Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
If this appeals at all, consider making a minimum investment and waiting three years. Then all investments will receive the lowest share class ER.
This differs slightly from the way class B shares were handled by load funds. Traditionally any new B share you bought would have its own clock. After a certain number of years (typically 5-10) the share would automatically convert to the cheaper A class share.
Which makes me surprised that Barron's considers "time based pricing" something new for the industry. Fidelity is simply converting shares from the initial share class to Loyalty Class 1 shares, and later to Loyalty Class 2 shares. Same idea as converting B shares to A shares based on time.
I'm a fan of sector funds, in small pieces. They can become big pieces in the right environment. A few years ago, I had put some money in the Fidelity Biotech fund FBIOX. It hit a favorable spell and grew quickly. I decided the pace was unsustainable and took most of my money off the table (this is in my IRA). It dropped a lot soon thereafter -- lucky me. (BTW, it's doing well again, because of the hope for a Covid-19 vaccine I think.)
I wish I had bailed out of FSELX (Select Semiconductors) in mid-February. The last year was boom times for it and I knew that our holdings had become too large a share of our portfolio, but resisted selling. "You gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em".
At the other end of the spectrum, I don't expect AKRIX to be so volatile.
I'll probably open starter positions in the new Tech and Medicine Fidelity funds.
So, instead of buying Fidelity Disruptive Technology Fund (FTEKX) with ER=1% I can just buy Fidelity® Select Technology Portfolio (FSPTX) with ER=0.72%
And I don't need to wait 3 years to get ER=50%.
Fidelity lost its way for several years now. Please give me other family funds for lower min and more Inst fund with no fees and please let me sell a fund and buy another online on the same day without calling a rep...or...buy a stock and then sell a mutual fund to cover it when I don't have any cash(doable at Schwab). Can you find another big discount broker that has one million dollar min to buy Pimco Instit shares(example PIMIX)?
Point taken. I hadn't yet gotten around to comparing ER (or holdings). I've considered FSPTX in the past. In a previous era, I held T Rowe Price Science & Technology fund in my 403b; it did very well. David
"I can just buy Fidelity® Select Technology Portfolio (FSPTX) with ER=0.72%. And I don't need to wait 3 years to get ER=50%" That's true. WIth FSPTX you'll need to wait forever to get an ER of 0.50%.
"Can you find another big discount broker that has one million dollar min to buy Pimco Instit shares(example PIMIX)?" Yes.
Can you find a big discount broker that has a $25K min (or less) to buy Pimco Instit shares (example PIMIX)?
Since you mentioned FSPTX, can you find a big discount brokerage aside from Schwab that has a $2500 min to buy the fund in a taxable account? Can you suggest brokerages where one can buy this fund without a fee?
Schwab apparently meets your needs. I'm happy for you, really. It's a great brokerage. But your needs are not the same as those of others.
You wrote that you "never tell [others] to use [your] style, never, [you] helped them using their style." That makes the blanket marginalization of Fidelity ("lost its way") tantamount to saying that independent of an investor's style, Fidelity is a poor choice.
When Schwab makes additional purchases of share classes like PIMIX available for less than $10/purchase, I'll consider it. When Schwab starts letting me pay bills out of a cash account with a decent yield (not just 0.05%), I'll consider it. Until then, it doesn't meet my needs.
"I can just buy Fidelity® Select Technology Portfolio (FSPTX) with ER=0.72%. And I don't need to wait 3 years to get ER=50%" That's true. WIth FSPTX you'll need to wait forever to get an ER of 0.50%.
"Can you find another big discount broker that has one million dollar min to buy Pimco Instit shares(example PIMIX)?" Yes.
Can you find a big discount broker that has a $25K min (or less) to buy Pimco Instit shares (example PIMIX)?
Since you mentioned FSPTX, can you find a big discount brokerage aside from Schwab that has a $2500 min to buy the fund in a taxable account? Can you suggest brokerages where one can buy this fund without a fee?
Schwab apparently meets your needs. I'm happy for you, really. It's a great brokerage. But your needs are not the same as those of others.
You wrote that you "never tell [others] to use [your] style, never, [you] helped them using their style." That makes the blanket marginalization of Fidelity ("lost its way") tantamount to saying that independent of an investor's style, Fidelity is a poor choice.
