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Schwab move...Let's retire this thread. Lots of interactions. Food for thought. THNX.

edited April 8 in Other Investing
OK, the website is officially a frikkin' disaster. I DO appreciate the HUMAN contact, apart from a single instance in the chat box.
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Comments

  • @Crash : What has you so frikkin' upset about their website ?
  • edited February 25
    Stuff is just hidden. And when I typed in "BRUFX" it did not recognize it...I called. SHE was able to see it right away--- using Think Or Swim.... Where's THAT? I see nothing about Think or Swim on this webpage. ...Oh, it's conveniently HIDDEN under the "Trade" menu. ...Just one example.

    ORK!
  • @Crash It's about like the purchase of a new or used vehicle. It takes awhile to figure out all the bells & whistles. Does BRUFX show on account holdings page ? If so just click on it. I realize you're new to Schwab , & with that said be glad you didn't go with VG.
    Best to you & family, Derf
  • edited February 25
    Each site has its own tricks.

    While mutual fund tickers pull up from Fido Home, that isn't so at Schwab - you have to get to the mutual page area first and then use tickers of interest. 2 examples,

    SWSBX (bookmark for future access) https://www.schwab.com/research/mutual-funds/quotes/summary/swsbx

    BRUFX (cannot be purchased at Schwab or anywhere else, except from the fund),
    https://www.schwab.com/research/mutual-funds/quotes/summary/brufx
  • Appreciate that, guys.:)
  • Schwab re-arranged their whole fund/ETF research section in late '22, making it much worse IMO. But of course the nerds need to keep their jobs.

    Depending on where you are and what you are doing, sometimes there's a "Return to classic view" link on the right side, which takes you back to the way it used to be. Much better IMO, although I'm sure they will get rid of that at some point.
  • @Crash - You see, here on MFO, the community opinion on many aspects of financial houses. Have you noticed a whole lot of complaints about the Schwab site? If not, perhaps your opinion may be suspect.

    When you log in, go directly to your account summary. Everything you need to know about your current accounts is right there.

    If you are looking for information on potential purchases, it is going to take a bit of experience to know where to look, because there is an overwhelming amount of information available.

    If you need help in navigation, just ask here on MFO- I'm pretty sure that lots of folks here can answer any questions that you might have.



  • edited February 25
    Schwab Full Platform Tutorial

    How to check your positions

    How to search for funds

    Charles Schwab Trading Platform Web Tutorial

    Want more? Try googling "how to find things on the Schwab brokerage website"

    p.s. I don't have a Schwab account.
    EDIT: so I don't know if any of the above links/video/etc. work or not. You're on your own from here
  • Hi @Mark Ah, making use of the internet as intended.

    From my personal way back mind.

    'If one does not ask a proper question, one may not expect the proper answer.'

    I'm sure your time and effort has helped some here.

    Take care of you and yours,
    Catch
  • Just as @Mark and @catch22 pointed out, google search on how to navigate the brokerages is the best way to learn. While we are not customers of Schwab, we found insightful podcasts and commentary from Schwab readily. Questions then become how to distill down to further research and not falling into confirmation bias on faulty information.

    Unless there is something very specific, we seldom call the customer agents.
  • Mark said:


    How to search for funds
    p.s. I don't have a Schwab account

    Several brokerages, including Schwab, have made it harder (or impossible) to use their tools without an account. As @Low_Tech observed, "Schwab re-arranged their whole fund/ETF research section in late '22"

    The YouTube video referenced above says "To find these funds, I'll point to Research, then under Research Tools, select ETFs." You'll find the screen shot at the 0:40 mark in the video. The problem is that this isn't the screen that one sees without logging in. There is no "Research" drop down from the home page, or AFAIK any Schwab page one can navigate to without logging in. This is indeed a change from a year ago.

    At least one can still access the Schwab screener(s) without logging in:
    Schwab fund screener
    Schwab ETF screener
    From these pages you can also search for individual funds

    E*Trade does enable visitors to navigate to its fund screener:
    E*Trade fund screener
    There's a different page to research specific funds:
    E*Trade fund search box

    Vanguard third party fund list by family
    One can research a specific fund from the home page search box without logging in.
    I haven't found a fund screener at Vanguard (for non-VG funds) even after logging in.

