I Tried Investing in Stocks With 3 Popular Brokers. Here's How They Did

If you’re looking for a stock broker, you’ve probably noticed there are a lot of options. It can start to feel overwhelming as you look for one you can trust with the features you need.

With financial products, I always like to hear about other people’s firsthand experiences. It gives you a better idea of what using that product is really like. In my case, I’ve done quite a bit of stock and index fund investing through three of the top online stock brokers.

I personally like a broker that I can use as a “one-stop shop” for all my investing needs. Below, you’ll see what I thought of Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard.

1. Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is one of the most feature-packed brokers I’ve seen. It might not let you invest in everything, but it sure feels like it. That includes stocks, bonds, futures, crypto, and even the result of the 2024 presidential election.

The web trading platform on Interactive Brokers is decent. I don’t think it’s the most beginner-friendly brokerage — there’s a bit of a learning curve. But it doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it. Interactive Brokers also offers multiple desktop trading platforms and mobile investing apps:

• IB Trader Workstation: A customizable, full-featured desktop trading platform.
• IBKR Desktop: An easier-to-use desktop platform.
• IBKR Mobile: An advanced mobile investing app.
• IBKR GlobalTrader: A more streamlined mobile app.

A key advantage of Interactive Brokers is that it has some of the lowest margin rates. Now, investing on margin can be risky, and you should probably avoid it unless you have plenty of experience. But if you’d like to use margin, Interactive Brokers charges considerably less than most competitors.

I’ve really enjoyed using Interactive Brokers, and it’s now where I keep my own investment portfolio. If you’re looking for commissions as low as $0 and a broker with all the features you could need, it’s an excellent choice. Click here to learn more and open an account with Interactive Brokers today.

2. Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is one of the biggest names in investing. As a broker, it doesn’t disappoint. I love its online trading platform and its mobile app. They both strike a nice balance between ease of use and providing all the features you need.

Like Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab has a large variety of investments. These include:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Futures
• Options
• Mutual funds/exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
• CDs

It also has a highly rated robo-advisor with no management fee. I haven’t tried this, but if you want to take a hands-off approach to your portfolio, Schwab’s robo-advisor service is worth checking out.

Schwab also has other financial products available, including checking accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards. If you want to keep your banking, credit, and investment accounts under one roof, you could do so here.

3. Vanguard

Vanguard is famous for its low-fee index funds, which include mutual funds and ETFs. It’s a popular choice with passive investors who want to keep it simple with their portfolios. It’s also well-suited for people who want to save for retirement through individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or Roth IRAs.

I love Vanguard’s mutual funds and ETFs. How could you not? They have extremely low expense ratios — the annual fee for an investment fund, charged as a percentage of the amount invested. Many Vanguard funds charge less than 0.1%. I’ve kept my investing costs to a minimum thanks to Vanguard.

However, I think Vanguard’s web platform is mediocre, and its mobile app is even worse. It was hard to even transfer money over and invest using the Vanguard app. After a few frustrating attempts, I decided to just stick to doing it on my computer.

Which broker is right for you?

If you’re like me and want a broker that does it all, I’d recommend Charles Schwab or Interactive Brokers. Schwab seemed more user-friendly, while Interactive Brokers is the only one of the two that offers cryptocurrency, and it has lower margin rates. But you can’t go wrong with either one. You may want to check out both to see which you like more.

I’d recommend Vanguard for mutual fund and ETF investing. For anything more advanced, and even for building a stock portfolio, it wouldn’t be my first choice. The platform just doesn’t seem like it’s built for active investors.

Overall, I had a positive experience with all three brokers. They’re all high-quality options, and your money will be safe with any of them. It’s just a matter of choosing the broker that fits you best.