When Schwab makes additional purchases of share classes like PIMIX available for less than $10/purchase, I'll consider it. When Schwab starts letting me pay bills out of a cash account with a decent yield (not just 0.05%), I'll consider it. Until then, it doesn't meet my needs.
You got it. Fidelity for me and others who like to invest in Instit funds and trade sometimes is a better choice. That's how I invest. If you just buy and hold then VG maybe your choice.
- Schwab has a better online platform. It’s easier and more intuitive.
- Schwab offer more lower min funds. Examples: 1) All Pimco Instit shares have one million min at Fido but just $100K at Schwab. This means that for every $100K you will save $250 at Schwab per year 2) JMSIX,IISIX are NTF and Schwab but not fidelity. Many Fidelity customers buy these funds at other brokers and transfer.
- Fidelity has strict trading rules not found anywhere else and not mandated by agency, SEC or anybody else. Examples: 1) if you sell a fund in your IRA, you can't buy another online, you must call a rep and spend time 2) Even if you sold a fund and call a rep you can only buy at 90% of the proceed. At Schwab it’s easy, you sell your fund and just enter another fund. For bond fund I buy at 99.5% for stock funds I buy at 98-99% because I look at what markets are doing 3) Suppose you own mutual funds in your IRA and you don't have any cash and want to buy a stock/ETF, you can't do it, you must sell your fund and wait one say for settlement. At Schwab, you just buy your ETF, see how much you own and sell your mutual fund to cover it. This is a huge advantage for me. Over the years I'm invested at 99+% but I trade several times annually. That means thousands of dollar which I can't do at Fidelity because I must have it in cash. 4) Schwab doesn't care if you trade their funds, Fidelity will punish you on a roundtrip less than 30 days. I basically want all the flexibility I need/want.
- Schwab reps will work harder to please you with fees, Fidelity reps are much tighter. In the last several years I got over $3500 cash rewards from Schwab after a transfer money from Fidelity which doesn't pay cash reward, I get free transactions on Istit share (extremely hard at Fidelity). I always ask for stuff and get it most times at
- Schwab was always/mostly the leader for lowering fees vs Fidelity
- Schwab has a global ATM with a true no fees, Fidelity ATM has a 1% foreign transaction fee for other currencies
- Schwab IT is more advanced and faster. Example: Funds dist are placed in your account on the same day at Schwab. It takes Fidelity most times 2 more days. Fidelity FULL VIEW(where they link all accounts from other institutions) was broken for months and still can be off. Schwab has a similar feature and it works better and faster. If you traded funds you will see it at Schwab the same date with all the settlement while it takes Fidelity longer.
- Schwab target funds and ETF are cheaper than VG and Fidelity and most have just $1 min.
- Schwab doesn’t have a good sweep MM but you can just use SWVXX with competitive yield and trade in/out like any other fund and it doesn’t have a minimum. Fidelity makes it harder with several funds and different minimums.
- In the last 2-3 year, Fidelity reps knowledge deteriorated significantly.
- At tax time I have been waiting at Fidelity 15-20 minutes for a rep to answer while I never waited more than 1-2 minutes at Schwab.
"I can just buy Fidelity® Select Technology Portfolio (FSPTX) with ER=0.72%. And I don't need to wait 3 years to get ER=50%" That's true. WIth FSPTX you'll need to wait forever to get an ER of 0.50%.
"Can you find another big discount broker that has one million dollar min to buy Pimco Instit shares(example PIMIX)?" Yes.
Can you find a big discount broker that has a $25K min (or less) to buy Pimco Instit shares (example PIMIX)?
Since you mentioned FSPTX, can you find a big discount brokerage aside from Schwab that has a $2500 min to buy the fund in a taxable account? Can you suggest brokerages where one can buy this fund without a fee?
Schwab apparently meets your needs. I'm happy for you, really. It's a great brokerage. But your needs are not the same as those of others.
You wrote that you "never tell [others] to use [your] style, never, [you] helped them using their style." That makes the blanket marginalization of Fidelity ("lost its way") tantamount to saying that independent of an investor's style, Fidelity is a poor choice.
