If you've noticed that your brokerage has begun charging you some fees you find unreasonable, you're not alone. On our Discount Brokers discussion board recently, a Fool who goes by the moniker "mpv52302" raised some good questions, saying:
"I have about $10,000 in a Roth [IRA] with TD Waterhouse. They are now charging me around $20 a year to maintain the account. While this may not seem like much, it is certainly eating into my returns. I have nowhere near the $25,000 in any/all accounts that they require to waive the fee. I just want to make my contribution each year and allocate the money to some funds. That's it.. Are there any other banks/brokerage houses that charge smaller fees or no fee at all for what I'm looking to do? Any other options or opinions?"
As usual, fellow Fools came to the rescue, offering the following responses. [Give our vast discussion board community a whirl -- we're offering a free 30-day trial to it right now.]
Lorenzo2 suggested BrownCo, a unit of J. P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), saying, "[It] has no such fees. See their complete commission/fee schedule at their website.. I've had both taxable and IRA accounts at Brown for several years, and couldn't be happier. No fees, low commissions, good execution, and low margin rates (though that's not a consideration with IRAs)."
BatboyFool said to "Check out E*Trade (NYSE:ET). They have no-fee IRAs."
SamuraiWil questioned BatboyFool, asking, "Do you have to do something special to get that, or have they recently changed their rules? I set up a Roth IRA with E*Trade in 2002, and in December 2002 and again in December 2003 they charged me a $25 'IRA Maintenance Fee.'"
Kahunacfa offered this: "Just a suggestion about TD Waterhouse's $20 annual fee for an IRA -- rather than have the fee taken out of funds in the account just write them a check for the fee. The fee is a tax-deductible investment expense on your IRS Form 1040, if you itemize, and you pay without using tax-sheltered funds from your account." He added that, "My IRA at Charles W. Schwab [Schwab (NYSE:SCH)] is free, but it is a very large account now."
BatboyFool responded, saying, "E*Trade started the no-fee IRAs this year, I believe (there was never a fee if you have a certain account balance). Currently, their website says that IRA fees are waived if the user receives electronic monthly statements and trade confirmations."
This discussion is an important one, because many brokerages are now charging "account maintenance" or "inactivity" fees to those clients who have small accounts or who don't trade often enough to generate sufficient income for the brokerage. Some brokerages don't charge these fees, while among those that do, the amounts vary. So see what you're paying, and perhaps consider switching to a brokerage that better suits you.
Learn more about how to select the best brokerage in our Broker Center, which also features info on some brokerages that support the Fool.
These other Fool articles on brokerages may also be of interest:
- Which Brokerage Is Best?
- The Return of Chuckie
- Brokerage Statement Bewilderment
- Don't Get Blindsided by Your Broker
- Rating the Low-Cost Brokerages
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article.
