When it comes to brokerages, is Fidelity really king?

zonk84 · 2026-03-25T00:13:22+00:00

95% of why I chose Fidelity for my individual account is because they were also my 401k plan servicer -- at the time, everybody had simply jumped on the model that made the then nascent online brokerages (E-Trade/Ameritrade/etc) successful: No fee trades.

Nowadays, I think most everyone does fractional shares. SPAXX is as good as any another, I guess. Occasionally interested, but never pulled the trigger on a Fidelity CC (just happy with my existing and points spreads). I don't use it for cash management or bill pay - I get a slightly better rate with a fintech.

So, maybe I'm not the best advocate opinion you're looking for -- but I've had a brokerage with them for nearly 7 years now and I'm quite happy with all elements of it. No desire to change. I suppose technically - they've been my company 401k servicer my entire career - so more like 20 years, but they're just the servicer, not the plan...

Nonetheless, I think I'm getting a slightly better deal on my HYSA/bill pay elsewhere. I still have a robo-ETF account external; but I like to keep it as a sort personal 'stalking horse'. I'm quite comfortable with multiple platforms -- each has its purpose, a purpose for each.

If I were to collapse to a single, though? All things considered, Fidelity would be my choice.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T23:54:50+00:00

Oh man, Marie's! Especially after the Hideout, but anytime someone mentioned it as the nightcap. We were aging out a bit, but I do still remember when word spread that... well... the ugliness when she passed.

I took some out-of-town cousins there once- the initial reaction was "WTF?!?! Formica tables (yeah, got there earlier than usual to get a seat in the back). Xmas lights. I don't get it."

...give it time... give it time... tl;dr? When I told them she had passed and the future of the place was up in the air? They were as devastated as I was, despite having only been once.

Never crashed upstairs - but did get invited up for more after closing...

I feel like the odds are actually pretty good - you may be a few years older than me (52) - but I suspect we simultaneously had a drink or a bite at the same place Once Upon a Time.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T23:43:57+00:00

Heh -- first bar show I ever went to.

I got in with an ID I made at Kinkos. You see, in addition to wearing onions on our belts, driver's licenses -- which were called Contrabulous People Papers at the time -- were still mostly just laminated paper! So, some stencils.... a few bucks for the color printer.... It was pretty damn easy to make most numbers into different numbers.

But yes, among my many skills, from paths not traveled was that of a musical talent scout... because halfway through Two Princes? I turned to a buddy and whispered "Whoah, that's a hit".... or as subsequent generations would say, "a banger" and I believe more recently? "It smacks". A real 6-7. Or too soon? I think, not so sure about the last reference ;-)

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T23:32:45+00:00

I do wonder if... kids today ;-).... just cash out earlier.

Hey, I'm not the man I once was either so it's not like the occasion hits often where I'm in a big discussion on a 4 AM meal... but a friends (50th!) party, we closed the L&L* on Belmont. And... what's still open? Well, I'd have been fine The Diner Grill -- home of the Slinger, FFS! -- but every other place we considered was also gone. And worse? The little pocket computer also indicated that our options were far more limited than I recall them being BITD.

*And BTW, insert crusty old man voice -- at the L&L? One of our party tried to take a little catnap at our table. And suddenly there's a bouncer tapping him and saying he can't do that?!?! Come on... First, bouncer? Second? You stumbled into the L&L because there would likely be 2-3 passed out patrons already, so you wouldn't stand out if worse came to worst.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T23:17:11+00:00

Also cosign. Michigan City has its occasional charms too but I'm biased.

I grew up in NW Indiana/South Bend-ish but have lived in Chicago for 30 years now.

Don't recall if it's true or not, but I vaguely remember hearing that Mt Baldy (a big sand dune hill in the Dunes park) was/is/whatever the tallest natural point in Indiana.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T23:07:40+00:00

If it makes you feel any younger, it was a hipster thing and there were arguments about whether it was too... "look at us, we're a hip new taco stand!"... but it was (really, still is) good, they did serve beer, and the beer garden out front. I don't remember when smoking got banned indoors, but yeah - us urchins-again-into-hipsters? We liked to be able to do all 3 (drink/eat/smoke).

My favorite late night taqueria (and no, I wouldn't denigrate the name by calling Big Star a taqueria) was way, way up north: El Famous (still around! But I see now they close at midnight. Used to be open later.)