When Schwab makes additional purchases of share classes like PIMIX available for less than $10/purchase, I'll consider it. When Schwab starts letting me pay bills out of a cash account with a decent yield (not just 0.05%), I'll consider it. Until then, it doesn't meet my needs.
You got it. Fidelity for me and others who like to invest in Instit funds and trade sometimes is a better choice. That's how I invest. If you just buy and hold then VG maybe your choice.
- Schwab has a better online platform. It’s easier and more intuitive.
- Schwab offer more lower min funds. Examples: 1) All Pimco Instit shares have one million min at Fido but just $100K at Schwab. This means that for every $100K you will save $250 at Schwab per year 2) JMSIX,IISIX are NTF and Schwab but not fidelity. Many Fidelity customers buy these funds at other brokers and transfer.
- Fidelity has strict trading rules not found anywhere else and not mandated by agency, SEC or anybody else. Examples: 1) if you sell a fund in your IRA, you can't buy another online, you must call a rep and spend time 2) Even if you sold a fund and call a rep you can only buy at 90% of the proceed. At Schwab it’s easy, you sell your fund and just enter another fund. For bond fund I buy at 99.5% for stock funds I buy at 98-99% because I look at what markets are doing 3) Suppose you own mutual funds in your IRA and you don't have any cash and want to buy a stock/ETF, you can't do it, you must sell your fund and wait one say for settlement. At Schwab, you just buy your ETF, see how much you own and sell your mutual fund to cover it. This is a huge advantage for me. Over the years I'm invested at 99+% but I trade several times annually. That means thousands of dollar which I can't do at Fidelity because I must have it in cash. 4) Schwab doesn't care if you trade their funds, Fidelity will punish you on a roundtrip less than 30 days. I basically want all the flexibility I need/want.
- Schwab reps will work harder to please you with fees, Fidelity reps are much tighter. In the last several years I got over $3500 cash rewards from Schwab after a transfer money from Fidelity which doesn't pay cash reward, I get free transactions on Istit share (extremely hard at Fidelity). I always ask for stuff and get it most times at
- Schwab was always/mostly the leader for lowering fees vs Fidelity
- Schwab has a global ATM with a true no fees, Fidelity ATM has a 1% foreign transaction fee for other currencies
- Schwab IT is more advanced and faster. Example: Funds dist are placed in your account on the same day at Schwab. It takes Fidelity most times 2 more days. Fidelity FULL VIEW(where they link all accounts from other institutions) was broken for months and still can be off. Schwab has a similar feature and it works better and faster. If you traded funds you will see it at Schwab the same date with all the settlement while it takes Fidelity longer.
- Schwab target funds and ETF are cheaper than VG and Fidelity and most have just $1 min.
- Schwab doesn’t have a good sweep MM but you can just use SWVXX with competitive yield and trade in/out like any other fund and it doesn’t have a minimum. Fidelity makes it harder with several funds and different minimums.
- In the last 2-3 year, Fidelity reps knowledge deteriorated significantly.
- At tax time I have been waiting at Fidelity 15-20 minutes for a rep to answer while I never waited more than 1-2 minutes at Schwab.
Honestly, you are 100% misinformed on Fidelity. If you sell a fund in your IRA, you can’t buy another online? That’s just straight up false.
>> 1) if you sell a fund in your IRA, you can't buy another online, you must call a rep and spend time
So wack. When you write bunk like this which is instantly disprovable, I get nervous reading all of your other seemingly experienced advice, not only the special-case / 'I get special treatment' stuff.
- Schwab has a better online platform. It’s easier and more intuitive.
What's your metric? Something quantifiable, like time to complete tasks. If it can't be quantified, then the comparison is merely subjective.
For example, something I do often is look up a fund on a brokerage site. Just enter a ticker or fund name in the search box on Fidelity's home page. Easy and intuitive. Do the same search from Schwab's home page and get lots of links to scan through (for a search on fund name) or no results (for a search on fund ticker).
To get to fund data at Schwab: Use the drop down "What We Offer"; find Mutual Funds in the second column, click to next page. Scroll half way down that page for the "Browse Mutual Funds" link. Click to next page. Finally, a fund search box. Easy? Intuitive? Not.
