News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:23PM (#17682252)
Free overnight checks. Free cashier's checks. Free wire transfers (incoming and outgoing)...on top of what was already free. This is great!

For those of you comparing Fidelity and Schwab for cash management, two things:

1) Fidelity's debit card also reimburses ATM fees worldwide, but lists a 1% foreign transaction fee for purchases. This doesn't apply to ATM withdrawals, which don't count as purchases and are, in fact, 0%.

2) Schwab's interest rate on cash in their checking account is 0.25% last time I checked. Fidelity's is similar, but they count purchased money market funds as liquid, withdrawable cash, and automatically liquidate shares when needed without intervention by you. So the effective interest rate on cash is somewhere between 1.55% and 1.9%, depending on which money market fund you choose. Schwab also has money market funds, but they're not treated as liquid cash. You must manually sell shares, wait until settlement clears, and then transfer funds into your checking account, which is a pain in the ass.

3) Not directly related to cash management, but useful nonetheless: Fidelity advertises $4.95 brokerage trades. Every time I've called and asked, "Can you give me free trades?," they give me free trades (usually 10-20) as a "goodwill" perk. It's a 60 second phone call. Don't pay for trades!

EDIT: Perhaps notable for those who live in high tax states like NY or CA, interest income from Fidelity's "Treasury Only" money market funds is exempt from state taxes. Interest earned from a typical checking account or CD is state taxable. You can also purchase municipal money market funds which are exempt from state and federal taxes, but they have a lower yields.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by nirvdrum on Friday August 03, 2018 @04:26PM (#17683343)
Is there any particular department you speak with to get free trades? Based on your comment, I just gave it a shot and was told they don't do free trades and the person I spoke with was confused as to why I would even ask.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @11:12PM (#17685169)
I generally talk to the people in charge of account transfers. "Hey, so I've had accounts at Fidelity for a while and am wondering if you have any promotions for a couple free trades." "We only have promotions for clients bringing in over $50k, but as a goodwill measure, I can add 10 free trades to your account, would that be okay?" "Cool, thanks, that works. Hope you have a great day!"
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by anonu on Friday August 03, 2018 @11:20PM (#17685199)
It's probably dependant on your trading history and general account balance.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by astura on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:44PM (#17682453)
I haven't heard about the money market fund thing. Can you buy money market funds in your cash management account? Or do you have to hold them in your brokerage account and they automatically liquidate them and move them to the cash management account when you (say) withdraw cash? Or do you have to get checkwriting privileges on your brokerage account?

Also, free wire transfers? That sounds almost unbelievable.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:47PM (#17682484)
Yes, you can hold money market funds directly in a cash management account. That's what I do. They're treated exactly as cash, so under the tab "Available to withdraw," all money market funds are included in that number.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by astura on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:18PM (#17682783)
Thank you very much!

Does the Regulation D six withdraw a month limit apply? Might depend on the money market fund you choose?

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:20PM (#17682802)
Nope, does not apply to money market funds as far as I know. You can always double check with Fidelity live chat/phone support.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Saturday August 04, 2018 @11:23AM (#17687176)
I just confirmed that Reg D doesn't apply to money market funds in Fidelity cash management accounts, since technically, they're not bank accounts, but brokerage accounts with banking features.

This is probably why Schwab doesn't offer the same feature, because Schwab is a bona fide bank and offers true bank accounts to complement their brokerage accounts.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by bscphil on Friday August 03, 2018 @07:49PM (#17684496)
>So the effective interest rate on cash is somewhere between 1.55% and 1.9%, depending on which money market fund you choose.

Wait, so are you saying you can get up to 1.65% interest on a withdrawable cash fund? Perhaps I'm confused - are you including a penalty for liquidating the shares in that, or just assuming you never liquidate?

