Best Online Broker for IRA Investing

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed 16 online brokerages that offer self-directed accounts. These brokerages constitute the majority of that market based on their assets under management. Some of the providers are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:

NerdWallet evaluated each provider across the weighted criteria below to determine the winner for beginning investors:
  • Number of low-expense-ratio funds (20%).
  • Customer service, including hours of availability, website transparency and educational support offerings (20%).
  • Number of low-minimum mutual/index funds (20%).
  • Low or no account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) (10%).
  • Retirement planning tools (10%).
  • Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds (5%).
  • Mobile app ratings in the Apple and Google Play app stores (5%).
  • Research and data, including number of third-party providers and quality of research tools (2.5%).
  • Trading platform: ease of use, availability and included tools (2.5%).
  • Stock trading commissions (2.5%).
  • Account minimum (2.5%).

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet writers sent detailed questions to all reviewed companies. NerdWallet writers and editors also confirmed fees, rates, policies and other key features on each company's website.

Explore the List

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