Sometimes we miss the obvious. I did until this week.

You can go to Vanguard for your trading account needs for a flat 30$ a year maintenance fee and a nominal trading fee (8$ a trade, last I checked). Note that if you have 100k of household assets with vanguard, maintenance fees are waived.

I've used to be a fan of E-trade for their high yield savings and low cost trading accounts. I'm no longer impressed. Their trading accounts are now imposing a 40$ per quarter fee (if you meet certain conditions, this is waived) and charge you 15$ per trade. I can only assume other brokerage houses are similarly raising rates.

Now is a good time to look around at your options. Don't forget Vanguard is out there.