Fidelity vs. Charles Schwab: Which Is the Right Choice for You?

By U.S. News & World Report
May 26, 2026 | 8:00 PM

Anyone with an interest in investing in the U.S. is familiar with both Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, two giants in the financial services industry.

According to its latest annual report, Fidelity Investments had $18 trillion in assets under administration as of Dec. 31, of which $7.1 trillion were assets managed on behalf of investors by its investment teams.

As of April 30, Charles Schwab had $12.6 trillion in client assets, with 39.3 million brokerage accounts and 2.3 million banking accounts.

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When comparing Fidelity and Schwab, you’re really choosing between two of the strongest all-around brokerages in the U.S.

Both offer commission-free stock and ETF trading, retirement accounts, research tools, mobile apps and strong customer support. The better option depends on your investing style, goals and the features you value most.

In what follows, we consider what the two of them are best at and how you can choose the one that more closely aligns with your trading and investment needs.

— Fidelity Investments overview.

— Charles Schwab overview.

— Where Fidelity wins.

— Where Schwab wins.

— How to choose between Fidelity and Schwab.

A Brief Overview of Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments was founded in 1946 by Edward C. Johnson II. It’s privately held under FMR LLC, led by the Johnson family.

Its core services include investment management (mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds, options, crypto), retirement accounts, health savings and college savings plans, and employer benefit programs.

Users can also opt for Fidelity’s wealth management service, where they can collaborate with a dedicated Fidelity advisor to build a personalized wealth management strategy.

Fidelity is also active in technology innovation (Fidelity Labs and Fidelity Digital Assets) and charitable giving (via Fidelity Charitable).

A Brief Overview of Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab was founded in 1971 by Charles R. Schwab. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and it currently has over 33,500 employees serving investors, advisors and employers.

Its core services include banking and lending (via Charles Schwab Bank), brokerage and trading (stocks, ETFs, options and futures), financial advisory and wealth management, and custodial and consulting services for independent registered investment advisors.

Schwab has integrated TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim tool into its platform to provide better tools for active traders.

Where Fidelity Wins

Better for Low-Cost Index Fund Investing

Through its Fidelity Zero funds, Fidelity provides index funds with zero management fees, or expense ratios. These funds are based on Fidelity’s proprietary broad market indexes, which helps avoid licensing fees from traditional index providers.

These zero-expense-ratio funds are appropriate for long-term investors who want to minimize costs.

Higher Yield on Uninvested Cash

As of May 26, users of Fidelity brokerage accounts can earn up to 3.3% yield on uninvested cash kept in the Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX). This contrasts with Schwab, where users earn 0.01% annual percentage yield on default sweep accounts.

Broader Access to Fractional Investing

While Schwab offers fractional investing in S&P 500 companies (through its Stock Slices product), Fidelity allows fractional investing across a wide range of stocks and ETFs.

Also, while the minimum investment on Schwab is $5 per slice, users only need a minimum of $1 to buy stocks and ETFs on Fidelity.

Better Access to Cryptocurrencies

Fidelity currently offers direct crypto trading and custody through Fidelity Digital Assets.

However, Schwab is launching its own crypto product soon, and investors will be able to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Right now, Schwab’s offerings are limited to exchange-traded products and stocks of crypto companies rather than spot trading.

Retirement Integration

Many employer 401(k) plans are run through Fidelity. By using it as your broker, you can manage all your investment accounts on one platform.

Wider Variety of Research and Data

Fidelity provides reports from Argus, Zacks, CFRA, S&P Global and more. The result is that investors get fundamental research, technical analysis, sentiment analysis and forward-looking ratings in one place.

These reports are also integrated into its learning resources, making it easier for beginners to understand and apply them.

Though Schwab also offers extensive research and data (integrated with Morningstar, Argus and Market Edge), Fidelity has the edge based on depth and accessibility.

More Accessible Robo-Advisor Platform

Fidelity Go, Fidelity’s robo-advisor platform, has a low entry barrier: $10 to start. In contrast, you’ll need $5,000 to start with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

[READ: Robo Advisor vs. Online Financial Advisor: What’s the Difference?]

Where Charles Schwab Wins

Better Tools for Active Traders

Since Schwab integrated the thinkorswim platform, it has been a leading choice for active traders who require advanced trading tools like professional charting, real-time market analytics, options trading strategies, algorithmic trading tools and paper trading simulations.