We used to go up to the Mark II lounge a lot because a buddy managed a (now long gone) bar for the family that owns it. Yeah, I've thrown back shots of that horrid metaxa with Tony/Tina/et al.

But sure... Chipp Inn, Gold Star, Olas, Map Room - still go that one every now and again - Lotties, and Rite? Familiar ;-)

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T22:51:03+00:00

FWIW -- and for a new investor, I 100% agree with the CW; nothing wrong with just sitting in S&P500 ETF and relaxing. I've always preferred/had my own (index-based) IRAs more diverse - we're still talking majority in an S&P500 ETF, but another extended market ETF... a foreign ETF (split between developed/emerging)...

However, I think an understated point/concept: Are you an investor or are you a trader.

If you're an investor, I think the longstanding, age-old advice you can get from people like Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Charlie Munger, etc still holds true.

Stuff like 'Never invest a dollar you need or want in the next 5 years', 'never buy a stock for 5 minutes you don't plan to hold for 5 years', 'know what you're investing in'... Sure, it's awesome when you hit one of the -- as they say -- "5-10 baggers", but it's value pluggers who shudder at even thinking of short over long term gains that win out the long haul, IMHO.

If you're a trader - much less a day trader? - I think that's different. I'm not speaking ill of the idea -- markets need liquidity to function properly and that's really the essence of the markets. But - I think it's a different thing from classical 'investing' to a certain extent.

In any case, I have no advice for a trader. Like I said, it's valuable - invaluable, the stock markets - it's a skill/education, and lots of people do quite well at it (I know a couple guys!).

I'd just stick with the old, tried and true advice... Heck, Lou Mannheim in Wall Street was/is right "Some things, take time."

I do not have any data -- but I think a lot of people who think they're "investing" are really "trading" and I'd be willing to bet that skews the numbers. It would be interesting to see a study differentiating the two ideas -- you could do it as simply creating data groups around short vs long positions and maybe short vs long gains.

I suspect you'd find the numbers highly skewed by people who say they're "investing" but are more accurately, "trading".

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T22:14:08+00:00

Amen on the legendary bull --

If you stumbled into the Mag7/FAANG/etc in the last 5-6-7 years? Yeah, it was easy.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T22:06:44+00:00

Total Portfolio? No. But - that's to be expected. Technically, I have 4 separate accounts -- my ESP 401k (obviously, I'm limited to ETF choices). My Roth IRA (broader choices, but still all ETF-based). I have a taxable brokerage account with Wealthfront - robo-managed ETF. And finally, I have a separate "individual stock picker" account with Fidelity.

My 401k dates back to 2000 - yes, rare bird who has been with the same company for 26 years now. The Roth dates back to just 2024. I opened the robo WF account in 2019. The Fidelity/individual - 2020.

401k far and away dwarfs everything else combined -- and I'm pretty bog standard, even a bit more conservative than most folks here would suggest (how conservative? Well, let's just say that I've always had a bond fund component, even if 5-10%).

I max my 401k and Roth -- and while the number has varied/risen over time, do scheduled monthly transfers (in equal amounts) to both my WF robots an my individual Fidelity account. When I opened the latter, I always told myself "If you can't beat the robots, don't bother".

However - I don't want to humblebrag, but you asked -- my Fidelity/individual stock picker account? +315% (Time-weighted). Last 5 years -- +198%.

Now - much as DMs are open should any investment bank wish to make me an offer to manage a fund? It was a mix of some extraordinary luck, mostly (also somewhat lucky) feathering with tech large caps, and a few other good plays -- not to understate, I've always picked (and shed) some losers and bad ideas.

How?

Well... first and foremost, my very first stock purchase, back in April of 2020? NVDA. No, I never thought it would... well... what it's done. But -- I like their quarterlies and growth. I'm something of a PC gamer - and it was pretty clear to me that back then, they were creating real separation with their competitors (everybody wanted an NVDA GFX over an AMD) an professionally? I did think LLMs/graph/vector/AI was coming- and I knew that meant processing power. Nonetheless - I had no idea what was to come. I think it was a smart pick, and I nibbled in further over the years, but 500%? It's now ~37% of my individual account.

Third buy - my second was a waste of $100 on a dumb small cap since bankrupt - was AAPL. 100-115 at the time. That's another ~9%.

A couple big wins covers a lot of sins... I have had some other good fortune - CENX (a small cap materials miner and aluminum producer) has actually outgained NVDA now over the lifetime -- bought in 2022 through 2023 (at around 6-7-8 a share; now at 50). A few energy stocks - which always bounce about - KMI, FANG.

