Charles Schwab - Lincoln Park

great

We like that it's easy, simple, and cheap. They're conservative. They don't push you. It's kind of like they give you the resources and you do your own investing. They give you advice in the form of a magazine. Nobody's calling and bugging you. It's like you do your own investing but they give you the way to do it.

We had an initial meeting with Ken Novak, where we discussed our goals and financial situation overall. We have had a couple of subsequent meetings to review Schwab's evaluation of our current portfolio, as well as discussing next steps for transferring assets in to the institution and then the overall investment strategy for our portfolio. It has been a pleasant experience throughout, and we have felt very taken care of by Schwab the entire time.

We work with Schwab through their North Michigan Avenue office (and on-line). Ken Novak is our financial planner and has been for the past 5-6 years. Ken is hard-working, thorough, and always very professional. Ken understands that our time is very valuable; he always makes time for us at the end of his normal workday, so that we're able to wrap up our workdays before coming over to see him. Schwab has been very easy to work with in general - We not only have our financial planning through Schwab but also our primary banking (through Schwab Bank, primarily on-line), and we have obtained mortgage re-fi's and most recently a mortgage on a new home through Schwab. Schwab in general and Ken Novak in particular have stood by us through some tough financial times the past couple years, always with a smile. I highly recommend them.

They have been fabulous. Their service is so good. They have service representatives who work round-the-clock and of them that I have talked to have been extremely knowledgeable and extremely polite. They have been terrific. I have done business with other banks and none of them compare with the high quality of service that Charles Schwab Brokerage and Charles Schwab Bank offer. I recently had to wire money to somebody and their charge was only $25. They don't have ATMs but they reimburse me the charges that I have paid for withdrawing money at other ATMs. I had to pay a charge of $350 in appraisal fees when I re-mortgaged my house. I called my broker at Charles Schwab and told him about our unemployment situation. He took care of it for me and we did not need the appraisal done at all. I am very happy with them.

It has been a nice association and their trades are competitive. They give you excellent customer service. I find them to be professional, responsive and punctual.