To be fair, getting to Fidelity's fund screener is no more intuitive than getting to Schwab's. Navigation to a screener is lousy on both sites.
- Schwab offer more lower min funds. Examples: 1) All Pimco Instit shares have one million min at Fido but just $100K at Schwab. This means that for every $100K you will save $250 at Schwab per year 2) JMSIX,IISIX are NTF and Schwab but not fidelity. Many Fidelity customers buy these funds at other brokers and transfer.
How do others like you add to those Instit funds, like say, PIMIX, without incurring nearly $50 in fees every time, as opposed to $5 at Fidelity?
You're a numbers guy. Please quantify "more" in "more lower min funds". Otherwise, the comparison even if true, could be statistically meaningless, e.g. if Schwab offered 201 lower min funds while Fidelity offered 200.
What does "lower min funds" mean? Lower than stated in the prospectus? Lower than some fixed threshold? What threshold, $100K?
One can buy most Loomis Sayles Inst funds with a $2500 min at Fidelity, but they have a $100K min at Schwab. (The exceptions are LSFIX which is closed, LSIOX, LSHIX, LSIGX, and LSSAX, not offered.) You say PIMCO, I say Loomis Sayles. Naming individual funds or families doesn't substantiate the claim, let alone show that it's meaningful. Numbers please.
FWIW, All Pimco Instit shares have ... just $100K at Schwab" isn't correct. PCEIX, $1M min.
- Schwab reps will work harder to please you with fees, Fidelity reps are much tighter. In the last several years I got over $3500 cash rewards from Schwab after a transfer money from Fidelity which doesn't pay cash reward, I get free transactions on Istit share (extremely hard at Fidelity). I always ask for stuff and get it most times at
As the saying goes past performance does not guarantee future returns. Fidelity also provided sizeable bonuses in the past. Right now, Schwab isn't offering any promotion that I can find for existing customers.
- Schwab has a global ATM with a true no fees, Fidelity ATM has a 1% foreign transaction fee for other currencies
Not quite. Fidelity only reserves the right to assess the charge. Fidelity doesn't usually charge it. I even tested this a couple of years ago, by withdrawing the same amount using Schwab's card and Fidelity's. Each of the respective accounts was debited the same amount. That's when I decided that Schwab bank wasn't providing me any benefit.
Since you raised the matter of plastic, Fidelity's Visa credit card pays 2% vs 1.5% cash back from Schwab's American Express card. Amex, really?
Foreign transaction fees: After subtracting a 1% fee, Fidelity's card still nets 1% in cash rewards. Schwab's charges 2.7%, netting -1.2%. No wonder you're looking at Schwab's ATM card for foreign spending.
- Schwab target funds and ETF are cheaper than VG and Fidelity and most have just $1 min.
This is a thread about sector funds. So let's look at costs of Schwab sector funds. No tech, just a health care fund (SWHFX, 0.80% ER vs. 3 Fidelity sector funds with ERs between 0.71% and 0.76%), and a global real estate fund (SWASX, 1.05% ER vs. FIREX at 1.02%), not even any domestic real estate funds (Fidelity has two).
- Schwab doesn’t have a good sweep MM but you can just use SWVXX with competitive yield and trade in/out like any other fund and it doesn’t have a minimum. Fidelity makes it harder with several funds and different minimums.
At worst, that's a one time effort to pick the right fund. At Schwab, every time you want to make a security purchase, you have to remember to explicitly sell shares of your MMF. Fidelity takes care of this for you automatically.
"All Pimco Instit shares have one million min at Fido but just $100K at Schwab. This means that for every $100K you will save $250 at Schwab per year"
PIMCO Total Return Fund costs by share class (from summary prospectus): PTTAX (Class A) : 1.05% PTTNX (Class I-3):0.86% PTTRX (InstClass):0.71%
No pairwise combo adds up to a $250/$100K per year difference.
"Trust but verify" works best when figures are actual and not theoretical based on what one thinks they ought to be. Often the ERs of retail and institutional shares differ by precisely 0.25% due to a 12b-1 fee on the retail shares. But unlike many fund families, PIMCO also charges a higher management fee on its retail shares.