Access to Futures and Forex

Schwab provides access to futures, futures options and forex, all of which are areas that Fidelity doesn’t cover.

Larger Selection of No-Transaction-Fee Mutual Funds

Fidelity’s 3,143 no-transaction-fee mutual funds fall short of the more than 4,000 offered by Schwab.

Banking Integration

Schwab operates Charles Schwab Bank, a full-service, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured institution.

Clients can manage their checking, savings and investment accounts under one platform, which makes it easier to transfer funds from one account to another.

Zero-Fee Robo Advisor

Fidelity charges no advisory fees for robo-advisor accounts with balances of less than $25,000. Those with balances above $25,000 will pay 0.35% per year.

In contrast, Schwab does not charge advisory fees in any robo-advisor account.

How to Choose Between Fidelity and Charles Schwab

Fidelity and Schwab are both strong choices for investors and traders.

They both charge zero commissions for stocks and ETFs and a competitive 65 cents per contract for options.

Also, neither has a minimum account balance for its brokerage accounts, and there’s excellent customer support for all users.

Nonetheless, one of them may be better for you, given your goals, investing style and the features you value most.

From the foregoing, Fidelity may be the better choice if the following applies to you:

— Long-term passive investor: As a long-term passive investor, you may find Fidelity’s Zero funds and other low-cost options appropriate for your investing goals. By reducing your cost, you can maximize your returns.

— Low investment capital: If you have low investment capital, you might find Fidelity’s fractional investing more attractive. Also, you can enjoy Fidelity Go with just a $10 investment.

— Accessible comprehensive research: If you prefer accessible comprehensive research that is not too focused on technical analysis, Fidelity’s research and data may appeal to you.

— Lots of idle cash: If you are a market timer, a dollar-cost averager or someone who likes to have a portion of their portfolio in cash, the higher interest rates Fidelity offers may make it more compelling.

— Crypto enthusiast: Fidelity is a better pick if you are a crypto enthusiast who desires spot access to digital coins, though Schwab will have this available soon.

— Access to retirement accounts: If Fidelity already manages your retirement accounts, then you might be better off opening a Fidelity brokerage account so you can manage all your accounts on the same platform.

On the other hand, Schwab looks like the better choice if the following applies to you:

— Advanced trader: If you need access to advanced trading tools, the thinkorswim platform is hard to beat.

— Charles Schwab bank account owner: If you already have a bank account with Schwab, it will be easy to integrate it with your investment account on the same platform.

— Large robo-advisor account balance: If you have $5,000 to invest in a robo-advisor account, the zero-advisory-fee Schwab Intelligent Platforms may appeal to you.

— Broader access to financial assets: Schwab provides access to futures, futures options, forex and a larger selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds. If you want a larger pool of options to choose from, Schwab may be the better option.

Speak to your financial advisor before choosing between these two financial services giants. They will be in the best position to provide personalized guidelines on what you need at this point in your wealth-building journey.

More from U.S. News

The 7 Best Fidelity Mutual Funds to Buy and Hold

7 of the Best Charles Schwab Mutual Funds

7 Best Funds for Retirement

Fidelity vs. Charles Schwab: Which Is the Right Choice for You? originally appeared on usnews.com

Update 05/27/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.

