab as is my Roth IRA while the wife's 401k is at Vanguard. The Vanguard web interface for her account with no rhyme or reason will change periodically making it more difficult to find her asset allocation percentage or the source of her investments so I can see how much of the 401k is Roth.

In the past it was customizable enough to see both her AA and the balance of her Roth immediately on logging in but no longer. These changes, which generally have made the site less user friendly, have happened several times over the last few years.
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illumination
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by illumination »

I've had both, Schwab was/is much better in my experience.

If you already have accounts open at Schwab, it's a no brainer imo. Just easier to make outbound transfers and keep things in one place.
I also like Fidelity over Vanguard, but overall think Schwab is the better brokerage.
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goodenyou
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by goodenyou »

We have Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity in decreasing order of holdings. All have strengths and weaknesses. You have to figure out which is most important to you. They are like credit cards. You have to pick the one that gives you the best bang for your buck based on how you use them.
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MedEngineer
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by MedEngineer »

I have accounts at Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity, as well as others, in fact too many. I'm in the process of moving an account into Schwab simply to have one less brokerage to deal with (and Transamerica sucks). I was waiting on a transfer bonus from Fidelity, but they won't give me any love, but Schwab did, so that's where I went.
tbgb50
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by tbgb50 »

Due to different 401Ks I had accounts at each of the big 3. I found Schwab (where I ended up) and Fidelity better than Vanguard in terms of the interface and customer service. As you probably already do, the low sweep rate at Schwab can be addressed with MMF.

While this might not apply in your case, my wife (not technically inclined at all), found the Schwab interface easier to understand/use and since we are retired I didn't want to add to problems if I died before her.
livesoft
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by livesoft »

TN_Boy wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 12:36 pm
livesoft wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 11:08 am Vanguard simply sucks when it comes to providing web interface to buy and sell shares of ETFs. Go with Schwab if you ever want to buy anything but Vanguard mutual funds.
Why Schwab? Fidelity seems fine for ETFs to me. And they have some good funds (obviously weaker selection than Vanguard) if not doing ETFs.
The choices given were Schwab or Vanguard. Fidelity was not given as a choice.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by RickBoglehead »

whatthehay wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 10:52 am I'm going to move an inherited IRA to Schwab or Vanguard, does anyone have a preference. I have a Schwab account, but was thinking about moving it to Vanguard. I spoke to a flat fee advisor and he said Schwab had better customer service and I might have to wait online at Vanguard to talk to someone and that Schwab is a much bigger company.
You can lookup the size of each company and know that info instead of relying on someone's opinion, which is false.

Maybe come up with a list of criteria to help compare them?
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bondsr4me
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by bondsr4me »

goodenyou wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 3:03 pm We have Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity in decreasing order of holdings. All have strengths and weaknesses. You have to figure out which is most important to you. They are like credit cards. You have to pick the one that gives you the best bang for your buck based on how you use them.
+1....this sums it up really well.
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jeffyscott
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by jeffyscott »

RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2024 6:15 am
whatthehay wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 10:52 am I'm going to move an inherited IRA to Schwab or Vanguard, does anyone have a preference. I have a Schwab account, but was thinking about moving it to Vanguard. I spoke to a flat fee advisor and he said Schwab had better customer service and I might have to wait online at Vanguard to talk to someone and that Schwab is a much bigger company.
You can lookup the size of each company and know that info instead of relying on someone's opinion, which is false.

Maybe come up with a list of criteria to help compare them?
I don't know if it's "false", I think it depends on what was meant by "bigger" and "much". In terms of the number of employees, Schwab is apparently about 65% bigger.
TipsQuestions
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by TipsQuestions »

You'll probably be ok at either place, though I trust the for-profit guys less.

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FinanceGeek
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Re: Schwab or Vanguard

Post by FinanceGeek »

I think you need to separate the concepts of who operates the best funds (Vanguard) and who is the best custodian (!Vanguard).

IMHO, the sweet spot is to own Vanguard ETFs at Fidelity or Schwab, slight preference to using Fidelity over Schwab because Fidelity allows you to buy fractional shares and pays better interest on cash balances. Either Fidelity and Schwab has vastly better websites and customer support than Vanguard.
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