Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025: Full-Service Brokers
The Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards celebrate the best products and services in personal finance.


Lisa Gerstner
About the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2025
The Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards aim to recognize and celebrate the best products and services in the personal finance arena. We asked you, our Kiplinger community, to help us name the products and services you think have delivered excellent value in the past year.
The survey results, which we’re sharing here in our second annual Readers’ Choice Awards, offer valuable insight into which providers shine when it comes to your everyday interactions and experiences with them. Our Awards recognize excellence in everything from credit cards, banks and brokers to insurers, tax software and financial apps. For each category, we’ve listed an overall winner that earned the highest score. We’ve also highlighted other products and services that earned above-average scores for various criteria we asked readers to assess.
By voting, our community has helped us form our guide to the very best financial products. These are the products and companies that you think stand out from the crowd.
Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards: Full-Service Brokers
We asked readers to assess brokerage firms that offer a breadth of services, whether online, by phone, through in-person assistance at branches, or some combination.
Readers rated the strength of their broker’s customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the firm to others and their overall satisfaction with the broker.
OVERALL WINNER: Fidelity Investments
Outstanding for:

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
- Customer service
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
Readers favor Fidelity Investments above other brokers and had plenty of positive words about the firm. Many consider Fidelity a great broker for beginners and do-it-yourself investors and appreciate how easily accessible its 24/7 customer service is. “They continually have sharp people who actually answer the phone and help you whenever you need it,” says one reader.
Readers also praised Fidelity for having low fees and a breadth of services available in one place. A mainstream broker, Fidelity’s offerings range from self-directed brokerage accounts to full-fledged investment and wealth management services.
Fidelity also provides educational seminars throughout the year, a weekly newsletter and research tools, for which many readers expressed appreciation. One reader called the newsletter “always relevant, easy to read and very informative.”
Edward Jones
Outstanding for:
- Customer service
- Most recommended
With a client base of more than eight million, a network of more than 19,000 financial advisers and 16,000 branch locations throughout North America, Edward Jones is known for fostering long-term relationships with its clientele.
Readers like that they can meet in person with advisers locally, and find the advisers easy to work with. One reader, for example, says that their broker holds regular chats over coffee to discuss important updates. Says another, “The adviser I deal with doesn’t push products but seeks to provide what would be best for the customer.”
Raymond James
Outstanding for:
- Customer service
- Most recommended
With more than 8,700 financial advisers, Raymond James’s businesses include brokerage services, professional asset management, insurance solutions, trust services and investment banking, as well as private and commercial banking.
Readers commented on great personal service from Ramond James professionals, who they found to be knowledgeable and thorough.
E*Trade
Outstanding for:
- Overall satisfaction
Acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2020, E*Trade was one of the first online brokerages, and it offers a wide range of financial products, including brokerage accounts, IRAs, custodial accounts and managed portfolios.
Readers find E*Trade’s research tools especially useful. “For solo investors who seek research information, the website is tops,” says one survey respondent.
Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards: Other Categories
- Readers' Choice Wealth Management
- Readers' Choice Cash-Back Credit Cards
- Readers' Choice Travel Rewards Credit Cards
- Readers' Choice Airline Credit Card Rewards Programs
- Readers' Choice Hotel Credit Card Rewards Programs
- Readers' Choice National Banks
- Readers' Choice Internet Banks
- Readers' Choice Auto Insurance Companies
- Readers' Choice Homeowners Insurance Companies
- Readers' Choice Annuity Providers
- Readers' Choice Tax Software
- Readers' Choice Peer-to-Peer Payment Services
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Emma Patch joined Kiplinger in 2020. She previously interned for Kiplinger's Retirement Report and before that, for a boutique investment firm in New York City. She served as editor-at-large and features editor for Middlebury College's student newspaper, The Campus. She specializes in travel, student debt and a number of other personal finance topics. Born in London, Emma grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Washington, D.C.
- Lisa GerstnerEditor, Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine
-
Social Security Will Continue Sending Paper Checks, Reversing Course
The Social Security Administration has backed off from plans to eliminate paper checks. However, it will only send checks in the mail as a matter of last resort.
-
Ask the Editor — Tax Questions on Four New Tax Deductions
Ask the Editor In this week's Ask the Editor Q&A, we answer tax questions from readers on four new tax deductions in the "One Big Beautiful Bill."
-
The Five Best Side Hustles for Retirees
More older people are working in retirement to boost income and stave off boredom. These gigs and hustles make the most sense for the golden years crowd.
-
TSA’s New Family Lanes Aim to Take the Stress Out of Summer Travel
The “Families on the Fly” campaign introduces family-friendly security lanes and discounted TSA PreCheck fees — just in time for peak travel season.
-
From Piggy Banks to Portfolios: A Financial Planner's Guide to Talking to Your Kids About Money at Every Age
From toddlers to young adults, all kids can benefit from open conversations with their parents about spending and saving. Here's what to talk about — and when.
-
Retirement in the Age of Cyber Scams: How To Protect Your Next Chapter
Retirement is meant to be a time of relaxation and living life on your terms. But for many retirees, this dream is under threat from a growing epidemic — cyber scams.
-
I Let AI Read Privacy Policies for Me. Here's What I Learned
A reporter uses AI to review privacy policies, in an effort to better protect herself from fraud and scams.
-
Heat Wave in Europe: What Every Traveler Needs to Know
Record-breaking summer temperatures, wildfires, and travel disruptions — they’re reshaping summer 2025 trips. Here’s how to stay safe, prepared and savvy.
-
You'll Kick Yourself in the Fall if You Don't Make This Savings Move Now
Inflation will likely prevent the Fed from cutting rates until the fall. However, does a long-term CD provide enough of a return to outpace climbing prices?
-
Spot Heat Exhaustion in Your Pet Before It Costs Them — and You
Heat strokes aren't just for humans. The signs of heat exhaustion in pets can be harder to spot, but just as deadly.