Asia’s next great gourmet destination? Inside Indonesia’s fine-dining revolution

By CNN
August 11, 2026 | 5:44 AM

More than 120 years ago, Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, National Geographic magazine’s first female writer, photographer and board member, chronicled her travels through colonial Indonesia in her book “Java: The Garden of the East.”She was particularly fascinated by a feast known as the rijsttafel (rice table), a multi-dish banquet that was served in the grand Hotel de Nederlanden in Batavia, as Jakarta was known then.Scidmore vividly recalled a “conglomerate mountain” of food, including bits of fish, duck, chicken, beef, omelettes and onions piled alongside steaks, salads, curries, chutneys, spices and tropical fruits.The sumptuous spread had something to satisfy everyone amongst the 100 or so guests that filled the grand dining hall — even the “squeamish folk, unseasoned tourists and well-starched Britons with a small sense of humor.”Like Scidmore, most early Western documentation of Indonesia’s flavors focused on the opulent colonial feast. Little else was known about the diverse and rich flavors found across the enormous archipelago, in spite of it being home to the fabled Spice Islands, which sparked a 16th- and 17th-century “spice rush” for cloves, nutmeg and mace by Portuguese, Dutch and British traders.In more recent decades, the world has become better acquainted with some of the beloved humble foods found in Indonesian homes and warungs (street-side eateries), with satay, nasi goreng and beef rendang among the most familiar dishes beloved by travelers.But now, there’s a rising number of contemporary chefs who are elevating the national cuisine on the global stage by reimagining its famous spices into fine-dining experiences, while sharing the sophisticated stories of Indonesian flavor through a different lens.Made up of thousands of islands dotted across two oceans, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country. It would be an understatement to say the country’s cuisine is wildly varied.As a result, “the existing understanding of Indonesian food culture is very shallow,” says William Wongso, an Indonesian culinary expert and author.Boasting an enviable array of regional ingredients and flavors, the country’s chefs have been working to educate international gourmets — and even locals — about the beauty of Indonesian cuisine.And Jakarta, its capital city, has become a breeding ground for the movement. Wongso compares it to the dining scenes in New York or Shanghai, which draw talent from all over their respective countries. “Everybody wants to come here to make a thing,” he says. “So people from different regions bring flavors and food cultures.”Some open humble warungs and serve their home cooking. A few look beyond recipes and focus on elements that make Indonesian cuisine unique for a wider audience, reinventing the whole experience.A modern, fine-dining blueprintEnter August, which opened in 2021 inside a gleaming skyscraper in Jakarta’s central business district.The duo behind the concept, Jakartan Hans Christian and Budi Cahyadi from the Indonesian island of Lombok, were definitely not the first people to promote Indonesian flavors — Christian emphasizes figures like Wongso, for example, who have been championing gastro-diplomacy abroad for decades.But August has spearheaded a new format and standard for the country’s fine-dining restaurants: a modern, Indonesia-inspired tasting menu operating at a world-class level of culinary execution and service.The industry has already noticed. August became one of the few Indonesian restaurants to achieve international recognition, placing 42nd on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 and earning accolades at The Best Chef Awards.“When I came back to Jakarta, you either had classic French fine dining or very casual bistros, mostly run by expat chefs,” says Christian, who sharpened his skills in Malaysia and the United States before returning to Jakarta in 2016.“There were no locally grown chefs doing their own thing with their own roots or interpretations. For me, August is about the pride of telling our own story … and a responsibility to not only embrace our roots, but also relearn them.”Cahyadi, with more than a decade of hospitality experience in a luxury hotel, agrees. He currently helms the front of house in August’s dining room.“In Jakarta, you either had to pick a place where the food was good but the service was lousy, or a casual place where service was bad but food was decent. When I met Hans, I knew it was time for a place where food is excellent and hospitality is delivered at the exact same time,” he says.In 2019, the two started August as a private kitchen concept before turning it into the current restaurant in 2021.Inside August’s intimate dining room — warmly lit with dark wood accents and a bright, open stainless-steel kitchen at the end of the dining room — the restaurant’s two tasting menus blend familiar Indonesian flavor profiles into completely unexpected forms.Their daikon dish is inspired by the format of Japanese agedashi tofu — silken tofu coated in starch, deep-fried until golden brown and traditionally dressed in dashi sauce.August’s version is served with a cuko sauce — a sweet and sour reduction made with tamarind and palm sugar featuring a tangy umami taste.It reminds locals of eating pempek, the Indonesian fishcake. A drizzle of andaliman pepper oil, Indonesia’s version of Sichuan peppercorns, gives the dish a unique, numbing spicy kick.Another highlight features Japanese Kimendai fish cooked by pouring hot oil over the scales until it crisps up while keeping the flesh tender. It sits in a kuah garang asem (yellow sour curry sauce) from the Central Java region.The sourness comes from a native green fruit called belimbing wuluh (or bilimbi), which looks like an oblong tomato but tastes extremely acidic, while ginger flowers provide a touch of freshness.The curry base is made from a yellow bumbu — made of aromatics such as turmeric and lemongrass. Often compared with France’s mother sauces (a group of five master sauces, such as Béchamel and Hollandaise, that are said to be the foundation of classical French cooking), Indonesian bumbu are spiced sauces that take hours to caramelize and form the base of many different dishes.Christian says that August has slowly evolved over the years, with more Indonesian flavors being incorporated into his menu as the team gains confidence and the demand grows.