Think this is bad? Try Wachovia. My wife had an IRA with these folks. $50 annual fee and $29.95 for each trade! Since I was going to use the account for day trades we, naturally, switched to Ameritrade. No fee and $9.95 a trade. On top of it her broker had "suggested" she invest in certain funds over the year. Being the independant type she listened - annual gowth of 3% over 10 years. I'm not an "expert" but could realize these were dogs desined to inflate his wallet. End result? She made a 30% return on this year so far.