I'm getting slightly better than that, but that's in a 5 year CD with a large minimum deposit. The penalty for liquidating is the previous 6 months of interest.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by LeifCarrotson on Friday August 03, 2018 @09:11PM (#17684839)
There are lots of credit unions that have 3% or better checking accounts:

https://www.lmcu.org/personal/banking/checking-accounts/max-...

https://www.myconsumers.org/personal/checking

No penalties for liquidating, some minor requirements (use it for at least one bill and a couple purchases each month) to get the interest rate each month.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @11:06PM (#17685157)
Yes, my figures are for money market funds. They are withdrawable cash. No penalties. Plop money in, take it out whenever you want (or not).
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by inyourtenement on Saturday August 04, 2018 @03:55PM (#17688218)
Ally Bank savings accounts just went to 1.8%, and 2 year CDs are 2.5%, with no minimums.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Saturday August 04, 2018 @05:04PM (#17688416)
2 year treasuries are 2.64% and they're exempt from state taxes.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by tanderson92 on Friday August 03, 2018 @08:20PM (#17684615)
Another thing to note is that Fidelity and Schwab both have commission-free secondary-market treasury trading. This is much preferred to savings account rates. Oh and they allow you to participate in Treasury auctions too; you receive the so-called "high-rate" as a non-competitive bidder.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @11:18PM (#17685191)
Yes! Fidelity even offers the option to "auto roll" treasuries and I believe CDs, so you can stay 100% invested without thinking about it. Great alternative to a government bond fund.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by pbreit on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:43PM (#17682449)
In your estimation are Schwab or Fidelity viable primary bank accounts?
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:50PM (#17682519)
Yep, I've been a customer of both Fidelity and Schwab and both have been fantastic replacements for brick and mortar banks. The only catch is dealing with cash deposits, but that can be easily mitigated by keeping a no-fee bank account with branches and/or ATMs locally. I use Capital One 360 for that. Also, both Fidelity and Schwab offer 24/7 customer service, and both have live chat if you don't want to wait on the phone.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by bitcoinmoney on Friday August 03, 2018 @04:43PM (#17683455)
Do you know if schwab high investor yield checking bank account has 1% foreign transaction fee? I have both Fido cash mag and schwab HIY account.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @11:20PM (#17685201)
Schwab's debit card is 0% for both international ATM withdrawals and other purchases. Fidelity's debit card is 0% for international ATM withdrawals, but 1% for other purchases.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by astura on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:45PM (#17682468)
Yes, they absolutely 100% are.

Source: Fidelity is my primary bank account.

A bonus is I get paid a day early, Fidelity makes my paycheck available a day before payday for some reason.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by kevindong on Friday August 03, 2018 @05:08PM (#17683632)
Fidelity licenses software that powers the backend of a lot of the banks. That may have something to do with it.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by Wistar on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:01PM (#17682639)
Anticipatory banking! Marvelous!
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by JauntTrooper on Friday August 03, 2018 @11:50PM (#17685286)
Schwab's been my primary bank account for 10 years. It's fantastic.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by throwaway82729 on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:55PM (#17683078)
They have all this but no 2FA. Also, their password limit was like 8 or 10 characters till recently.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by whitepoplar on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:58PM (#17683113)
This is incorrect. They have 2FA available via the Symantec VIP Access app. It's not U2F or Google Authenticator, but it works.
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by rconti on Friday August 03, 2018 @02:39PM (#17682412)
wow!
Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by atomi on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:06PM (#17682677)
I finally get an opportunity to vent about Schwab.

Schwab is the worst.

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by JadeNB on Friday August 03, 2018 @05:54PM (#17683949)
That's insufficient venting! Why is Schwab the worst?

(I am a Fidelity customer who just kind of fell into holding funds with them, and I'd like to know why other options are good or bad.)

Re:Fidelity Introduces Zero Expense Ratio Index Funds by spacehome on Friday August 03, 2018 @09:00PM (#17684800)
I want to vent about Schwab, too. I've been using Schwab for years now, and they're pretty OK.