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Vanguard vs. TD Ameritrade: The biggest differences
Vanguard and TD Ameritrade offer a wide array of account types and investment choices for both active traders and passive investors. However, the platforms differ when it comes to fees, features, and investment choices.
Overall, Vanguard is the better choice for retirement investing. It offers multiple types of low-cost mutual funds (e.g., all-in-one retirement funds, index funds, and admiral share funds) that the brokerage itself manages, and its selection of retirement planning resources is hard to beat.
TD Ameritrade best suits active traders who want a wider variety of platforms and tools to utilize when making investment decisions. In addition to its web platform, it offers the thinkorswim web and desktop platforms for more advanced traders, and its options contract price ($0.65) is cheaper than Vanguard’s ($1).
Account Minimum
$0 ($3,000 for Vanguard Digital Advisor; $50,000 for Vanguard Personal Advisor Services)
Fees
0% (0.20% to 0.30% for professionally managed portfolios)
Investment Types
Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds, and CDs
- Commission-free stocks, ETFs, and options
- Brokerage, automated, and advisor-managed accounts available
- Thousands of low-cost mutual funds
- Multiple resources with expert analysis and market insights
- Several retirement accounts and services for retirement plan participants
- Higher options contract fee than other discount brokerages (Vanguard charges $1 per options contract)
- No separate trading platforms for advanced traders
- No cryptocurrencies
- Promotion: None at this time.
Account Minimum
$0 ($5,000 or $25,000 for managed accounts through Schwab)
Fees
0% ($300 one-time fee and $30/month for advisor-managed account through Schwab)
Investment Types
Stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, futures, forex, IPOs, and bonds
- Free commissions on stock, ETF, and option…
Read More: Vanguard vs. TD Ameritrade: How the investing apps compare