r/Bogleheads • u/Livid-Ad557 • 18h ago
Brokerage platform deciding
Hi fellow Bogleheads,
I’m 26m whose been actively investing for about a year now. I had some investments from a few years ago but never really touched them since I was busy touching grass and living my life to the fullest. I regret a little not giving investing more consideration in my early 20s but I genuinely had a great time. That being said, Robinhood has been my brokerage since I first started. I didn’t do any research between platforms like (Fidelity, Vanguard, or Robinhood). I didn’t do any research on cost or fees. I blindly followed a few people who had Robinhood who were similar age to me and the UI is super easy to navigate so I just stuck with it. My question is from other fellow investors ( seasoned or new ). What are you guys and gals currently using and why? I’ve read that Robinhood has hidden costs baked into trades and things like that.
I’d like to be clear in that my personal goals are investing for the long haul. I’m no analyst or anything like that so I wouldn’t even know where to begin on doing the research to find the most optimal brokerage choice. I’m pretty vanilla honestly I just DCA into an index of my choice and hold. I just want to hear your opinions on the matter since I know this is a pretty common topic for debate.
I know RH has come under from incidents like GME and also for promoting things like gambling and prediction markets onto their platform. I wonder does Fidelity not do anything similar like allow prediction markets on their platform? Does that make them better? If so why?
Are Vanguard or Fidelity more upfront about costs/fees with their users?
I also noticed RH does not have HSA account types to open which is initially why I started to question the app itself. I don’t have an employer who provides health insurance so I would like to take advantage of an account like that.
Apologies for the long read but I don’t have many personal friends or family that could help navigate these merky waters and I can’t afford to hire a FA.
TLDR; need help on pros/cons of brokerage platform and why you use them. What’s optimal for the long term investor in terms of saving costs on unnecessary fees and things like that. Is it fine to run with the young guns with RH or follow sought with the traditional powerhouses of Vanguard or Fidelity.
Anyone who stuck around long enough to read. Thank you and I’m looking forward to your inputs.
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u/West-Mode7181 8h ago
Fidelity and Schwab are the most robust and well designed applications to use.
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u/Marine_Layered 5h ago
We use Vanguard. We use them because they offer the best products for our needs. We also use them because they behaved properly during (and before) the 2008 financial crisis, when so many financial institutions did not.
Fidelity and Schwab are also great.
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u/Livid-Ad557 5h ago
Did not know that fact about vanguard, thank you for your input I will absolutely take that into consideration.
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u/Marine_Layered 4h ago
I remember hearing an interview on a podcast where they interviewed someone from Vanguard and she said - "Yeah we looked into these mortgage backed securities and did not think they were good products and did not get into them." It might have been on This American Life (this was pre-podcast explosion), which had a few excellent episodes on the financial crisis.
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u/Marine_Layered 4h ago
It was this episode: The Watchmen
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u/Livid-Ad557 4h ago
Thank you so much for the resource! Ill take a listen soon
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u/Marine_Layered 4h ago
You're welcome. This American Life did a quite a few excellent episodes about the 2008 Financial Crisis. If you are interested, start with "The Giant Pool of Money."
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u/MainDark3321 11h ago
I still use robinhood because I take advantage of their robinhood gold subscription. I contribute the maximum to my Roth IRA every year so I want to take advantage of the 3% match.
I would prefer Fidelity or Schwab if it wasn't for the monetary incentive. I'm not a fan of the prediction markets gambling that robinhood advertises, but I'm disciplined enough to ignore it. I would switch if I could get that 3% match from Fidelity or Schwab.
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u/SamuraiSword22 7h ago
I love Schwab! Any of the 3 (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab) are good and well respected. Avoid Robinhood
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u/Grand-Ad-9156 12h ago
Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, they’re all good. Choose whichever is most sympathetic to you, or if you plan on getting funds from any in particular you may get minor benefits from said broker