Hi-
Several months ago I decided to invest in US ETFs. The reason is that my house, salary and pension are all in euro. I want some exposure to the US market. I opened up a custody account at Degiro and have been lodging money and buying VTI ETFs since then. The current balance is approaching €20K. I expect the balance to reach €100K in a year. The only fee I currently pay is 0.1% currency conversion fee. For €100K, this would add up to €100. Pretty low.
The reason I opened this thread is concerns about the safety of my investments at Degiro. There are lots of threads (on this forum and otherwise), describing shoddy tactics used by the broker.
I looked around for alternatives. TD Direct is one option. Currency conversion is at 1% and they charge €20 per trade. I make regular trades, so I'd expect to pay about €1500 in fees to invest €100K at TD Direct. (I'm assuming 25 trades of €4000 each.)
Saxo Bank seems like another option. The currency exchange fee is at 0.5%. They charge €15 per trade. In addition, they have a custody fee of 0.12%. In total, this would add up to about €875 to invest €100K and €120/year to hold.
I'd like to hold my shares long term (15 years at least). What would you do if you were in my shoes? Take advantage of low fees at Degiro despite how questionable this broker is, or move to a more reputable broker and pay excessive fees?
Thank you
Several months ago I decided to invest in US ETFs. The reason is that my house, salary and pension are all in euro. I want some exposure to the US market. I opened up a custody account at Degiro and have been lodging money and buying VTI ETFs since then. The current balance is approaching €20K. I expect the balance to reach €100K in a year. The only fee I currently pay is 0.1% currency conversion fee. For €100K, this would add up to €100. Pretty low.
The reason I opened this thread is concerns about the safety of my investments at Degiro. There are lots of threads (on this forum and otherwise), describing shoddy tactics used by the broker.
I looked around for alternatives. TD Direct is one option. Currency conversion is at 1% and they charge €20 per trade. I make regular trades, so I'd expect to pay about €1500 in fees to invest €100K at TD Direct. (I'm assuming 25 trades of €4000 each.)
Saxo Bank seems like another option. The currency exchange fee is at 0.5%. They charge €15 per trade. In addition, they have a custody fee of 0.12%. In total, this would add up to about €875 to invest €100K and €120/year to hold.
I'd like to hold my shares long term (15 years at least). What would you do if you were in my shoes? Take advantage of low fees at Degiro despite how questionable this broker is, or move to a more reputable broker and pay excessive fees?
Thank you