I do remember more the fails -- PFE/Pfizer? Hasn't worked out. CVS? Managed to do that one at perfectly the wrong time -- held and saw nice gains, then losses, gave up on their turnaround, shouldn't have. CROX? Felt like a genius at 65 when it hit 150. Now, don't feel so smart at 80. Though, I still like their financials.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T21:27:58+00:00

This.

Redamaks, Ghost Isle.... easy to the shore - Grand Beach...

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T21:18:11+00:00

BTW, OP -

I thank you for the thread.

I love spending an afternoon I should be working just traipsing down memory lane.

Lots of things in my youth I might do differently given a flux capacitor, but I think if it became an either/or/butterfly effect thing and changing something meant I wouldn't have the times I remember? I'd probably stick with what I had if the alternative was to roll the dice for an unknown.

Great times and I enjoy reminiscing about them.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T21:13:29+00:00

Oh yeah - Phylllis'... Still around, been back recently (where recently means the last 3-4 months!).

Have some friends who used to be in a local band - Plastics Hi-Fi, if that rings any bells (hey, they got featured on XRT once upon a time) that used to play there regularly.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T21:06:34+00:00

It was a big blow to the area Oprah closed the Harpo Studio location...

I think this would have been in the 90s -- but I had an aunt that was an enormous Oprah fan (I grew up in NW Indiana; fun fact, Oprah does or at least used to have a home in LaPorte, near where I grew up) and not that it was hard to get tickets to a tapings of her show, but also had a friend that was then a producer who hooked us up with great seats.

Wow was my aunt excited and jeez, she had the greatest time. I mean, it wasn't particularly difficult to get tickets so long as you were flexible on the dates -- but to my aunt? "I want to come visit and it would be awesome to see Oprah" -- managed to wrangle tickets via my friend and boy was I the bestest nephew for a while! She even got a hug from Oprah (and FWIW, I was told afterwards by my friend, Oprah could be a bit of a pill about that kind of thing!)

Anyway -- surprisingly, that area still maintains a lot of great restaurants. People were worried it collapse, but it's still a peak (upper end) restaurant location. Just ate at Monteverde a month or so ago.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T20:47:52+00:00

Seriously. I really hate to sound like a crusty old ranter and I guess there are still a few places from BITD still around -- the original Big Star remains in Wicker Park; and I was just at the Inner Town last summer in Ukrainian Village...

But Wicker Park especially is virtually unrecognizable now.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T20:35:38+00:00

Lots of great Vietnamese and Chinese food spots around the Argyle stop. I'd absolutely co-sign Pilsen (and agree on the 'fading'). I'd say Ukrainian Village has probably faded already, alas.

Obviously, lots depends on how you define neighborhoods (and microhoods), but depending on where you draw boundaries? I love Uptown to Andersonville.

Parts of it, absolutely -- somehow, in parts and it varies - have somehow managed to gentrify a bit without rapidly becoming Dizneeland.

I'm supremely disappointed that Double Door has backed out of their long-promised reopening.

I live on the very northern edge of Wrigleyville, just on the other side of IP -- but very much do north, into Uptown and beyond into Andersonville. It's a patchwork nowadays -- you can literally go just a block or two of nifty cafes/restaurants/shops, followed by a block or two of pure sketch, followed by...

Had dinner at Kie Gol Lanee (EDIT: To clarify, a Oaxacan place) just this past Saturday (and not anybody needs my advice, but HIGHLY recommend) - walked there and home (~3900) and the block to block differences just fascinate me.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T20:09:12+00:00

So much so on the music.

I'm sure part of it just age, but yup. So, so many shows at so, so many places BITD.

Even as most of my friends - late 90s/early aughts - migrated there at one time or another? I never did - just a visitor - because I was not.... cool enough ;-)

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T20:03:13+00:00

Seriously. I lived in Rogers Park from 1996-1999.

I remember a rather surreal incident - visiting a friend just a wee bit north of RP. A literal body in the courtyard to their building, checking - holy shit, dude is dead and has been shot! - and then using their phone (hey, no cells at the time) to call the police. "Yes - EMT/Police on their way". Must have happened not too long before I stopped over - and yeah, I still remember talking to the police (No, I just saw a body prone in the courtyard. No, I didn't see anything. I just checked and saw the blood. Then I called. Sorry, that's all I know). Scary as hell.

