reliable broker for long term investment

B

bobpit

I am looking to find a reliable broker where I can create an account for long term buy and hold strategy. My aim is to create something like a personal pension fund. So I need to find a broker that I can trust my investments for the next 30-40 years. Trust and reliability is the number one requirement.

Can I trust the big names of online brokers? Interactive Brokers sound like the most established/reliable, but still I do not know if I can trust this kind of long term investment.

I live in Europe and I have the option of having a local bank as a broker, but I have not examined the options they offer and the commissions/taxes yet.

I plan to start with 2.000 euros and add 1.000-3.000 euros per year.

Other important considerations, in descending importance are:
0 maintenance costs, as the account may be inactive for months.
Access to markets worldwide.
Interest payed on unused cash balance.
Low cost of transactions.

What do you guys suggest?
 
Quote from bobpit:
So I need to find a broker that I can trust my investments for the next 30-40 years.
More...

The odds of any brokerage out there now, esp the online guys, being here in 30-40 years w/o mergers, acquisitions and failures is pretty slim. So find a broker that meets most of your requirements and just know that the name on the statement will probably change multiple times over the next 40 years. If you don't need a full service broker and fees are part of your equation, just find a cheap, reliable broker that is out there now.

Here's a comparison of some online brokers:
http://www.scottrade.com/online-brokerage/online-broker-comparison.html#
http://online-stock-trading-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/broker/fullcompare.aspx

Looking at those lists, I wonder how many of those will exist in 40 years. I'd be surprised if any of them were still here in 40 years under the same company name.
 
So I guess I have to find a reliable broker for NOW, and have my eyes open.

From what I see, too few brokers offer international stocks, and finding a reliable one is not an easy task.

Quote from brownsfan019:

just find a cheap, reliable broker that is out there now.
More...
I am with Dukascopy for Forex and I am happy so far, but they do not have stocks at all. Do you have any suggestions?
 
Quote from bobpit:

So I guess I have to find a reliable broker for NOW, and have my eyes open.

From what I see, too few brokers offer international stocks, and finding a reliable one is not an easy task.


I am with Dukascopy for Forex and I am happy so far, but they do not have stocks at all. Do you have any suggestions?
More...

If you are not trading a lot and conscious of fees, something like Scottrade would be just fine. If you are going to be more active then you'll have to compare each one, but at least most of the leg work is already done.
 
brownsfan019: If you are not trading a lot and conscious of fees, something like Scottrade would be just fine. If you are going to be more active then you'll have to compare each one, but at least most of the leg work is already done.
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I've had a scottrade account for over a decade and I just found out a few days ago that they clear through Penson, which to me looks like its going bankrupt.
 
Longterm investing, you should be fine pretty much anywhere.

I have long-term retirement accounts at 2 fullservice brokers where the only trades that occur are DRIPs, and my annual account fees are waived. If I was actively trading those accounts I would go elsewhere, obviously -- I think their fees/commissions are ludicrous.

But something like TDA or Scottrade should be fine for you, too. All should serve your purpose, just be sure to keep track of them.
 
Quote from rickf:

I have long-term retirement accounts at 2 fullservice brokers where the only trades that occur are DRIPs, and my annual account fees are waived.
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If I do very little trades/volume and then they waive the fees, how will they make money?
 
Odds are that full service brokers keep their clients' idle money in a money market account where the client gets maybe 0.10% interest and the broker uses the money to make a few percent.
 
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