Fidelity will sell you PTTNX, so the difference on a $100K investment comes to $150/year (0.86% ER vs 0.71% ER), not $250. Still, that's real money, right? Absolutely, if one wants to invest $100K or more.
Suppose one wants to invest "just" $25K. At Vanguard, one could buy the institutional share class and save $85/year over buying the retail shares at Schwab. Or one could buy the I-3 shares at Fidelity and save $37.50/year over buying the retail shares at Schwab.
In fact, one doesn't have to pony up even that much at Fidelity, where there's no min on PTTNX.
At Fidelity: PTTAX has no fees but min is $1000. PTTNA has a fee of $49.95 to purchase PTTRX has one million min. None is a good choice for most investors.
At Schwab PTTAX has no fees but min is $100. PTTNA not available PTTRX has one million min and a fee of $49.95.
You just proved my point.
Loomis vs Pimco. In the last several years Loomis funds never made my final 5 top funds but Pimco funds many times.
One example among many: Just several weeks ago we discussed bond funds on M*. One of the funds was CBPSX/SAMFX(instit). At Fidelity, CBPSX has $2500 min no fees, SAMFX $100K min + fee=49.95. At Schwab, CBPSX has $1000 min no fees, SAMFX has no fees + only $100 min. I can give many others and especially funds I traded. Many times I can find new funds at Schwab several months before they are available at Fidelity Sure, Fidelity may have several choices that Schwab doesn't but Schwab is hands-down better. ============== I actually tried Fidelity ATM several years ago at Europe and they changed me the 1% fee while Schwab didn't ============== Just 2 months ago I received a cash reward of $300 when I transferred just over $100K to Schwab, you are correct, you will not find it but if you ask you will get it. I had to submit a proof that another broker does it. Etrade does (link). This offer used to be for IRAs too. Over the years I have tried many times at both and again Schwab reps worked with me much better. ==============
Fidelity is better at 1) Adding to Inst fund for only $5 (many don't know this choice) 2) You can sell mutual funds after 60 days without a fee, at Schwab it's 90 days. 3) 2% cash back credit card.
I beat number 1,2 by buying only Instit shares and I don't pay for that. I use the Fidelity credit card. You can find 2% elsewhere but I like the convenience.
The most annoying for me at Fidelity is selling and buying funds on the same day and the inability to buy a stock/ETF when your account is invested completely in mutual funds.
Lastly, both Fidelity and Schwab are the top 2 for most investors but for my needs, Schwab is much better. I find Fidelity more rigid than Schwab.
I believe that, unlike many cash back cards, Fido credit card now sends the tax form for these 2%, so it is not 2% cash back (no taxes, just cash return), but 2% minus taxes.
I believe that, unlike many cash back cards, Fido credit card now sends the tax form for these 2%, so it is not 2% cash back (no taxes, just cash return), but 2% minus taxes.
As it states, rewards (whether points, cash, or miles) are not taxable so long as you had to spend something to receive them. So a signing bonus that did not require a min spend would be taxable, but that's about the only exception. (Here's Fidelity's $100 sign up bonus promotion that requires spending $1,000 in the first 90 days.)
Fidelity does have an option to contribute the rewards to an IRA account. In that case, the reward is considered a contribution. That both reduces the amount of additional money you can contribute to the IRA and permits you to take a deduction for the contribution. Of course, as Fidelity points out, if you are not eligible to make that contribution, then the amount is subject to an excise tax.
For completeness, I just checked the 2019 Fidelity Combined 1099 for someone I'm helping with taxes. There is no amount entered for cash back from the card. The only entries in these 1099s are for divs received from funds.
The rules about combining credit card rebates with IRAs could lead one to think that the rewards were taxable. Perhaps this is what you were thinking of, or was there something else?
Dear msf, thank you for the clarification. I misinterpreted one part of my 2019 Fidelity Combined 1099 as a contribution from the credit card. My mistake, good to know! Sorry Fidelity, I love you even more now!
Comments
This differs slightly from the way class B shares were handled by load funds. Traditionally any new B share you bought would have its own clock. After a certain number of years (typically 5-10) the share would automatically convert to the cheaper A class share.
