Must read article of the week. If I tried to pull specific quotes out of this, I’d end up reproducing the whole article so, just go read it. And here’s a link to the whole thing all on one page so you can avoid VF’s annoying paging (also handy for avoiding the Padma distraction!).

I spent some time researching online brokerage services to park our stocks, retirement and education accounts. I was initially planning to go with Vanguard because I appreciate their reputation and investor/owner structure. But I balked at their fees and decided to do a real comparison. There are many more contenders then I expected; here’s an overview of what I gathered from their websites. These companies are all considered discount brokers and hence, I didn’t even consider Vanguard in the end.

1. No minimun opening balance if you set up an automatic monthly transfer of at least $100.
2. No annual fee if balance is greater than $25,000.
3. This is the standard rate; cheaper for high balance accounts.
4. Plus $.015 for each share over 1,000.
5. Plus $.015 for each share over 2,000.
6. No minimun opening balance if you set up an automatic monthly transfer of at least $200.
7. Minimum opening balance is $15 if you set up automatic monthly transfer.
8. Must agree to online delivery of statements and transaction confirmations; $25 annual fee applies otherwise.
9. Minimum opening balance is $500 for electronically funded accounts; no minimum for accounts funded otherwise.

So, that information is nice but lacks the subjective view of service and quality. A quick google search got me a couple of comparisons from The Motley Fool and SmartMoney and a nice overview of all the major players.

So, based on that few hours of research, I’m dumping Vanguard and going with Scottrade. They’re cheap, have the account types I need, some decent resources, and are relatively well-known and respected. Done and done.

Speaking of food, I’ve been meaning to write about some of the burger joints in town but why not start with a quick post about our homemade work of art from last week. These bad boys were awesome…

Best burgers ever! Just in case you were wondering, here’s a quick rundown of what you’re looking at:

• pattys are just beef with a little salt and pepper, pan-fried since we don’t have a grill
• grilled onions
• homemade mayonnaise (much easier than you think; tastes better but doesn’t keep long)
• lettuce
• cheddar cheese
• dijon mustard
• all between two slices of sprouted wheat bread
• with some homemade steak fries to round it out

These things were so good, even Twyla ate ‘em…