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Fidelity IRAs Review


ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.7 / 5 (Excellent)
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Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Boston, Fidelity is a privately-held company that services 27 million individual customers around the world and manages a total of $6.9 trillion in customer assets. Fidelity operates in all 50 states and territories, as well as eight other countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
 
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How is Fidelity rated?

Breakdown

0.0/5
IRA Types
0.0/5
Investment Options
4.8/5
Account Features
4.8/5
Fees and Discounts
5.0/5
Reputation & Customer Support

Overall Rating: 4.7 / 5 (Excellent)

Fidelity's strong financial reputation and tailor-made IRAs make it an attractive choice the complete spectrum of investors. Both individuals and employers can benefit from the large set of IRAs they offer. Even under Fidelity's most basic management plan, its customers have access to human advisers that work around the IRA owner's goals, timeline, and risk willingness. Fidelity does not require the owner to make a minimum contribution to open or maintain an account, which is ideal for novice investors. In addition, it's 24/7 customer service contact options also add another layer of customer satisfaction.

Fidelity Account Features

Account Features - 4.8 / 5

Fidelity offers a wide range of IRA types for individuals and employers, as well as investment options. Its management alternatives are tailored to the IRA owner's needs and goals. Fidelity does not require an account minimum to open an IRA under its most basic management level, Fidelity Go, but certain investments like mutual funds may require a minimum initial investment. The other two management account types do require a minimum amount of investment.
Types of IRAs
Rollover IRA
Roth IRA
Traditional IRA
SEP IRA
SIMPLE IRA
Account Minimum
0
Mobile App
Yes

Investment Options

Mutual Funds
Index Funds
Stocks
Bonds
Money Market Accounts
CDs
ETFs
Options

Promotions

Fidelity offers special discounts on tax preparation services, specifically TurboTax ($20 off), H&R Block ($25 off) and TaxAct ($30 off) to its customers.

Advisors

Fidelity offers three account management options:

1) Fidelity Go - human advisers manage these IRAs, which can be invested in a diversified mix of mutual funds, based on the owner's answers to a few simple questions. Although there is no minimum amount required to open a Fidelity Go account, the Fidelity brokers will invest the funds according to the investment strategy the IRA account owner has chosen only when the account balance reaches $10. IRA owners can monitor their progress, schedule deposits, review account activity or review their holdings online, but cannot buy and sell individual investments on their Fidelity Go accounts.
2) Portfolio Advisory Services Account through Fidelity Wealth Services - Wealth Services is a wide range of diversified managed accounts, which include retirement advising and investment tax management, among others. Under Portfolio Advisory Services, IRA owners work alongside a team of financial professionals, who will tailor the account to the owner's goals, comfort level with risk, and timeline. Within this type of account management, IRA owners may choose from three different investment strategies: diversified, tax-sensitive, and diversified income. The first requires an investment of at least $50,000 and the last two require a minimum investment of $200,000.
3) Fidelity Strategic Disciplines - A financial adviser will provide focused single-asset class portfolios that are personalized to the IRA owner's specific objectives. An investment of $200,000 to $500,000 is required.

Online Experience

The website is fairly easy to navigate and provides useful tools for financial and retirement planning. However, it does not disclose any detailed terms and conditions of the IRAs they offer.

Fidelity Fees and Penalties

Fees and Discounts - 4.8 / 5

Fidelity IRAs do not charge an opening, closing, or annual fee. It's $4.95 commission fee for online U.S. equity trades is lower than those offered by other brokerage firms. IRA owners can also choose from varied account management options that adjust to all kinds of budgets and goals. These attributes make Fidelity accessible for all types of investors.
Management Fee
0
Trading Fees
$4.95 commission for each online U.S. equity trade.
Miscellaneous Fees
Fidelity Go accounts have an annual gross advisory fee of 0.35% of the account balance. Portfolio Advisory Services has a 0.50%-1.50% annual gross advisory fee based on total assets invested. IRAs under Fidelity Strategic Disciplines management have different gross annual advisory fees for each type of investment strategy chosen. These range from 0.20% to 0.90% based on total assets invested.

Fidelity Financial Strength and Reputation

Reputation & Customer Support - 5 / 5

Fidelity possesses financial strength and a sound reputation among brokerage firms, as one of the largest ones in the United States and with a solid international presence. As of March 2018, it manages $2.5 trillion global assets. Fidelity is readily accessible to its customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through phone, email, and chat. It received a poor score from the Better Business Bureau because of 36 complaints that remain unresolved. As a stark contrast, there is only one complaint registered before the Customer Financial Protection Bureau. As for the average Trustpilot score Fidelity received, it is based on 10 reviews, 40% of which were rated as 'excellent' or 'great' and 60% were categorized as 'bad'.
Year Founded
1946
FDIC Member
No
SIPC Membership
Yes
BBB Rating
C-
Trust Pilot Rating
5.5 out of 10
Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) Complaints
1
Date Collected
2018-12-20
Live Help 24/7
Yes
Customer Support Hours
24/7

Contact Methods

Phone
Email
Chat
Social Media
Text

FINRA Arbitrations

FINRA lists 20 regulatory events and 111 arbitrations for Fidelity. These have all concluded and their resolutions are not subject to change. Regulatory events refer to either a final, formal proceeding initiated by a regulatory authority due to a violation of investment rules and regulations or a suspension of Fidelity's authority or its affiliates' to act as an attorney, accountant or federal contractor. Fidelity's regulatory events were either settled or consented to the sanctions without admitting or denying the findings. The arbitrations accounted for above are those held before FINRA involving securities and commodities disputes between public customers and Fidelity.

Company Profile

Full Name
Fidelity IRAs
Company Website
https://www.fidelity.com/
Headquarters
900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI, 02917
Mailing Address
One Destiny Way WA1M, Westlake, TX, 76262

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Customer Comments & Reviews

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R
Ron R
12/11/2023
I contacted Fidelity six days ago to request that an IRA distribution be wired to my bank. I was assured that the wire transfer would happen on that day. When I saw that it did not occur on that day I called back the next day and explained the situation, and the Fidelity representative read my file and said yes, I have been promised it would go out the day before that it did not happen, and he said it would now be Monday of the next week before it would be wired my bank. Again on Monday the fund transfer did nit occur. He said that it now would be the next day before they would wire the funds. When I told him that this was unacceptable and asked to speak to Management), he told me that he... Read More

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