Which makes me surprised that Barron's considers "time based pricing" something new for the industry. Fidelity is simply converting shares from the initial share class to Loyalty Class 1 shares, and later to Loyalty Class 2 shares. Same idea as converting B shares to A shares based on time.
A few years ago, I had put some money in the Fidelity Biotech fund FBIOX. It hit a favorable spell and grew quickly. I decided the pace was unsustainable and took most of my money off the table (this is in my IRA). It dropped a lot soon thereafter -- lucky me.
(BTW, it's doing well again, because of the hope for a Covid-19 vaccine I think.)
I wish I had bailed out of FSELX (Select Semiconductors) in mid-February. The last year was boom times for it and I knew that our holdings had become too large a share of our portfolio, but resisted selling. "You gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em".
At the other end of the spectrum, I don't expect AKRIX to be so volatile.
I'll probably open starter positions in the new Tech and Medicine Fidelity funds.
David
And I don't need to wait 3 years to get ER=50%.
Fidelity lost its way for several years now. Please give me other family funds for lower min and more Inst fund with no fees and please let me sell a fund and buy another online on the same day without calling a rep...or...buy a stock and then sell a mutual fund to cover it when I don't have any cash(doable at Schwab). Can you find another big discount broker that has one million dollar min to buy Pimco Instit shares(example PIMIX)?
I've considered FSPTX in the past. In a previous era, I held T Rowe Price Science & Technology fund in my 403b; it did very well.
David
That's true. WIth FSPTX you'll need to wait forever to get an ER of 0.50%.
"Can you find another big discount broker that has one million dollar min to buy Pimco Instit shares(example PIMIX)?"
Yes.
Can you find a big discount broker that has a $25K min (or less) to buy Pimco Instit shares (example PIMIX)?
Since you mentioned FSPTX, can you find a big discount brokerage aside from Schwab that has a $2500 min to buy the fund in a taxable account? Can you suggest brokerages where one can buy this fund without a fee?
Schwab apparently meets your needs. I'm happy for you, really. It's a great brokerage. But your needs are not the same as those of others.
You wrote that you "never tell [others] to use [your] style, never, [you] helped them using their style." That makes the blanket marginalization of Fidelity ("lost its way") tantamount to saying that independent of an investor's style, Fidelity is a poor choice.
When Schwab makes additional purchases of share classes like PIMIX available for less than $10/purchase, I'll consider it. When Schwab starts letting me pay bills out of a cash account with a decent yield (not just 0.05%), I'll consider it. Until then, it doesn't meet my needs.
- Schwab has a better online platform. It’s easier and more intuitive.
- Schwab offer more lower min funds. Examples: 1) All Pimco Instit shares have one million min at Fido but just $100K at Schwab. This means that for every $100K you will save $250 at Schwab per year 2) JMSIX,IISIX are NTF and Schwab but not fidelity. Many Fidelity customers buy these funds at other brokers and transfer.
- Fidelity has strict trading rules not found anywhere else and not mandated by agency, SEC or anybody else. Examples:
1) if you sell a fund in your IRA, you can't buy another online, you must call a rep and spend time
2) Even if you sold a fund and call a rep you can only buy at 90% of the proceed. At Schwab it’s easy, you sell your fund and just enter another fund. For bond fund I buy at 99.5% for stock funds I buy at 98-99% because I look at what markets are doing
3) Suppose you own mutual funds in your IRA and you don't have any cash and want to buy a stock/ETF, you can't do it, you must sell your fund and wait one say for settlement. At Schwab, you just buy your ETF, see how much you own and sell your mutual fund to cover it. This is a huge advantage for me. Over the years I'm invested at 99+% but I trade several times annually. That means thousands of dollar which I can't do at Fidelity because I must have it in cash.
4) Schwab doesn't care if you trade their funds, Fidelity will punish you on a roundtrip less than 30 days.
I basically want all the flexibility I need/want.
