Seven providers have their hooks in me

[ochotona]

Fidelity has high security token, like Schwab.

How exactly does that work? Is that different than 2 factor authentication? They email you a code every time you want to log in?

https://vip.symantec.com/

Or, Schwab will send you a little dongle which is completely divorced from your smartphone and China spying on it. I used to have the dongle, but kept losing it...

Enabled on Fidelity today. Same phone app supplies expiring 6-digit codes for Schwab and Fidelity. Works like a champ!

[dualstow]

For credit cards, see the boglehead threads or the points guy.
Lots of cards give 3% back on restaurants now. I also like the Fidelity visa (formerly amex) that offers 2% cash back on everything, provided you put the rewards in a taxable cash account at Fidelity.

[sophie]

Ochotona, I have the same situation as you. When I retire, I'm going to be able to consolidate a bit but will still be left with 403bs at TIAA-CREF and Vanguard, an HSA at Schwab, brokerage accounts at Vanguard and Fidelity, Treasury Direct, and Perth Mint. And a pile of gold Eagles. Yikes!!

I'll just have to leave a printed set of instructions and hope someone will figure out how to deal with all this. And hopefully the 403b's will either be converted into annuities or withdrawn/Roth converted before those instructions are needed.

BTW my goto credit cards are AmEx Blue Cash (6% groceries, 3% gas for those of you who buy that stuff) and Citi Double Cash (2%). Thinking about getting one of those Amazon cards for 5% cash back, pretty sweet deal. But, I'd have to figure out the right credit bureau to unfreeze.

[dualstow]

I love the Chase Amazon credit card even though the price of Prime is going up. 5% back on Whole Foods, but we don’t really shop there.

Edit: Sophie, sounds like you have the Preferred Blue Cash card, the one with a $95 fee. I have the original, with no fee. Not so great rewards, though, so I don’t use it anymore.

[sophie]

Yup it's the one with the fee. They just raised that last year. It's still worth while. I end up netting about 4% cash back after the fee. You also get 3% at Macys which is nice since they now have online Zappos-like shopping (free returns and you get your clothes shopping done without ever having to see the inside of a dressing room - nice.)

[dualstow]

Nice! I still like Macy’s and actually go there in person.

[ochotona]

A new angle on Schwab vs Fidelity... ETF performance.

The trade-for-free iShares ETFs at Fidelity have a spread which is about half of the spread of the Schwab ETFs. For a big trade, like I would encounter running the GEM strategy, it could be more than $100.

The iShares equity ETFs and aggregate bond ETF perform better. The Schwab US Treasury ETFs perform better (but bigger spread). "Perform better" means I like how CAGR and Sortino Ratio manifest.

We are talking small differences here. If you have a $100,000 it's not a big deal. It matters more above $1,000,000. It could make sense to pay $5 and save on the spread difference.

Now I'm wondering which one sells actual T-Bonds more cheaply. I'll have to create some buy orders and compare them.

[ochotona]

I'm asking over on Bogleheads about spreads.

[ochotona]

I talked to Schwab, and they told me it is possible for an ETF order to fill at a fractional penny, between the bid and ask price if they are separated by a penny. But, it's not possible to predict when you are going to get that fraction of a penny price improvement; it's at the market maker's discretion. So the ETF.COM average spread is still an important statistic, though I might get lucky and catch a break, but you can't count on that.

Today as a test, I traded these no-commission ETFs at Schwab:

I sold 1 share SCHX, and tried to place a limit order at the bid, which failed, I increased it one penny to the ask, and it filled exactly at the ask. Market maker is Schwab.

Then I bought 2 shares SPTL, nothing happened until I put in the ask as the limit price, then it filled, but I got 1/2 penny discount off the ask. Woo-hoo! Market maker is State Street.

So I think this spread problem that Schwab ETFs has is still real... and that in the future, after I vacate my Schwab ETF positions because of Dual Momentum GEM popping into fixed income, I need to:

1. Pay $4.95 per trade and get IVV, VOO, or SPY instead of SCHX when GEM goes back to risk-on, or,
2. Migrate over to Fidelity (iShares for free) or Vanguard. I've been with Schwab for decades, so this is tough for me to consider doing

The Schwab trader did not think trying to trade 6300 shares of SCHX presented a problem. He saw orders for 2k and 3k shares whiz by him on his terminal as we spoke. I suggested maybe I could split my order into 2 or 3 parts, and he agreed with that. So I'm not in need of specialized trading services even for a $422,000 position.

I could split my accounts between Schwab and Fidelity. This is has been discussed here as a resiliency move (what if one of the firms got hacked?). I'd keep my buy-and-hold bond-prone accounts at Schwab, and my Dual Momentum actively-traded equity-prone accounts at Fidelity. That actually makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it.

Yes, Pugchief, the TD Ameritrade ETFs are kinda small, illiquid ETFs. I'll put up with them for my HSA, but I would not for my IRAs. But still way better than the choices at my employer's HSA.

[Mr Vacuum]

Fidelity has a refund-all-ATM fees debit card. I haven’t tested it outside the U.S. but it hasn’t let me down inside.

[ochotona]

Fidelity has a refund-all-ATM fees debit card. I haven’t tested it outside the U.S. but it hasn’t let me down inside.

That's really common for online banks now. For me, the litmus test is offshore. I was reading the Fidelity website, and I think theirs will work that way, too.