Charles Schwab – TD Ameritrade purchase

On Thursday, November 21st, news broke that Charles Schwab is purchasing TD Ameritrade, the custodian we use here at Wiser Wealth. This purchase is not a complete surprise as there has been speculation that a consolidation within the industry would happen as all major firms now have $0 transaction fees. There are three major custodians that we believe any reputable fee-only advisory firm would hold client’s assets with: TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab and Fidelity.

Wiser Wealth chose TD Ameritrade over two decades ago (back when it was Ameritrade) because they embraced our fiduciary fee-only standard the best. In fact, they have advocated for this business model in Washington for many years where the other two firms still have non-fiduciary advisors that work directly for their respective firms. Additionally, these firms have many independent firms operating under the fee-based model vs fee-only. As we learn about this with the rest of the world, Wiser Wealth still has a fiduciary obligation in how we manage your assets and give advice. We will continue to monitor the impact of this news and in the unlikely event something within this transaction should not be in your best interest, we will take action to remedy the situation.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me or my team with any questions.

Casey T. Smith

President

Posted November 25, 2019