    As Yogi observed, Fidelity lets you search for tickers from its home page search box. One can also navigate to its fund screener:
    Fidelity fund screener
    (use '>" at upper left to expand search critera and select "Include ETFs" for integrated fund/ETF search)

    T. Rowe Price, Merrill Edge, Firstrade, and TIAA all seem to require brokerage account logins (TRP fund login doesn't suffice) to search for and/or research funds.
  • I'll append my post
  • I'm glad I'm among friends, with fountains of information! :)
  • edited February 25
    I have to admit, I looked at your post @Crash while I was at Panera Bread, drinking coffee and reading the Barons paper. I started to laugh.

    Now that I'm home, I logged into my Schwab account, clicked 'Research' at the top of the page, clicked 'Mutual Funds', entered BRUFX in the search bar and up it came.

    You will never need Think or Swim or any other trading tool they offer for normal fund, ETF or stock inquiry. That tool and others are available for more extensive trading research, normally for stocks. Use the regular research info on the header bar to start off. It may be all you ever need. It's all I use.

    You, my friend, may need to acquire some patience and spend a day just clicking buttons. That's the ONLY way to become familiar with the site.
  • At crash. Ditto. From summary page I scrolled down to all the choices, hit research, hit US Market, put in BRUFX. That was too easy. With all due respect,,,,,,
  • @Crash- pay attention to MikeM's comment- he's absolutely correct.
  • edited February 25
    Harumph, OK. I left TRP due to awful human service, but the website was not such a maze. Just the opposite, now...
  • Well here's the deal @Crash. Just when you start to think that you've got it all figured out, or mostly anyway, the company will bring in a whole group of different nerds to enhance the user experience.
  • Mark said:

    Well here's the deal @Crash. Just when you start to think that you've got it all figured out, or mostly anyway, the company will bring in a whole group of different nerds to enhance the user experience.

    LOL. No shit, right?

    *I discovered late last night that "your account is suspended." Glad I'm back in today!
  • The easiest way of all is log in to Schwab, at the top search for a specific fund, if you get a link below it means it's available, it should work at a high %.
    Looks pretty easy to me.
    But, the ultimate way is actually to enter a trade and see if it works.
  • There you go... easy as that.
  • I enjoyed your videos, @Mark. You learn something new all the time.
  • edited March 7
    Schwab move:

    A week's delay in getting the trading/brokerage account moved over from TRP. The employee downtown has the signed paperwork. It's still not been done. Is he on vacation? Who knows. No word. No call-backs. I've called twice: one was re: wifey's IRA. The latest was just this morning. At the number published on the Schwab general purpose website, they can tell me nothing and can do nothing.

    Situation Normal. All F***ed Up.
    ...EDIT: after a tap on the shoulder *reminder* from a different employee I spoke to, I got the follow-up call. He sees a glitch or two, gumming-up the works. Gonna iron it out, get it done. ORK.
  • ..... A week later. Still, we wait, even after providing the Statement they requested from the soon-to-be-former account at TRP.

    Smooth. Easy. Quick? Efficient? No, on all counts.
  • Crash said:

    ..... A week later. Still, we wait, even after providing the Statement they requested from the soon-to-be-former account at TRP.

    Smooth. Easy. Quick? Efficient? No, on all counts.

    Which side is the problem on?
  • edited March 15
    @WABAC The fellow I've been dealing with at Schwab was less than straightforward about the requirement that a STATEMENT be produced from the TRP outfit for each of the accounts. "They usually need that... They don't need it, YET. .... They may ask you for it..." And so they have, by email, a couple of days ago. So, now they have it.

    So, we've done all we can do. This is SO much fun! They have moved the IRA, but not the brokerage acct. As for wife's BRUFX IRA transfer: that's an entirely different and wonderful misadventure.
  • Crash, FWIW: After 27 years at Schwab, I have never had any kind of problem like this where it wasn't resolved quickly. Maybe try to go over this guy's head . . . ?
  • @Crash, well, maybe the next time he has a customer transferring an account from TRP he'll ask the customer to provide a statement for each account. When I transferred from Vanguard to Fidelity, that was the first thing they asked for. For one thing, they said they wanted to make sure they could accommodate my holdings.
  • If you get paper statements, take them to Schwab. If no paper, print out your on-line statement and take that to Schwab. So what's the big deal about providing an account statement?
  • No problems with Schwab for me either. Customer service has been helpful and informative.
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