- Schwab reps will work harder to please you with fees, Fidelity reps are much tighter. In the last several years I got over $3500 cash rewards from Schwab after a transfer money from Fidelity which doesn't pay cash reward, I get free transactions on Istit share (extremely hard at Fidelity). I always ask for stuff and get it most times at
- Schwab was always/mostly the leader for lowering fees vs Fidelity
- Schwab has a global ATM with a true no fees, Fidelity ATM has a 1% foreign transaction fee for other currencies
- Schwab IT is more advanced and faster. Example: Funds dist are placed in your account on the same day at Schwab. It takes Fidelity most times 2 more days. Fidelity FULL VIEW(where they link all accounts from other institutions) was broken for months and still can be off. Schwab has a similar feature and it works better and faster. If you traded funds you will see it at Schwab the same date with all the settlement while it takes Fidelity longer.
- Schwab target funds and ETF are cheaper than VG and Fidelity and most have just $1 min.
- Schwab doesn’t have a good sweep MM but you can just use SWVXX with competitive yield and trade in/out like any other fund and it doesn’t have a minimum. Fidelity makes it harder with several funds and different minimums.
- In the last 2-3 year, Fidelity reps knowledge deteriorated significantly.
- At tax time I have been waiting at Fidelity 15-20 minutes for a rep to answer while I never waited more than 1-2 minutes at Schwab.
>> 1) if you sell a fund in your IRA, you can't buy another online, you must call a rep and spend time
So wack. When you write bunk like this which is instantly disprovable, I get nervous reading all of your other seemingly experienced advice, not only the special-case / 'I get special treatment' stuff.
For example, something I do often is look up a fund on a brokerage site. Just enter a ticker or fund name in the search box on Fidelity's home page. Easy and intuitive. Do the same search from Schwab's home page and get lots of links to scan through (for a search on fund name) or no results (for a search on fund ticker).
To get to fund data at Schwab: Use the drop down "What We Offer"; find Mutual Funds in the second column, click to next page. Scroll half way down that page for the "Browse Mutual Funds" link. Click to next page. Finally, a fund search box. Easy? Intuitive? Not.
To be fair, getting to Fidelity's fund screener is no more intuitive than getting to Schwab's. Navigation to a screener is lousy on both sites. How do others like you add to those Instit funds, like say, PIMIX, without incurring nearly $50 in fees every time, as opposed to $5 at Fidelity?
You're a numbers guy. Please quantify "more" in "more lower min funds". Otherwise, the comparison even if true, could be statistically meaningless, e.g. if Schwab offered 201 lower min funds while Fidelity offered 200.
What does "lower min funds" mean? Lower than stated in the prospectus? Lower than some fixed threshold? What threshold, $100K?
One can buy most Loomis Sayles Inst funds with a $2500 min at Fidelity, but they have a $100K min at Schwab. (The exceptions are LSFIX which is closed, LSIOX, LSHIX, LSIGX, and LSSAX, not offered.) You say PIMCO, I say Loomis Sayles. Naming individual funds or families doesn't substantiate the claim, let alone show that it's meaningful. Numbers please.
FWIW, All Pimco Instit shares have ... just $100K at Schwab" isn't correct. PCEIX, $1M min. As the saying goes past performance does not guarantee future returns. Fidelity also provided sizeable bonuses in the past. Right now, Schwab isn't offering any promotion that I can find for existing customers. Not quite. Fidelity only reserves the right to assess the charge. Fidelity doesn't usually charge it. I even tested this a couple of years ago, by withdrawing the same amount using Schwab's card and Fidelity's. Each of the respective accounts was debited the same amount. That's when I decided that Schwab bank wasn't providing me any benefit.
Since you raised the matter of plastic, Fidelity's Visa credit card pays 2% vs 1.5% cash back from Schwab's American Express card. Amex, really?
Foreign transaction fees: After subtracting a 1% fee, Fidelity's card still nets 1% in cash rewards. Schwab's charges 2.7%, netting -1.2%. No wonder you're looking at Schwab's ATM card for foreign spending. This is a thread about sector funds. So let's look at costs of Schwab sector funds. No tech, just a health care fund (SWHFX, 0.80% ER vs. 3 Fidelity sector funds with ERs between 0.71% and 0.76%), and a global real estate fund (SWASX, 1.05% ER vs. FIREX at 1.02%), not even any domestic real estate funds (Fidelity has two). At worst, that's a one time effort to pick the right fund. At Schwab, every time you want to make a security purchase, you have to remember to explicitly sell shares of your MMF. Fidelity takes care of this for you automatically.
