Best Broker for IRA Investing

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed 17 online brokerages, a mix of established firms with the greatest market share and younger companies. Some of these are NerdWallet partners; some are not.

How we chose the winner:

NerdWallet evaluated each provider across the weighted criteria below to determine the winner for IRA investing:
  • Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds (20%).
  • Number of commission-free ETFs (20%).
  • Number of low-expense-ratio funds (20%).
  • Number of low-minimum mutual/index funds (20%).
  • Stock trading commissions (10%).
  • Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) (10%).

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet writers sent detailed questions to all reviewed companies. NerdWallet writers and editors also confirmed fees, rates, policies and other key features on each company's website.