I have never had a regular broker after I looked at their actual process. I pay a broker when I want to buy a stock or sell it, but I don’t keep an account. I have invested in stock, buying it and holding it for years. Brokers are paid a management fee for the account and a transaction fee for every trade. It is their best interest to make a lot of trades, making a lot of transaction fees. They make money whether the market goes up or down, because you need a broker to buy and sell most stocks. They really aren’t worried about the performance of your stocks, only in the number of trades they can make.

Watching other people dealing with their brokers, it became apparent to me that brokers are not really interested in long term investors. They want people who jump around and move a lot. Brokers are interested in their bottom line, not yours. If brokers were paid based on how much money their clients make, then things would change radically.

otoh, i wish all the mailboxfuls of junk i got from the insurance companies were stamped with that.