Originally Posted by
siriusly_invested
Actually, my wife still has a SEP account at Fidelity so we take advantage of the opportunity to compare with TDA. Most of our funds transferred out 3 years ago after a dozen or more years exclusively at Fidelity. For our purposes we just found that TDA is the best overall platform for us.
I suppose it depends on one's personal needs and likes. For example, I already mentioned TDA has the best suite of tools for my particular desires, including a gratis three year subscription to their Investools offerings as a bonus for moving our funds from Fidelity. That bonus and gains derived have far exceeded the equivalent of the free trade commissions value.
We have never used a Debit card nor an ATM, so there's been no recognized benefit in moving our banking needs from our local credit union where we've been for over 35 years. TDA maintains a local business office locally, where I can walk in for face-to-face consultation and services as needed.
Little known fact which TDA fails to advertise is that they offer deep-discounted commission rates available for the asking... based on your account balances. I've not heard of the 300 or 500 free commission bonuses, but in the long run I think I'm money ahead with my present arrangements at TDA. Oh, I forgot to mention that TDA customer service is second to none, and reachable 24/7.
We've not recently traded in the Fidelity account, but I seem to recall their confirmation responsiveness is only so-so compared to TDA. I've also experienced at Fidelity a somewhat cumbersome and time-consuming administrative process. For example, to administer the RMD annual distribution requires faxed or mailed forms whereas TDA uses modern age online procedures. I found the same to be true with cash withdrawals or transfers to another institution. (Major pet peeve is that while TDA allows and enables the RMD to be electronically transferred to our bank account, Fidelity still demands to issue the funds via a personal check in the mail......... introducing time delay and requiring personal attention to deposit the funds..... that's a prime example of their inability to keep up with the times)............. Anyway, I guess it just depends on what one's needs are.
I think as I hear myself think, I guess I became disenchanted with Fidelity mostly because of their inability to keep up with demonstrated modern processes, procedures, and tools. Maybe they recognize that weakness so their answer is to offer those attention-getting services.