Whether you're saving for retirement or just managing your money wisely, an investment firm can be a huge benefit—the best ones offer online access to your money at any time, guidance that demystifies complex financial topics, and gives you the freedom to make your own decisions. This week, we're looking at five of the best, based on your nominations.
Earlier in the week we asked you for your favorite investment firms, whether they're the best company you've worked with personally managing your own money, or you just enjoy working with them to save for retirement, or keep your IRA or 401(k) in good order. You offered tons of great firms—and options that involve staying a step back from those firms and working with more consumer-friendly financial advisors. Here are your top five, in no particular order:
Betterment
Betterment isn't so much an investment firm as it is a complete investing solution for people who are both new to the concept and who know they need to get started saving for their futures as soon as possible. Betterment handles IRAs almost exclusively, and you have the option to roll over old 401(k)s from other employers to Betterment, or opening a new traditional or Roth IRA with the company and using it to save for retirement—or any future financial goal you may have. The service prides itself on being as hassle-free as possible, with little to no paperwork or overhead, and a welcoming approach to new investors who may not be familiar with the ins and outs of investing. The company itself also boasts dedicated customer service ideal for people both new and experienced with investing, extremely low costs and fees, and automatically optimized investments for every level of risk—and the service asks your age and investment goals to help you figure out the appropriate risk level.
In the nominations thread Betterment earned a great deal of praise for being ideal for people who may have old, orphaned 401(k)s lying around that deserve to be properly invested. You also noted that because everything is automated (but still transparent), you can trust that your money is well taken care of and optimized for solid returns. However, at least one of you noted that with all that automation, customer service, and ease-of-use comes a cost—Betterment's fees aren't tremendously high, but they are higher than other firms and more manual options. Read more in the nomination thread here.
Vanguard
Vanguard offers investment services to individual investors, retirement plan participants who have 401(k)s or 403(b)s with their employers, financial advisors, and more. For personal investors, the company offers full, anytime access to your retirement plans with your employer, your personal IRAs, mutual funds, ETFs, and any other stocks, bonds, or CDs you may hold with the company. Vanguard walks the line between being a complete self-service investment firm and a more managed, full-service firm with advisors and customer service reps willing to lend you a hand with your investment choices based on your financial goals. Their website and mobile apps are also packed with tools to help you keep an eye on your money, and to do additional research and read up on how to properly manage it. Whether you want to roll over a 401(k), open a new traditional or Roth IRA, or transfer an account from another institution to Vanguard, the company makes it easy.
Vanguard was a juggernaut in the nominations round, and many of you reported your own personal experiences with the firm. You highlighted Vanguard's massive selection of funds, great customer service, low expense ratios and fees, and the fact that they're a well established powerhouse in both personal and organizational investing as reasons you can trust them. Many of you noted specifically that they have the absolute lowest fees on their funds you've ever seen, and once you've started investing with them, you can qualify for even lower fees and more services. They're not perfect though, and like many companies with a wealth of financial products and services, some of them are cost effective and others just aren't. You can read more in its nomination thread here.
Fidelity
Fidelity is another investment broker that offers a wide array of financial services, from retirement funds to individual investors' IRAs and mutual funds. Fidelity boasts some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry, and supports rollovers from other institutions as well as newly opened traditional and Roth IRAs. Fidelity's website offers immediate and instant access to your portfolio, so you can see how your money is doing at any time, and move funds around as you see fit. Fidelity also offers other features many banks do, like Billpay and money transfers between funds and institutions. Their website is also packed with financial information you can read even if you're not a customer—all of which is especially useful if you're interested in how IRAs work, the difference between traditional and Roth IRAs, which types of investments make the best tax advantages, and what types of funds you should consider based on your current age and retirement goals. Combined with other useful perks, like Fidelity's investment rewards AmEx (an honorable mention in our rundown of the best rewards credit cards), and you can easily bolster your investments both with easy deposits, rewards, and solid financial literacy.
In the nominations thread, those of you who sang Fidelity's praises noted that the company offers a massive variety of mutual funds and index funds to choose from, well-balanced products that cater to both the individual investor who's prepared to manage their own money or the more hands-off investor who's looking for some help getting their investments in order. Many of you also noted that while Fidelity's website sometimes leaves a few things to be desired, it is a great "one stop shop," as reader justgregit84 put it—one place where you can keep retirement investments, savings accounts, checking accounts, and more all in one place. Their mobile app isn't too bad either. You can read more in its nomination thread here.
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is another large investment broker, packed with financial resources and information for people looking to learn more about investment basics and how to properly manage their money. TD Ameritrade offers a wide variety of funds and investment choices, commission-free ETFs, and tons of video guides, online courses, and more to help you make smart investment decisions. The company also offers a wealth of tools for individual investors who are just looking for an easy place to manage their money with solid customer service and a brick-and-mortar presence in case you want to talk to an investment advisor. There are tools to help you determine the best places to put your money based on your desired risk and goals. Combined with their easy-to-use webapp and mobile apps, the company also makes it easy for you to manage your money and keep an eye on your funds anytime you choose.
Those of you who nominated TD Ameritrade highlighted the fact that they make it easy to get investment help if you want it, take a simple, hand-held approach if you're not interested in the nuts and bolts of investing, or play a more active role if you are. You also praised TD Ameritrade's wealth of financial information and literacy library as well. You can read more in its nomination post here.
Bogleheads
While not an investment broker specifically, Bogleheads is really a forum and community of investors who share investment advice and wisdom based on the principles of Jack Bogle, author, founder, and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. HIs books are considered classic reads for people looking to put their money into mutual funds in a way that'll earn them solid returns, and the Bogleheads are a community of people who follow and teach that financial advice. Despite the site's Web 1.0 look, the community is both welcoming and insular, offering a wealth of financial advice and information for people who are interested in better investments. Thanks to their background, the Bogleheads invest through Vanguard and support each other and keep each other informed through their forum.
In the nomination thread, those of you who supported Bogleheads noted that they're a great community, and they offer personalized, individualized advice based on questions posted to the forum. Many of the community's members are themselves retired and have their own experiences to share. On the whole, they favor a hands-off, well invested approach that you don't have to spend a lot of time micromanaging. Instead, their focus is on picking smart long-term investments and then leaving your money alone to work for you, all while you contribute to it when you can. You can read more about the community in their nomination thread here.
Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to put them to an all out vote to determine the Lifehacker community favorite.
The honorable mention this week goes out to the DIY option, which according to reader Jake involves using the cheapest discount broker you can find and learning to manage your money on your own—without trusting companies and their advisors and added "features." His point is well taken though—if you know your own way around the market, you won't need to pay more in fees and charges for other people to manage your money for you, like you'll see at most investment brokers. At the same time however, some of you had valid criticism for Jake's idea, pointing out that the market is purposefully obfuscated from the general public, and that an individual trying to get knee deep in managing their own investments just by reading a few books runs the risk of horribly mismanaging their money, especially considering the number of people who are educated, certified, and work in financial management full time. You can read the pros and cons of the DIY approach in the nomination thread here.
Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.
The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!
Title image made using TradingAcademy.
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