You can invest in thousands of mutual funds with reduced minimums, often as low as $100 for an initial investment. Although it has fewer mutual funds, its OneSource product lineup is great for mutual fund investors. I think Charles Schwab is the brokerage firm with the advantage in this category. The absence of a trading commission or trading fee can substantially reduce the cost of investing. Whether you invest in a mutual fund or an ETF, the transaction fee is a big deal. Customers at both brokerages can buy and sell popular funds without paying a fee to do so. They both have long lists of no-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual funds and ETFs. Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade are somewhat evenly matched. The freebies can help you reduce your average trading costs overall. Keep in mind that both of these brokers offer a large selection of mutual funds and ETFs that you can trade without paying a commission.
TD Ameritrade pricing used to be among the highest in the industry, and Charles Schwab pricing was among the lowest.
That's especially true now in the era of commission-free stock trading. The important thing here is that the differences in prices between brokers is trivial for most types of trades. The brokers' standard commission fees are shown in the following table. In fact, you can make an online stock trade with either broker for free. Both allow investors to buy and sell stocks, options, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds inexpensively. The cost to place a trade isn't everything, but it's an important point of differentiation among discount brokers. TD Ameritrade: Trading costs and commissions TD Ameritrade compare on key criteria for investors and traders alike.
Until the two combine to make one gargantuan brokerage, here's how Charles Schwab vs. Someday we may be talking about a combined firm. In fact, in November 2019, Schwab agreed to purchase rival TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in stock. That value hasn't been lost on the brokerages themselves. Millions of people use TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab to place trades and make investments. But you can bring the stock market to your home computer or mobile device by opening a brokerage account with an online broker that will give you access to invest in everything from individual stocks to five-star funds. When you're ready to become an investor, you can't just walk onto a Wall Street trading floor.