The thing is, I like paper statements and they can’t charge me for paper because of the deal= so I have to call them every year to reverse the charge. They probably figure they will wear me out, but I’m not budging.

I’ve never had problems with Fidelity. My eTrade account (started with a different brokerage then purchased by eTrade) has been a nightmare. If you want to hold on to your money, whatever you do don’t invest it with eTrade.

Even though they’re an online discount broker, I put eTrade in the same category with Scottrade, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, and TD Ameritrade… That is offline brokers with an online presence, and therefore, a little more expensive for “what they have to offer.”

But the fact of the matter is that if you know what you want to buy and sell, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to find a no-fee discount broker who only charges you when you trade.

The best I’ve found?

In no specific order… TradeKing, Firstrade, Sharebuilder, SogoTrade, and Zecco.

I had direct deposit setup with ETrade Bank and periodically logged in to check out the transactions. One login prompted me to fill in the Patriot Act-required personal information that is obtained from public records. That is, they ask you questions that only you can know that you didn’t provide the answers to. I answered these questions without a problem opening the account, but couldn’t get the right answers in this case. (I think the system was flawed because I know I answered the questions correctly: they asked me about my monthly mortgage payments, and I have never had a mortgage). My failure to answer correctly locked me out of the account.

I called ETrade customer service and went through the process to unlock my account. After that, I was able to login without a problem. Unfortunately, it turns out they did fully unlock my account. My direct deposits started getting rejected from the bank.

The surprise rejections caused three problems: an interruption in my cash flow, a change in my perceived behavior by ETrade, and the temporary loss of my earned money. I was depositing into a checking account that was no-fee as long as you maintained a certain amount of direct deposit every month. I met that criteria until the bank started rejected the payments. They hit me with a $15 fee. In addition, ETrade wouldn’t deposit my money into my account, or give it back to my company. It sat in ETrade limbo.

This was bad, but the problems were not over. I called again to discuss the problem, and they told me that the account was finally unlocked. I also pressed on the fee and they refunded it, along with a bounced check charge that came about again because of their faulty freezing. After this, ETrade rejected another direct deposit, and charged me another $15 monthly fee because I wasn’t using direct deposit.

I looked for a new bank after this. Many friends and co-workers recommended Charles Schwab Bank for their high quality customer service and features (investor checking, no ATM fees, 2% return on credit card). I was sold from my first phone call that was routed directly to an account specialist in Denver and then to a broker in Phoenix. I was used to ETrade service, where I sat on hold for up to 10 minutes before interacting with an individual overseas reading from a script. Four months in with Schwab and everything is going great. I highly recommend their services for younger folks for banking, and to get involved in investing. They’ll help set up a plan and can always answer question in person or over the phone. Later, if needed, they can step in for managed accounts and more.