Charles Schwab Review (2026): Fees, Fiduciary Status, and Minimum

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Updated September 25, 2026. Quick answer: Charles Schwab is registered with the SEC as both a broker-dealer and an investment adviser. Per its own current fee brochure, a $500,000 account would run $4,000 a year under its published fee schedule; the minimum to open an account is $500,000 for Schwab Wealth Advisory (SWA). Already a client and thinking about leaving? Budget $50.00 per account for a full outgoing transfer, $0.00 for a partial. Is it a fiduciary? Yes, when it is acting as your investment adviser; when the same representative acts as your broker-dealer instead, the applicable standard is best-interest, not fiduciary, and its own Form CRS states representatives can earn commissions in that capacity.

Charles Schwab at a glance

What Charles Schwab’s own fee schedule charges

“Standard SWA Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2024): Amounts up to US$1 million, 0.80%; Next US$1 million (more than US$1M up to US$2M), 0.75%; Next US$3 million (more than US$2M up to US$5M), 0.70%; Next US$5 million (more than US$5M up to US$10M), 0.50%; Next US$15 million (more than US$10M up to US$25M), 0.30%; Assets over US$25 million, 0.30% (or less, as negotiated). The SWA Fee is subject to a quarterly minimum, which represents the minimum amount charged for the advisory services provided during a quarter. The quarterly minimum is equal to the lesser of: $1,000, or 1.60% of your total billable assets, calculated on a quarterly basis.”

Schwab Wealth Advisory (SWA) bills a marginal (tiered) schedule, but every account is also subject to a quarterly minimum equal to the lesser of $1,000 or 1.6% of that quarter’s billable assets, which for any balance above about $62,500 works out to a flat $1,000-a-quarter ($4,000-a-year) floor. At $250,000, the marginal schedule alone would compute to $2,000 a year, but the $4,000 floor overrides it, so $4,000 is what is actually billed. At $500,000, the marginal schedule and the floor land on the same number, $4,000, by design: Schwab sets SWA’s own account minimum at $500,000. At $1,000,000 and $2,000,000, the marginal schedule exceeds the floor, so the schedule rate applies directly ($8,000 and $8,000 plus 0.75% on the next $1,000,000, or $15,500). Clients enrolled before October 1, 2024 sit on a different, Grandfathered SWA Fee Schedule; the figures here are for current, Standard enrollees.

See the full breakdown, including how the figure is calculated, on Charles Schwab’s own fee page.

Is Charles Schwab a fiduciary?

Broker-dealer capacity (Form CRS-BD): ‘Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab,” “we,” or “us”) is a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).’ Investment-adviser capacity (Form CRS-IA): ‘Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab,” “we,” or “us”) is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).’ Each document also states Schwab holds the other registration: the BD document adds ‘Schwab is also an investment adviser registered with the SEC…’ and the IA document adds ‘Schwab is also a broker-dealer registered with the SEC…’.

“Broker-dealer capacity: ‘When we provide you with a recommendation, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.’ Investment-adviser capacity: ‘When we, CSIM, or SWAI act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.’”

If you place a trade, you will pay a commission or transaction fee in some cases. … Commissions or trail commissions paid to us by insurance companies when you purchase an annuity or other insurance products.

Full detail, including the exact registration type and source: Charles Schwab’s fiduciary status, explained.

The minimum to open an account

“The initial enrollment minimum for the SWA Program is $500,000.”

$500,000 for Schwab Wealth Advisory (SWA). See the full minimum-investment breakdown, including what that minimum would cost per year, on Charles Schwab’s minimum investment page.

What it costs to leave

Charles Schwab charges nothing to move assets into Schwab, but its own April 2026 Pricing Guide for Individual Investors lists a $50.00 fee per account for a full outgoing ACATS transfer; a partial transfer out is listed at $0.00.

Full mechanics, sources, and the ACATS transfer process: how to leave Charles Schwab.

What we would compare it against

Before you decide, run the numbers against another firm using the financial advisor fee comparison, or price the dollar cost of any percentage fee over time with the Financial Advisor Fee Calculator and the Fee Drag Calculator.

Sources

• Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Disclosure Brochure for the Schwab Wealth Advisory Wrap Fee Program (June 30, 2026 (Standard SWA Fee Schedule effective October 1, 2024)): https://www.schwab.com/transparency
• Form CRS, Broker-Dealer capacity (December 12, 2025): https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/crs_5393.pdf
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CRD #5393): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/5393
• Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., SEC Form ADV filing: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/5393/PDF/5393.pdf

Methodology. This page was built September 25, 2026, drawing directly on Charles Schwab’s own current fee brochure and Form CRS, both linked above, plus this site’s own already-published fiduciary and minimum-investment pages for the same firm, each independently sourced when it was built. Any distinction we could not independently confirm this session is named as an honest gap rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for reading Charles Schwab’s own Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS. We have not used Charles Schwab as a client. Charles Schwab did not pay for, review, or influence this content. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.