Charles Schwab fees explained

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Overview of Charles Schwab fees and charges

When trading or investing at an online broker, fees can have a big impact on your results, so it's good to know what kind of charges you'll be facing and how these compare to fees at other brokers.

If fees are your top concern, Charles Schwab is a good choice, as it has low fees in general. Check our toplist for cheaper brokers.

I found Charles Schwab's trading fees fairly low

Adam Nasli

Regulation • Fighting Scams • Market Analysis

I've personally tested dozens of global brokers, carefully looking at their fees not just on their website but also in the course of live trading. Here's how Charles Schwab fared:

Charles Schwab charges low fees for trading stocks and ETFs.
There is no inactivity fee even if you leave your account idle for a long time.
The basic withdrawal fee is $0, but some transactions may cost more.
Read our full review of Charles Schwab for info on safety, trading platforms and funding.

Charles Schwab fees at a glance
Assets	Fee level	Fee terms
US stock fee	Low	Free stock and ETF trading
EURUSD fee	Low	The fees are built into the spread, 1.4 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
US tech fund fee	High	Standard fee of $49.95, but up to $74.95 for buying, while selling is free; there are also around 4,000 free mutual funds
Inactivity fee	Low	No inactivity fee

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The fee structure is transparent and easy to understand.

Commission-free stock and ETF trading

Charles Schwab stock and ETF fees by market
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$0.0 Free stock and ETF trading	$0.0 Free stock and ETF trading	$0.0 Free stock and ETF trading

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Stock Fee Calculator

Confused about fees? Use this tool to see what the commission fee of a specific stock trade would be at Charles Schwab. To check and compare fees at other brokers, go to our main Fee calculator page.

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High margin rates

Charles Schwab annual margin rates
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
USD margin rate	12.8% Base rate + 1.825% for loan balance below $25,000	13.5% Base rate + tiered markup. Markup under $10,000: +2.50%	12.8% Base rate + tiered markup. Markup is +1.25% for balance of 0-25k.

Low options commission

Charles Schwab charges a $0.65 fee per contract.

Charles Schwab stock index options commission
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$6.5 $0.65 per contract	$6.5 $0.65 fee per contract; $0.50 with 30+ trades per quarter	$6.5 $0.65 fee per contract

No inactivity fee, no withdrawal fee

There are no inactivity or account fees. IRA accounts are also free and there are no minimum balance requirements for any of those accounts.

Charles Schwab inactivity, withdrawal and other fees
Broker	Inactivity fee	Withdrawal fee
Charles Schwab		$0
E*TRADE		$0
Fidelity		$0

Other commissions and fees

You can find Charles Schwab's fees for other asset classes below. Click 'Show more' for details.

High mutual fund commission

However, there are around 4,000 mutual funds that are free to trade,which is almost half of Charles Schwab's more than 10,000 fund offering. This pricing effectively discourages clients from trading non-zero-fee mutual funds.
The standard charge is $49.95 per purchase while redemption is free of charge. Some other brokers charge both for buying and selling, but in our comparison table we only compare the cost of fund purchases, not including the selling leg. In order to make it a fair comparison, we therefore halved Charles Schwab's fee for the table, which is why you see $25 and not $50.

Fees for a $2,000 fund purchase
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$25.0 Standard fee of $49.95, but up to $74.95 for buying, while selling is free; there are also around 4,000 free mutual funds	$0.0 $0 ca. 4,500 free mutual funds	$37.5 $49.95 or $75 for buying while selling is free; some 3,600 free mutual funds

We really liked that Charles Schwab offers some 4,000 mutual funds whose trading is free. These include Schwab Funds and thousands of other funds included in the Mutual Fund OneSource Select List of quality funds. However, should you sell these funds within 90 days of purchase, you will be charged a $49.5 redemption fee.

High futures fees

Stock index futures fee for 10 contracts
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
US micro e-mini stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$22.5 $2.25 per contract	$15.0 $1.50 fee per contract	- Not available

Low FX fees

Charles Schwab forex fees
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
EURUSD spread Usual spread in pips	1.4	- EURUSD is not available	- EURUSD is not available
GBPUSD spread	1.3	- GBPUSD is not available	- GBPUSD is not available
AUDUSD spread	1.2	- AUDUSD is not available	- AUDUSD is not available
EURCHF spread	2.1	- EURCHF is not available	- EURCHF is not available
EURGBP spread Usual spread in pips	1.3	- EURGBP is not available	- EURGBP is not available

Low bond commission

The bond fees vary depending on the type of bond you purchase. There is no commission for Treasury bonds, Treasury Bills, Treasury Notes and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).

Fees for a $10,000 bond trade
	Charles Schwab Charles Schwab	ETRADE ETRADE	Fidelity Fidelity
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$0.0 $0 for Treasury bonds; $1 per bond for corporate bonds with $10 minimum and $250 maximum	$0.0 $0 for Treasury bonds, other bonds secondary transaction fee: $1/bond, min $10, max $250.	$0.0 $0 for Treasury bonds, and $1 per bond with a $250 max for other bonds

For other bonds, like corporate bonds and zero-coupon Treasuries, the commission is $1 per bond with a $10 minimum and $250 maximum. Note however that the bond price itself in these cases may also include a markup that reflects the bid-ask spread and is not capped.

Interest earned on uninvested cash

As of the time of the review, Charles Schwab provides the following interest rates on uninvested cash:

0.1% for USD

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Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.