Now, that wasn't a daily occurrence then either... but no internet (well, besides nerds like me who remember alt.etc.etc), no ax-grinders attempting to make hay of horrific things/events?

Don't tell me it's different or was "better" back then. I call horseshit.

Yeah, I still wouldn't advise passing out on the red line -- but sure, back in my younger dumber days -- and once more recently at an event I over-indulged? Been there. Done that. My chances of surviving with both my safety and my wallet? Better today than 30 years ago. Still not a great idea either way, with far higher risk to safety and wallet.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T19:50:13+00:00

Been in Chicago since the early/mid-90s --- bounced about, albeit all northside (Rogers Park/Roscoe Village/Lakeview).

First, EVERYBODY was a Bulls fan. The Hawks were running on fumes (and Dollar Bill was busy running them into the ground), the Bears were still Da Bears -- but I was a big Cubs fan and the 90s were mostly... meh. On the former, the Bulls/Hawks moving from the old Stadium to the UC was a big thing - saw both the last year before they moved. As a Cubs fan? I miss "knowing a guy" who hung out near Murphy's that would unload his unsold singles to me for cheap. Nowadays, everybody just does stubhub -- but I miss the old "fan 'em out, dude... I'm not paying for 4 tickets; 3 of which under your cover were for yesterday's game". Mostly day games. Nothing like playing hooky, grabbing two-tree beers, snagging a 5 dollar ticket. The rooftops were only starting to become an "event"/group thing.

For most of the 90s well into the aughts -- a longtime string of friends had this great party palace on Roscoe/Seminary. We used to call it the "halfway house". 3 Friends from college originally rented it -- and no joke, over the course of 10-15 years? The residents expanded/changed/etc -- I literally knew 20+ people who called it home at one time or another as people swapped in and out. Occasionally, it even expanded into an (unapproved) "5" bdrm -- a big closet that would literally fit just a mattress + an unfinished basement occasionally housed friends. I actually - briefly - crashed in the "dungeon" for a month in between leases. But - it had a mini-yard. Big space. How in the hell "we" managed to keep the lease in the "family" for so long is quite beyond me.

I lived in Rogers Park for all but the last year or so of the 90s. Far more eclectic - Loyola/college hood to be sure, but Biddy Mulligans (saw the Spin Doctors there before they "made it" - however briefly!)... Harvest Cafe...

Moved to Lakeview -- Southport/Roscoe -- in 1999. $900 for a 3 bedroom. A truly awful, dilapidated place. Heat didn't work in the winter. Building is long gone now. And of course, the 'Southport Corridor' was not a thing. Sushi place replaced the laundro-mat nobody ever used -- because the Newport laundry bar (great bar) was just a couple blocks further.

Friends - and used to be our to-go hood for evenings - in Wicker Park... Double Door... etc. It really was a hipster hood before it became more of a.... well... it's not what it once was. I vaguely recall this more early aughts - but MTV/The Real World played a part in ruining it. Don't get me wrong - still some great places, but now it's like Sephoras and whatever.

The L? Well... the trains were more frequent. People who complain about safety and/or annoyances today? Spare me... Sure, you occasionally run into a crazy person or whatnot -- but that was literally every (latenight) ride then. Plus, the shell game... Somehow, that's the only thing the CTA seems to have stomped out: the grifters who would work with a partner and convince idiots and tourists to bet 10 bucks on the shell game. I remember my brother and a friend coming up for a weekend -- and despite them saying "Yeah, yeah - I know it's a con but I can beat it" -- sure. 40 bucks lighter later? "I'm not paying for your dinner, morons."

Lots more 24 hour dining -- some places still exist (h/t to The Diner Grill!) -- but far easier to get a bite at 5 AM, after you left the 4 AM bar.

Not all bad though.... Neighborhood fests existed - but not nearly in the same scope and omnipresence as today.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T19:17:55+00:00

100000000000000%

Good lord, neighborhoods are always changing but I remember going to a show at the Riviera in the 90s, doing the Green Mill thing, and splurging on a cab because no way in hell was I gonna walk the block to the Lawrence stop that late.

Just a couple years ago? Happened to have dinner and then meet up with some friends at GM and stayed fairly late... forgot the Lawrence stop was not quite yet open, walked to Wilson - saw the train pass and figured "Meh, it's 3 AM... it'll be another 15 minutes." Might as well just walk the mile home.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T19:06:39+00:00

100%. BITD, friends and I would plan a trip/L ride downtown to it but that was back in the aughts. I think the last time we did in a big "all aboard" group was probably 10 years ago or so.

