Firstrade Securities is a privately owned discount stock brokerage. I signed up with Firstrade a few years ago because I got tired of paying high fees at other discount brokerages. I used TD Ameritrade (see TD Ameritrade review), and another local stock broker previously. They both charged around $50 for every no-load mutual fund transaction. I researched online and found that Firstrade had one of the cheapest transaction fees around at the time, so I transferred my accounts over.
Current Promotions
- 250 commission free trades when you open a new Firstrade account.
- Firstrade will rebate your account transfer fee charged by another broker for up to $100
Transaction Fees
The best thing about Firstrade is the low commissions.
Stocks $6.95 / trade – unlimited shares
Options $6.95 + $0.75 / contract – no minimum
Mutual Funds
| No Transaction Fee | Free |
| No-Load Funds | $9.95 |
Fixed Income
| Treasury Bills, Notes & Bonds* | Net Yield Basis |
| Corporate Bonds* | Net Yield Basis |
| Municipal Bonds* | Net Yield Basis |
| Agency Bonds* | Net Yield Basis |
| Zeros & Strips* | Net Yield Basis |
| Primary Market CDs* | Net Yield Basis |
| Municipal Bonds* | Net Yield Basis |
* – Firstrade acts as principal whereby the bonds will be subjected to a markup or markdown.
Broker-Assisted Orders
| Stocks/ETFs | $26.95 |
| Options | $26.95 + $0.75 / contract |
| Load Funds | No Charge |
| No-Load Funds | $26.95 |
As you can see, stocks and ETF trades cost $6.95. For me, the big savings are the fees on no-load mutual funds. It costs $9.95 to trade no-load funds. This is much cheaper than the $40 I used to pay at TD Ameritrade. Firstrade has one of the lowest fees I could find from an online brokerage, but I see from the top stock brokers review that there are quite a few more competitors today.
10 Commission-Free ETFS
This is a new feature at Firsttrade. They are offering 10 commission free ETFs: BLV, BIV, BSV, VIG, IVV, IJH, VBK, VWO, FXI, DBC. This is great! I can buy a few shares without having to worry about fees when I have a couple hundred dollars lying around in the money market account. These ETFs are commission free as long as you keep them for at least 30 days.
Products and Services
Firstrade has all the financial products you expect from a brokerage. Here is the list from their website:
Stocks
Choose from a wide array of stock market investing opportunities. Trade stocks listed on the NYSE and AMEX, the Nasdaq Stock Market, or the Over-the-Counter (OTC) markets such as the OTC Bulletin Board or Pink Sheets.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Each ETF is a basket of securities that is designed to generally track an index – broad stock or bond market, stock industry sector, or international stock – yet trades like a single stock.
Bonds/CDs/Fixed Incomes
Hedge your account with municipal and corporate bonds, CDs and Fixed Income Securities.
Mutual Funds
Choose from over 11,000 different Mutual Funds. Diversity your holdings and create a professionally managed, low maintenance portfolio.
Options
Buy and sell puts and calls or Complex Option Strategies.
Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP)
Reinvest your dividends automatically and with no extra charge.
Internet Features
Firstrade is a discount brokerage and has all the basic features that you expected from an online company. You can trade online, check gain/loss, see your account history, and research. Pictured here is of the Account Dashboard. You can see quickly all your account information in one spot and customize the information that you want to keep track of.
Research
You can do basic research on stocks and ETF on the site. This is the research screen of VWO. Firstrade also has the usual screening tools to help you find equity that meet a minimal yield threshold for example.
Customer service
I contacted customer service a few times and everything was always resolved to my satisfaction. I never had to wait more than a few minutes and the customer service reps are very helpful and courteous. You can also do an online chat with the customer service if you don’t want to call. From what I understand, the brokerage specializes in Mandarin and Cantonese service. If you are more comfortable with these two Chinese dialects, it will be probably be worthwhile to try Firstrade. Overall, my customer service experience had been very positive.
New Web Site
Firstrade is in the process of transferring to a new website and not all functionality is available yet on the new site. For example, if you want to put in an order after the market closed, then you need to go to the “classic” site.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Firstrade was exactly the kind of discount broker I was looking for. The fees are low, customer service is excellent, and the website is always trouble free. I have been satisfied with Firstrade and will probably stay with them in the foreseeable future.
This review is written by Joe at Retire By 40 where
he blogs about his journey to early retirement by saving and investing.
Im a fan of Firstrade myself. I have been using them for about 2 years now, and Im liking the new no-fee funds they added!
As a new investor who has only been using Firstrade for a short time, I agree with Justin. I like Firstrade’s fees too. But I’m also enjoying all the good research info for someone who’s just learning the ropes.
Brian