Transfer from Acorns?

[Pancho 44960]

I’ve had an Acorns account for a few years now, and I have a Roth with them as well.  Should I keep Acorns or transfer to TD Ameritrade or Fidelity?

 

Pros?  Cons?  Benefits?

[TwiceHorn 31528]

I'm a Fidelity fanboi.

The major "metrics" on brokerage accounts are fees and service.  Fidelity is cheap on the fees, but so are a lot of people, to include Schwab, which I hear good things about, also.  I don't do a whole lot of equity trading, so fees aren't a big deal to me, except buying in and out of funds and whatnot, but you can get cheap Fidelity funds anywhere, and Vanguard, and ETFs.

I don't need service often, but when I do, I find Fidelity to be excellent, both in-person (if you have one anywhere near you) and over the phone.  When I had to probate my parents' estates, Fidelity was the easiest institution to deal with by far, and they got things right the first time, every time.  Which was super-surprising given the fresh-faced kids behind the desks.

It is my sense that TDA is more trading-oriented.

Edited July 21, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[ztejas 43528]

34 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

and they got things right the first time, every time.  Which was super-surprising given the fresh-faced kids behind the desks.

That may be why they got things right the first time.

[BottleRocket 647]

TwiceHorn - last year I decided I'd turn over my IRA to Fidelity to manage for a 1% fee.  Otherwise I'd be in one of their accounts like the Fidelity Freedom 20xx (insert year here).  Am I throwing 1% away unnecessarily?  That's 1% of my account balance per year to be clear.  My manager has called me twice since the Covid volatility and assured me that my account was outperforming the "whatever the hell comparison he was making" baseline.  He's young and would likely be selling cars if not working for Fidelity.

[TwiceHorn 31528]

10 minutes ago, BottleRocket said:

TwiceHorn - last year I decided I'd turn over my IRA to Fidelity to manage for a 1% fee.  Otherwise I'd be in one of their accounts like the Fidelity Freedom 20xx (insert year here).  Am I throwing 1% away unnecessarily?  That's 1% of my account balance per year to be clear.  My manager has called me twice since the Covid volatility and assured me that my account was outperforming the "whatever the hell comparison he was making" baseline.  He's young and would likely be selling cars if not working for Fidelity.

I don't know.  That's a new thing to me.  When I said "services," I meant like account services, not stock broker advice.

My tendency is to think that maybe you are.  Compare your returns to the SP500/SPY ETF and the volatility and see what you think.

I had a fraternity brother that started at Fidelity.  Great, super-personable guy but I never really had a "bead" on how sharp he was.  Well, he's a CFP now and doing well, so I guess you never know.

I'm not some super-investor.  But I have been around and watching the market, through my parents and myself, for quite a while.  It's hard to beat a self-directed couch potato portfolio.

[Rougarou 594]

6 hours ago, Pancho said:

I’ve had an Acorns account for a few years now, and I have a Roth with them as well.  Should I keep Acorns or transfer to TD Ameritrade or Fidelity?

 

Pros?  Cons?  Benefits?

I have a small amount of money in Acorns as well and am curious to the answers. I just have it as a petty cash thing and not a primary, secondary or tertiary investment strategy, and my thinking is just keeping it there. Also, does it matter if it's only like $6k in there.