PIMCO Total Return Fund costs by share class (from summary prospectus):
PTTAX (Class A) : 1.05%
PTTNX (Class I-3):0.86%
PTTRX (InstClass):0.71%
No pairwise combo adds up to a $250/$100K per year difference.
"Trust but verify" works best when figures are actual and not theoretical based on what one thinks they ought to be. Often the ERs of retail and institutional shares differ by precisely 0.25% due to a 12b-1 fee on the retail shares. But unlike many fund families, PIMCO also charges a higher management fee on its retail shares.
Fidelity will sell you PTTNX, so the difference on a $100K investment comes to $150/year (0.86% ER vs 0.71% ER), not $250. Still, that's real money, right? Absolutely, if one wants to invest $100K or more.
Suppose one wants to invest "just" $25K. At Vanguard, one could buy the institutional share class and save $85/year over buying the retail shares at Schwab. Or one could buy the I-3 shares at Fidelity and save $37.50/year over buying the retail shares at Schwab.
In fact, one doesn't have to pony up even that much at Fidelity, where there's no min on PTTNX.
PTTAX has no fees but min is $1000.
PTTNA has a fee of $49.95 to purchase
PTTRX has one million min.
None is a good choice for most investors.
At Schwab
PTTAX has no fees but min is $100.
PTTNA not available
PTTRX has one million min and a fee of $49.95.
You just proved my point.
Loomis vs Pimco. In the last several years Loomis funds never made my final 5 top funds but Pimco funds many times.
One example among many: Just several weeks ago we discussed bond funds on M*. One of the funds was CBPSX/SAMFX(instit). At Fidelity, CBPSX has $2500 min no fees, SAMFX $100K min + fee=49.95. At Schwab, CBPSX has $1000 min no fees, SAMFX has no fees + only $100 min.
I can give many others and especially funds I traded.
Many times I can find new funds at Schwab several months before they are available at Fidelity
Sure, Fidelity may have several choices that Schwab doesn't but Schwab is hands-down better.
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I actually tried Fidelity ATM several years ago at Europe and they changed me the 1% fee while Schwab didn't
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Just 2 months ago I received a cash reward of $300 when I transferred just over $100K to Schwab, you are correct, you will not find it but if you ask you will get it. I had to submit a proof that another broker does it. Etrade does (link). This offer used to be for IRAs too. Over the years I have tried many times at both and again Schwab reps worked with me much better.
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Fidelity is better at
1) Adding to Inst fund for only $5 (many don't know this choice)
2) You can sell mutual funds after 60 days without a fee, at Schwab it's 90 days.
3) 2% cash back credit card.
I beat number 1,2 by buying only Instit shares and I don't pay for that.
I use the Fidelity credit card. You can find 2% elsewhere but I like the convenience.
The most annoying for me at Fidelity is selling and buying funds on the same day and the inability to buy a stock/ETF when your account is invested completely in mutual funds.
Lastly, both Fidelity and Schwab are the top 2 for most investors but for my needs, Schwab is much better. I find Fidelity more rigid than Schwab.
https://www.cnbc.com/select/are-credit-card-rewards-taxable/
As it states, rewards (whether points, cash, or miles) are not taxable so long as you had to spend something to receive them. So a signing bonus that did not require a min spend would be taxable, but that's about the only exception. (Here's Fidelity's $100 sign up bonus promotion that requires spending $1,000 in the first 90 days.)
Fidelity does have an option to contribute the rewards to an IRA account. In that case, the reward is considered a contribution. That both reduces the amount of additional money you can contribute to the IRA and permits you to take a deduction for the contribution. Of course, as Fidelity points out, if you are not eligible to make that contribution, then the amount is subject to an excise tax.
For completeness, I just checked the 2019 Fidelity Combined 1099 for someone I'm helping with taxes. There is no amount entered for cash back from the card. The only entries in these 1099s are for divs received from funds.
The rules about combining credit card rebates with IRAs could lead one to think that the rewards were taxable. Perhaps this is what you were thinking of, or was there something else?