I've had my investments at Schwab for 8.5 years. I'd been with banks that didn't want to continue acting as a custodian for a professionally managed account (the banks wanted the fees, of course).

Both banks tried to sell my account to Bank of New York, but I didn't want to have my account there. So, I went to Schwab which has been excellent (my investment manager had a high opinion of Schwab, too).

Schwab's monthly statements weren't very informative until mid 2006 when their statements changed to become as good as any bank's. Schwab's website is also very good. Trading fees are reasonable, and the company has been very responsive the few times I've contacted them for anything.

Schwab wisely offers other services via the Charles Schwab Bank where I have an ATM card that rebates ATM fees charged by banks from which I can withdraw cash, and an excellent Visa credit card that pays cash for points--currently at 2% (but I bet that won't last long). Schwab checking currently pays 1% yield, too, and that's quite good now.

I believe Schwab is a class act and I'm very pleased.

I do all of my banking and investing with Schwab. I wouldn't go anyplace else, even if they had one or two products/services that beat Schwab. Schwab consistently exceeds my expectations with every single product and service they provide.

I'm also still getting used to their credit card...didn't believe the unlimited 2% cash back until they automatically deposited it to my brokerage. :)

Schwab offers good research tools and has acceptable commissions and fees. Schwab loses some marks for a mediocre registration process and charts but I still recommend the service.