Most people pick a broker the way they pick a dry cleaner: whoever is closest, or whoever a friend mentioned. Then they stay for twenty years. That works fine until the account grows, or the way they invest changes, and the broker that was good enough starts costing real money.

I worked as a licensed stock broker in the 1990s and I still trade every week, including futures. Picking the right broker comes down to seven questions. Here they are, with the October 2026 numbers that make each one matter.

1. How will you actually use the account?

Start with yourself. A buy-and-hold investor who adds to index funds a few times a year needs very different things from someone who trades several times a week, and both need different things from a futures trader. Write down what you did in your account over the past year: how often you traded, whether you borrowed, how much cash sat idle, and what you bought.

That list tells you which of the next six questions carry the most weight. A long-term investor can skip straight past futures commissions. An active trader should spend most of the time on questions two and three.

2. What will it cost to borrow, and what will your cash earn?

For anyone who borrows or keeps cash at a broker, these two numbers can move a lot of money, and they vary more than most people realize. Published margin rates on a $25,000 balance run from 5.15% at Public and 5.25% at Robinhood to 11.575% at Schwab and Fidelity and 12.20% at E*TRADE. A year at the top of that range costs about $1,760 more than a year at the bottom on the same loan. I wrote about this gap in detail in Your Broker May Be Charging You Double to Borrow.

Cash yield is the mirror image. Schwab’s standard bank sweep has been reported at about 0.01%. Fidelity’s SPAXX money market fund showed a 3.49% seven-day yield on October 8, Robinhood pays 3.6% APY to Gold members, and Public pays 3.30% APY in its high-yield cash account. Interactive Brokers pays 3.38% on its Pro plan but nothing on the first $10,000. If you keep a meaningful cash cushion at your broker, this question alone can be worth more than every other line on the list. BrokerNimble keeps a current table of margin rates and cash yields across brokers.

3. What do you pay to trade what you trade?

If you trade futures or crypto, trading costs deserve as much scrutiny as the margin rate. Per side on a Micro E-mini, Interactive Brokers charges $0.25 on its fixed plan, MetroTrade $0.29, NinjaTrader and Tradovate $0.39 on their free plans, Robinhood $0.75 ($0.50 with Gold), E*TRADE $1.50 and Schwab $2.25. Exchange, NFA and clearing fees come on top. A trader doing 100 Micro round trips a month pays about $50 in commissions at the cheapest broker and about $450 at Schwab, a difference of $4,800 a year.

Crypto fees vary as well. E*TRADE charges 0.50% on spot crypto and Schwab 0.75% on spot bitcoin and ether. If you plan to trade the new E-nano index futures, remember that most brokers charge the same commission per E-nano as per Micro, which makes the fee a much larger share of a small trade.

4. Which account types do you need?

Decide first between a cash account and a margin account. A cash account can’t borrow or short, and with stocks and ETFs you can’t lose more than you put in. A margin account needs $2,000 in equity to open and lets you borrow up to 50% of a purchase. The new FINRA intraday margin rules, effective June 4, 2026 and phased in by brokers through October 20, 2027, eliminate the $25,000 pattern-day-trader minimum, so ask whether your broker has implemented them yet. My piece on cash versus margin accounts explains what changed.

Then think about retirement accounts. A few brokers now pay you to fund an IRA: Robinhood matches 1% to 3% (3% with Gold), Webull up to 3.5% and Public 1%, each with holding requirements. Fidelity offers a crypto IRA, and Public has allowed crypto in Traditional and Roth IRAs since March 2026. If you want futures in an IRA, expect a higher minimum; Schwab requires $25,000. For the tax side, see IRA or Taxable Account? Where Your Next Dollar Should Go.

5. What can you trade there?

The menu varies more than it used to. For crypto, Robinhood offers about 90 coins, Public 60+, Webull 50+, tastytrade 20+ and Interactive Brokers 15+, while Schwab offers bitcoin and ether and E*TRADE offers bitcoin, ether and solana. Prediction markets are available at Interactive Brokers, Robinhood, Webull, tastytrade and Public, with event contracts at Tradovate and Ironbeam. Schwab doesn’t offer them.

For international stocks, Interactive Brokers reaches 40 countries, Fidelity 25 and Schwab 12 markets online. Overnight trading is offered at Robinhood, Webull, Public, Schwab, E*TRADE, tastytrade and Interactive Brokers, which lists more than 10,000 securities overnight against about 1,300 at Schwab. Spreads are wider in those hours. BrokerNimble’s feature comparison puts all of this in one table.

6. Who answers when something goes wrong?

Service matters most on the day you need it, usually when a transfer stalls or a trade goes wrong. Schwab offers phone and chat around the clock and has about 400 branches. Fidelity offers phone support around the clock plus Investor Centers. Robinhood runs chat 24/7 and phone from 7am to 9pm ET. Interactive Brokers staffs phones from Sunday 1pm to Friday 7:30pm ET. Public offers in-app chat only, with no phone line.

If you value a person you can call, or a branch you can walk into, that preference is worth paying for. Just know what you’re paying. The firms with the most service also tend to charge the highest margin rates.

7. How is your money protected, and what does it cost to leave?

SIPC covers up to $500,000, including $250,000 in cash, if a broker fails. It doesn’t cover market losses. Many brokers buy excess SIPC coverage on top. Futures accounts sit outside SIPC and are held in segregated accounts under CFTC rules, and crypto and event-contract accounts are generally outside SIPC too.

Leaving should be cheap and easy. Many brokers charge an outgoing transfer fee, commonly around $75 to $125. Interactive Brokers charges no ACAT fee, and Schwab reimburses up to $125 of transfer fees for accounts of $10,000 or more moved in. Sign-up offers can help as well: tastytrade’s runs through November 30, 2026 and E*TRADE’s requires opening by October 31, 2026, and both require you to hold the money for 12 months. The mechanics are in How to Move a Brokerage Account Without Losing a Dime.

Putting the answers together

Once you’ve answered all seven, the field usually narrows to two or three brokers. Some people end up with two accounts: a full-service firm for long-term holdings and service, and a low-cost broker for borrowing or active trading. That split is perfectly reasonable, as long as each account is doing the job it’s best at.

For the bigger picture, including the 2026 rule changes, futures, AI agents and cards that pay in stock, see my full guide to choosing and using a broker.

Disclosure: Peter Agro runs BrokerNimble.com, an independent broker comparison site that plans to join broker affiliate programs and may earn referral fees in the future. Figures were checked in October 2026 and change often; confirm current terms with the provider. This article is for information only and is not investment, tax or legal advice. Futures, margin and options trading involve substantial risk of loss, including losses greater than your deposit.