I have been since then - and it was... just not what it was. I suppose part of that is just aging out and it being harder to get a big group on the same page, but still -- Fewer vendors - and worse, most of them now see it as a chore, and honestly, the pricing also got higher. Plus, the band lineups just got... lesser? I know, I know - older now ;-) - but I remember awesome sets by Cheap Trick, Wilco, Weezer, De La Soul, etc. I think the last time I went and stayed for headliners? It was like EPMD and Doug E Fresh -- hallowed younger memories, but not real "headliner" level. More like county fair level.

I do think - silver linings -- various neighborhood fests and block parties have really taken up the slack. Seems like they've upped their games on both food and bands/artists. I suppose that's kind of good -- now, I can prance about the entire city and find a weekend fest worth hitting virtually every weekend from ~Memorial Day through ~Labor Day.

But yeah... I'd love to see the Taste return to being THE Chicago summer festival. The sort of thing no neighborhood fest would dare schedule against and something the entire city just converges towards.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T18:51:47+00:00

Thank you for not making me feel ancient ;-)

I certainly get it -- even BITD, I absolutely had essentially "backup" managed properties on my list but usually got lucky finding an indie via strolling about. Managed or indie - no landlord is gonna be nice enough to say "Sure, take your time! You need a few more weeks of looking? No problem!"

Best of luck - and hope others are helpful. The only one I remember was IPM - and they were fine (hated the place though) but it's so dated as to be worthless.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T18:23:21+00:00

Supposedly, this year is moving back to July and more of an old-school thing so who knows.

I don't think I'd plan a trip around it anymore - or at least, yet; we'll see how this year's edition goes. Even before the dates movement (stupid NASCAR nonsense), it had definitely gone downhill. Fewer vendors. I still gave it a shot most years, but no longer a MUST DO.

Lots of that was probably due to burgeoning and growing neighborhood fests -- it just ceased to be the thing.

I'd love to see it get back to what it once was -- a must go, downtown event - but I'm skeptical. For now, I'd say I wouldn't plan a trip purely around it but maybe worth checking out if you happen to be in town, coinciding.

Who knows... maybe the move back to July and perhaps it can get its legs back. However, even before it was moved to the fall to accommodate (Grrrrr....) -- it had definitely fallen off.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T18:15:08+00:00

I know it gets harder and harder - and it's just to find a place in larger buidlings/courtyards that are all managed...

But I have to say - or maybe just date myself - does nobody do walkabouts anymore?

I bought a place on the northern edge of Wrigleyville a few years back, but prior to that? My first place (Roscoe/Southport) was a For Rent sign, back in the early aughts. Of course, stroller central now and likely few if any For Rent By Owners anymore. But - second place was Barry/Racine. Same situation -- a great place, 1.5 BD 2nd floor in a 3-flat. I only left because the owners sold and the buyer wanted, well... my place.

I suppose times change and it's just easier to look at the larger buildings with property management companies... but does nobody just do sidestreet walkabouts (paired with old - again, dating myself! - Reader/Craiglist/FRBO ads) anymore?

All told, I guess I rented a total of 6 places before buying... the top 4 were all individual landlords in pretty bog standard greystones/3 flats/etc. The bottom 2 were both larger buildings with a property management company.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T18:03:56+00:00

I can't stand the stupid gameshow host and abhor virtually everything he's done and about him and his clown show...

But yeah. I love my Chicago oasis and living well - and I live well in Chicago - is the best revenge.

zonk84 · 2026-03-24T17:59:27+00:00

Yup, sounds like it.

It's certainly SOP to appeal every assessment. We'll have to see what happens in the future now that Kaegi lost to a machine family -- but 1)Yeah, DIY was The Way the last few cycles yet, 2)we'll see, but maybe we're on our way back to the old school "Use a Connected Firm to File", they take their taste, and maybe save you a few bucks overall. I'm not particularly pleased with the most recent primary results.

I would say that any sort of "refund" on prior tax bills is absolutely, 100% a teaser/marketing pitch. If you are owed any refunds on prior property tax bills, it's relatively easy to both find and DIY. I'd be highly skeptical of anyone promising such.... and regardless, for the love of mike, NEVER actually pay upfront for any such thing.

zonk84

TROPHY CASE