“In the beginning, our menu leaned more towards classic European because that was my formal training. When more international guests came, they expected more Indonesian flavor,” says Christian.Now, with half of their guests coming from overseas, the team tries to find the balance carefully without being intimidating.“Finding that balance was crucial — doing modern Indonesian cooking in a way that’s exciting for locals without just putting expensive ingredients in a traditional dish. We want to start from a product or a cooking method and create something new out of that idea,” says Christian.The founders admit that Jakarta has few fine dining concepts compared to fellow Southeast Asian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok.“We knew we were a few years behind, but we are in progress to catch up. Over the years, the interest from people who want to learn and taste the flavor of Indonesia is growing,” says Christian. “For the past five to six years, we’ve been on a mission to prove people wrong.”It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t just about the menus, but the operation.They were the first restaurant to impose a reservation fee for diners in Jakarta. It also took a few years to educate their diners to be punctual for the tasting menu so the table could start the menu together – an often tricky feat in Jakarta traffic.But August’s success helped set new operational benchmarks for the city, proving that local diners were ready to enjoy high-end tasting menus.In the years since, Jakarta’s fine-dining community has expanded rapidly.ESA, opened in 2023, proudly offers a menu called New Jakarta Cuisine. Kindling, which opened the following year, blends Indonesian-Chinese dishes with French technique. Selera, newly opened this year in the Keraton at the Plaza hotel, emphasizes the nation’s culinary heritage with local ingredients.Outside the capital, things are changing, too, particularly in the country’s tourist hotspots. Bali, for example, has evolved to offer more than just fine resort dining and Western restaurants catering to visitors.Locavore NXT, helmed by Dutch-Indonesian duo Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah, serves a tasting menu that highlights local ingredients. The independent concept also has a farm, laboratory and store.Meanwhile, young, local and independent concepts are slowly increasing elsewhere in the country.Overlooking the historical Prambanan Temple and Mount Merapi, Suwatu in Yogyakarta, the royal cultural heart of Java, is an upscale hillside restaurant with a menu packed with local dishes cooked by local villagers.In Bandung, both MMBS (Mari Merangkai Bunga Seroja) and Plataran Bandung serve local Sundanese cuisine, with hyper-seasonal tasting menus featuring a creative twist.Not just about the price tagAt the same time, classic Indonesian restaurants are reexamining the stories they would like to tell.For a long time, the 1945 Restaurant inside the Fairmont Jakarta has been regarded as the city’s only high-end Indonesian restaurant in a five-star hotel.Taking over as the chef de cuisine this year, Yopi Tumeru has been determined to inject fresh ideas into the 11-year-old establishment — and he was inspired by the traditional rijsttafel concept.His vision of the legendary feast isn’t only a sumptuous buffet but an educational exploration of Indonesian cuisine.“For many years, Indonesian food was presented either as home cooking, street food or part of a hotel buffet… Our Rijsttafel was designed as a culinary journey through the archipelago. We preserve the generous and communal character of the traditional experience while refining the portions, presentation and sequence,” Tumeru says.The menu includes dishes such as wagyu beef rendang, duck leg confit with sambal madura, tuna collar rica-rica (rahang tuna), tempe nachos and es teler cheesecake — all created to shine new light onto old dishes.For chefs like Tumeru, presenting Indonesian cuisine in a haute gastronomic format isn’t just about slapping on higher price tags and using expensive ingredients.They are proudly showcasing the often undervalued Indonesian cuisine — from the ingredients, the knowledge and the labor to the cultural heritage.“Rendang, for example, is not simply beef cooked in coconut milk. It requires patience, careful control of the heat, and an understanding of how the spices develop over time,” says Tumeru, who feels chefs have a responsibility to help guests appreciate that complexity.Despite giving Indonesian cuisine an upscale makeover, all of the chefs insist their roots and hearts remain with the humble, family-run warung. They encourage diners to ask for street-food tips, which might otherwise feel intimidating without a local guide.The movement isn’t about replacing affordable neighborhood joints. It’s about broadening how the world sees Indonesian food, using fine dining as a welcoming gateway into their country’s vast culinary heritage.“There is still a mindset that Indonesian food cannot be expensive — that is not true,” says Wongso.“These high-end restaurants, if they’re doing it right, they’re quite helpful in changing people’s mindsets. Indonesian food cannot be cheap. It takes immense labor and skill. A single sauce or spice paste takes hours of balancing and preparation. You can Google many things, but you can’t Google taste.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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