Smart decisions start with our list of top investing products
Our Nerds investigated investment selection, fees, and customer feedback to bring you the best online financial advisors and investing brokerage accounts of 2024. While some winners may be partners, this didn't influence our decisions.
Smart decisions start with our list of top investing products
Our Nerds investigated investment selection, fees, and customer feedback to bring you the best online financial advisors and investing brokerage accounts of 2024. While some winners may be partners, this didn't influence our decisions.
Fidelity is one of the largest and most well-established brokerages, and it shows. Fidelity charges no trading commissions, offers an extensive set of no-fee, no-minimum index funds. It also stands out for its top-notch research tools, a renowned trading platform and very strong customer service.
Why our Nerds love it
Fidelity is a perennial winner here. It offers a high interest rate on uninvested cash, over 3,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds, extensive investor education and more than 200 physical branches.
Huge selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds.
High order execution quality.
Cons
High minimum to earn interest on uninvested cash.
Website can be difficult to navigate.
Why We Like It
Don't let the name fool you: IBKR Lite offers commission-free stock trading (including international trade capabilities), more than 19,000 mutual funds, and a well-featured platform.
Why our Nerds love it
Interactive Brokers wins for its huge investment selection, highly rated advanced trading platforms and low margin rates.
Access to a range of services, including investment management and financial, tax and estate planning.
No fee for using Zoe Financial to find an advisor.
Cons
Difficult to know financial advisor fees upfront.
$150,000 investment minimum.
Why We Like It
Zoe Financial isn't actually a financial advisory firm — the company connects clients to financial advisors. Zoe's account minimum is fairly high at $150,000, but the advisor access is excellent, and advisors hold at least a CFP, CFA or CPA designation. The typical fee ranges from 0.5% - 1.5%, but because each advisor has their own fee, you may not know exactly what you’ll pay until you contact the advisors.
Why our Nerds love it
Zoe Financial will help you find a carefully vetted advisor who can assist you with retirement planning, investing, tax strategy and more.
your first 90 days of Vanguard Digital Advisor investment management (Enrollment requires a Vanguard account with a minimum of $100)
Pros
Access to Vanguard’s investing expertise and ETFs.
Low portfolio management fee.
Low investment expense ratios.
Cons
Limited portfolio options and customization.
$100 account minimum.
Why We Like It
Vanguard Digital Advisor is an affordable robo-advisory service that uses several of Vanguard’s key ETFs to create a personalized retirement plan and portfolio. But Vanguard Digital Advisor doesn't offer much portfolio customization or access to a human advisor.
Why our Nerds love it
Vanguard Digital Advisor wins again for its low management fees, low investment expense ratios and no additional account fees.
Fidelity is one of the largest and most well-established brokerages, and it shows. Fidelity charges no trading commissions, offers an extensive set of no-fee, no-minimum index funds. It also stands out for its top-notch research tools, a renowned trading platform and very strong customer service.
Why our Nerds love it
Fidelity’s low fees, retirement tools and selection of expense-ratio-free index funds make it a smart choice for retirement investors.
when you fund your first taxable investment account
Pros
Get $50 customer bonus when you fund your first taxable investment account (NerdWallet promotion).
Low ETF expense ratios.
Daily tax-loss harvesting.
DIY and automated investing options.
Low portfolio management fee.
Cons
$500 account minimum.
Why We Like It
Wealthfront is our highest-scoring robo-advisor thanks to its blend of automated investment portfolios and DIY stock investing portfolios, its wide variety of account options, excellent tax strategy and low management fee. Wealthfront's only weak spots are its account minimum ($500) and its lack of access to human advisors.
Why our Nerds love it
Wealthfront offers ETFs from 12 asset classes, a socially responsible portfolio and access to cryptocurrency trusts. Clients can also customize their portfolios.
Fidelity is one of the largest and most well-established brokerages, and it shows. Fidelity charges no trading commissions, offers an extensive set of no-fee, no-minimum index funds. It also stands out for its top-notch research tools, a renowned trading platform and very strong customer service.
Why our Nerds love it
Fidelity wins again for its all-star lineup of trading tools, research providers and low fees, all offered in a highly rated mobile app.
Fidelity is one of the largest and most well-established brokerages, and it shows. Fidelity charges no trading commissions, offers an extensive set of no-fee, no-minimum index funds. It also stands out for its top-notch research tools, a renowned trading platform and very strong customer service.
Why our Nerds love it
Fidelity's large selection of bonds comes with either minimal or no additional trading costs, alongside the strongest educational resources and customer service of any broker.
Tax-loss harvesting only available on balances of $50,000 or more.
Why We Like It
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is unique in charging zero management fee, but the advisor's portfolios tend to hold a larger cash allocation than other robo-advisors (meaning a good chunk of your money isn't invested). The account minimum, at $5,000, is fairly high, but Schwab has some of the best customer service in the business.
Why our Nerds love it
Schwab's $0 account management fee, strong customer support and variety of portfolio options make it a clear choice for retirement planning.
NerdWallet's award winners are chosen through a rigorous evaluation process involving 39 writers and editors. NerdWallet's ratings formulas for credit cards, for example, consider the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel, or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards, and other features. For mortgages, we evaluate loan average rates and fees, loan types and products, online rate information, ease of application and other factors. For more info, see our methodologies.
Our team of nerdy experts is composed of writers and editors — based all across the country — who have a combined 493 years of journalistic experience reviewing and writing about personal finance products for consumers.
Yes. Writers and editors use comprehensive scoring formulas that assess each financial product’s key features, weighting them according to their importance to consumers.
Nope. Editorial team members are solely responsible for creating all product reviews and ratings, and these assessments reflect their opinions alone. Only products that meet the editorial team’s standards appear in our Best-Of Awards lists, meaning no company can “buy” an award.
Our Best-Of Awards are given annually to the top financial products on the market. Our other “best” articles may:
• be longer than our Best-Of Awards list
• offer additional consumer choices
• get updated as products change or are discontinued and as new products emerge
This year's Best-Of-Awards list winners were chosen in mid-October 2023, with the exception of Best Airline Rewards Program, which was chosen in early November 2023. Student loan winners were chosen in early April 2024.
Our 2023 Best-Of Award winners are still live. If you’d like to see who won last year, feel free to take a look and compare with this year’s winners.
NerdWallet is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. The list provides information and education for potential investors. NerdWallet does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise that investors buy or sell particular stocks or securities.
