Best Brokers for Long-term Investing

Interactive Brokers is one of the most established brokers globally, offering the professional-grade Trader Workstation (TWS) alongside IBKR GlobalTrader, a simplified mobile app better suited to beginners. Founded in 1978 and publicly listed on NASDAQ (ticker: IBKR; an S&P 500 constituent since 2024), it serves 3 million+ client accounts across 170+ markets in 36+ countries and is available to residents of more than 200 countries.

For long-term investors, the case for IBKR rests on three durable advantages. First, breadth: with stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, futures, forex, mutual funds, commodities, and cryptocurrencies all under one roof, you can build and rebalance a genuinely diversified portfolio without maintaining accounts at multiple brokers – which matters over a 20 or 30-year horizon.

Second, cost efficiency that compounds. There is no inactivity fee, no custody fee on securities, and no account minimum, so a buy-and-hold portfolio can sit untouched for years without erosion. FX conversion at 0.20 basis points (minimum $2) is among the cheapest available anywhere, which is significant if you are a European investor regularly converting EUR into USD to buy US-listed ETFs. Over decades, the difference between a 0.20 bps conversion and a typical 0.50% broker markup is substantial.

Third, counterparty strength. IBKR is a well-capitalised, publicly listed company subject to quarterly reporting and regulated across multiple top-tier jurisdictions (SEC, FINRA, FCA, CBI, BaFin, ASIC, CIRO, MAS, SFC). For assets you intend to hold for decades, the financial stability of the institution holding them is arguably more important than the headline commission.

IBKR also offers the Stock Yield Enhancement Program (SYEP) and pays interest on uninvested cash above certain thresholds, so idle capital between contributions is not dead money. Want to know more? Read our Interactive Brokers review.

Fidelity allows you to build a diversified long-term portfolio by combining mutual funds, ETFs, individual stocks, bonds, CDs, and more – all within a single account structure. For investors following a buy-and-hold or index-based approach, this breadth means you rarely need to look elsewhere.

Fidelity’s ZERO index funds are a genuine standout for long-term investors: a small family of index mutual funds carrying a 0.00% expense ratio and no minimum investment. Over a multi-decade holding period, the difference between a 0.00% and a 0.20% fund is meaningful – on a $100,000 portfolio compounding at 7% annually over 30 years, that gap alone represents tens of thousands of dollars in retained returns. Fidelity’s broader range of actively managed funds is also well regarded for investors who prefer professional management.

For retirement-focused investors, Fidelity places heavy emphasis on retirement planning, offering IRAs (Traditional, Roth, SEP, and Rollover), 401(k) administration, and a comprehensive suite of planning tools and calculators. This is where Fidelity distinguishes itself most clearly from execution-focused brokers: the platform is built around the assumption that you are accumulating over decades rather than trading.

On costs, Fidelity charges $0 commission on US stocks and ETFs, offers a large selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, competitive bond pricing, and levies no inactivity or account maintenance fees. Fractional share investing (from $1) also makes systematic monthly contributions practical regardless of share price.

The main limitation is geographic: Fidelity’s retail brokerage is primarily oriented to US residents. International investors should look at Interactive Brokers or Saxo instead.

E*TRADE, now part of Morgan Stanley following its 2020 acquisition, is one of the largest US brokers, offering stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, futures, and crypto. The Morgan Stanley backing is worth noting for long-term investors specifically: it means your assets sit with one of the world’s largest and most heavily capitalised financial institutions, which is a meaningful consideration when the intended holding period is measured in decades.

E*TRADE is known for competitive, transparent pricing. It charges $0 commission on US stocks and ETFs, $0.65 per options contract (falling to $0.50 for active traders), and offers a substantial list of no-transaction-fee mutual funds and commission-free bonds. Critically for buy-and-hold investors, there is no account fee and no inactivity fee, and both deposits and withdrawals are free – so a dormant portfolio incurs no drag at all.

For retirement accumulation, E*TRADE offers the full range of tax-advantaged accounts including Traditional and Roth IRAs, Rollover IRAs, and SEP IRAs, alongside custodial accounts for investing on behalf of children – useful if your long-term horizon extends across generations.

The platform also offers strong education and research: video tutorials, articles, webinars, and third-party research integrations. Power E*TRADE is an intuitive platform with sophisticated charting and screening tools, available on web, desktop, and mobile, while the standard E*TRADE app keeps things simple for investors who just want to make monthly contributions and check in occasionally.

Saxo (formerly Saxo Bank, acquired by J. Safra Sarasin in March 2025) offers access to more than 71,000 instruments including equities, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, options, futures, forex, and commodities. This breadth allows long-term investors to construct well-rounded portfolios tailored to their financial objectives and risk tolerance, with genuine access to international markets across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Two features matter particularly for long-term investors. The first is counterparty strength: Saxo holds an A-/A2 credit rating from S&P and, since the J. Safra Sarasin acquisition, is backed by one of the world’s most conservatively run private banking groups. When you intend to hold assets for twenty years, the balance sheet behind your custodian is a legitimate part of the decision.

The second is fee structure, which requires attention. US stock commissions are tiered by account level – 0.08% (minimum $1) at Classic, 0.05% at Platinum, and 0.03% at VIP – with tiers based on portfolio value rather than deposits (Platinum from €/$/£200,000, VIP from €/$/£1,000,000). Since 2024, the Classic tier carries no minimum deposit. However, Saxo applies a 0.15% annual custody fee on stocks, ETFs, and bonds, which is avoidable by opting into its securities lending programme. On a long holding period, this is the single most important number to understand: 0.15% per year compounds meaningfully, so opting into securities lending (or factoring the fee into your comparison) matters far more than the headline commission.

Saxo also provides substantial research through SaxoStrats, its in-house analyst team, along with educational content and three platforms (SaxoInvestor for straightforward investing, SaxoTraderGO, and SaxoTraderPRO). Want to know more? Read our Saxo review.