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GOBankingRates Announces the Best Brokers of 2018

Traders Magazine Online News, September 20, 2018

John D'Antona Jr.

So, who are the Top Guns of the retail brokerage world? 

With dozens of brokerage firms uniquely suited for investors’ needs, it can be difficult to navigate the masses and choose the best provider to manage your investments.

GOBankingRates took an objective look at services and offerings by the leading brokerages and revealed a list of the top-ranked brokers in six categories.

"Choosing a broker can be an intimidating process, but once you do it, it can open so many financial doors,” said Laira Martin, lead editor, GOBankingRates. “We simplified the process by doing the research for our readers so they can easily choose a broker that works for their individual needs and start investing.”

To determine its category rankings, GOBankingRates examined the top brokerages by asset size.


Best Investment BrokersFidelity

Ally Invest

Charles Schwab

TD Ameritrade

E-TRADE

 

Best Robo-AdvisorsSchwab Intelligent Portfolios

SoFi Wealth Management

WiseBanyan

Blooom

 

Best Roth IRA AccountsTD Ameritrade

Merrill Edge

Charles Schwab

E-TRADE

Ally Invest

 

Best IRA AccountsE-TRADE

TD Ameritrade

Fidelity

Charles Schwab

Merrill Edge

 

Best Online Stock Brokers for BeginnersCharles Schwab

TD Ameritrade

Merrill Edge

E-TRADE

Fidelity

 

Best 401K CompaniesT. Rowe Price

ShareBuilder 401K

Employee Fiduciary

Ubiquity

Charles Schwab

 

The Best Investment Brokers category scored brokerages based on the following factors:

 

(1) Cost to trade

(2) Number of account types offered

(3) Number of investment options

(4) Opening investment requirement

(5) Promotional or introductory offers

(6) Free research and educational tools

(7) Customer experience, which includes: access to financial advisors, mobile and online access, and 24/7 customer service with a live person.

 

Brokers were then ranked according to their total score.

 

Each individual category took into consideration other factors tailored to the individual features and services of that account type. You can check out each ranking category for full methodologies.

“Every investor is different, as is every broker, so we focused on evaluating the fundamentals of effective and affordable investing: low costs and minimums, tons of investing options, helpful tools and information, and access to professional resources that can help investors reach their goals," said Martin.

GOBankingRates is also helping readers to jumpstart their investments by entering for a chance to win $1,000. Enter the sweepstakes daily at GOBankingRates.com/best-brokers.

For more information on the rankings and finalists, visit gobankingrates.com/best-brokers.

 

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:

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