TD Ameritrade opinion

[COZICAN]

I currently have 500K at TDA in 2 IRA's and taxable account. Soon I will roll a 500K+ 401K "somewhere". I really want to simplify my holdings and keep them at one place. I'm wanting to go with a 3-4 Vanguard ETF portfolio but my TDA IRA's are in MF's that would cost $49.99 each (5x) to sell and $6.95 each (6-8x) to purchase Vanguard ETF's. On top of that.......distributions would cost me the same $6.95 per transaction to sell. I could do that yearly and it would only be $21 to take out a years income.

Or.....I could open a new account for my roll over 401K and receive a $600 bonus then transfer all to Vanguard on their dime. I do like TDA but feel (mainly due to this forum) that I want to be in Vanguard funds. Thoughts?

Coz

 

[OldShooter]

... Thoughts?

(1) Despite the tension in my cheapskate heart I have come to realize that trading fees are so tiny these days that they should not be a factor in investment decisions. Calculate them as a percentage of the trade and you will feel better.

2) If you want VG, then VG is a good place to be. One of the disadvantages I have holding VG at Schwab is that I do not have access to Admiral shares like VG account holders do. Probably the same at TD for you.

 

[Qs Laptop]

If you sell your holdings at TD Ameritrade and move to Fidelity they will reimburse any fees incurred as part of the transfer. You need to ask for this perk when you establish your account.

Or you could move your holdings "in kind" and then decide what to do with them once they are transferred. Again, no cost to sell them at Fidelity.

If you are going to invest in index funds there is virtually no difference between Vanguard and Fidelity. If you are looking for equity mutual funds, Fidelity has some of the best.

I think Fidelity's website is easier to navigate than Vanguard's and I love their customer service.

I suppose if you are really sold on Vanguard's ETF's that is where you should go. Otherwise, what's the attraction to Vanguard?

 

[38Chevy454]

I would just transfer the IRAs and cash account "in kind" to Vanguard. Then you can decide to sell and convert to a different holding once it is all transferred. I use Fidelity for all of mine, but I think Vanguard, Fidelity or Schwab are all good choices for your consolidation efforts. It is easier to have things consolidated under one brokerage.


As suggested, ask about bonuses for transferring, might get some free money while you do the consolidating.

 

[Onward]

I've had a good experience with TD Am over the last several yrs. Their phone support has been very good. I also have VG accounts.

 

[big8pointer]

If you roll $500K into a TD Ameritrade account that you already have opened, call the support # and ask for free trades since you just rolled $500K into one of your IRA accounts. I've rolled $100K 4 times last year and each time I've completed the rollover, I called and received free trades.

 

[COZICAN]

If you roll $500K into a TD Ameritrade account that you already have opened, call the support # and ask for free trades since you just rolled $500K into one of your IRA accounts. I've rolled $100K 4 times last year and each time I've completed the rollover, I called and received free trades.[/QUO

Good advice. Thank you.

 

[Lakedog]

Have had a TDA account for years and have been happy with their service. Since I invest primarily in individual stocks and ETFs, TDA has been a good fit for me. I did have a Vanguard account several years ago but moved everything to TDA due to Vanguard's brokerage side being less user friendly and more expensive at the time. All of my ETF holdings are Vanguard products though. TDA often has special offers for cash and/or free trades when adding large sums to your account so worth checking out.

 

[VanWinkle]

(1) Despite the tension in my cheapskate heart I have come to realize that trading fees are so tiny these days that they should not be a factor in investment decisions. Calculate them as a percentage of the trade and you will feel better.

2) If you want VG, then VG is a good place to be. One of the disadvantages I have holding VG at Schwab is that I do not have access to Admiral shares like VG account holders do. Probably the same at TD for you.

When Vanguard reduced the minimum for Admiral shares, didn't that make them available at Schwab? I would have thought they would have had to allow them since there are no "regular" shares after the changes. I have been wrong before..... once at least.

 

[LOL!]

I have accounts at TDAmeritrade and a few other institutions. TDAmeritrade is the only broker of mine that has real-time level II quotes and order book display for free through its thinkorswim software (and previously through other tools). So just for that alone, I will not switch away.

While I have some Vanguard ETFs at TDAmeritrade that were purchased with no-commission trades years ago, I use the index ETFs in the current no-commission list such as SPTM, SPDW, SPAB, .... If I ever need to sell the Vanguard ETFs, then I will either get a handful of free trades which I have done before or transfer the shares in-kind to another no-commission broker like Vanguard.

In the past, I have transferred shares in-kind from TDAmeritrade without any problems. I do it for gifting and to garner brokerage cash bonuses.

It does read like the OP should just move to Vanguard though based on their desire for Vanguard products. Since the OP is already very very familiar with TDAmeritrade because they have accounts there already, maybe they can tell us what they like or don't like about them?

Added: Any free trades given at TDAmeritrade expire in something like 60 (90?) days if they are not used, so one would have to periodically call for more of them.

 

[splitwdw]

TD Ameritrade does charge a fee of $75 to transfer in full, a retirement account to another company. It's $25 for a partial retirement account transfer.

 

[LOL!]

TD Ameritrade does charge a fee of $75 to transfer in full, a retirement account to another company. It's $25 for a partial retirement account transfer.

There are no transfer fees at TDAmeritrade for someone with the assets of the OP.

 

[splitwdw]

There are no transfer fees at TDAmeritrade for someone with the assets of the OP.

Why doesn't it say that in the pricing structure? Granted I only transferred 265k but it doesn't show any difference for having a certain amount in an IRA. I also have a taxable brokerage account with them worth over 300k.

 

[jetpack]

I have a few long standing stocks in my TD account. A few things about them bothered me, and my new money was at Fidelity. I finally Transfered those stock "in-kind" to Fidelity (free), keeping some cash in the TD account. Later I can withdraw that money and close my TD account.

 

[LOL!]

Why doesn't it say that in the pricing structure? Granted I only transferred 265k but it doesn't show any difference for having a certain amount in an IRA. I also have a taxable brokerage account with them worth over 300k.

I suppose they want to make their acounts appear to be "sticky."

I found this on their web site:

Outbound partial account transfer FREE

But I can no longer find the full account transfer fee as FREE, but can find the $75 you mentioned.

 

[COZICAN]

I have accounts at TDAmeritrade and a few other institutions. TDAmeritrade is the only broker of mine that has real-time level II quotes and order book display for free through its thinkorswim software (and previously through other tools). So just for that alone, I will not switch away.

While I have some Vanguard ETFs at TDAmeritrade that were purchased with no-commission trades years ago, I use the index ETFs in the current no-commission list such as SPTM, SPDW, SPAB, .... If I ever need to sell the Vanguard ETFs, then I will either get a handful of free trades which I have done before or transfer the shares in-kind to another no-commission broker like Vanguard.

In the past, I have transferred shares in-kind from TDAmeritrade without any problems. I do it for gifting and to garner brokerage cash bonuses.

It does read like the OP should just move to Vanguard though based on their desire for Vanguard products. Since the OP is already very very familiar with TDAmeritrade because they have accounts there already, maybe they can tell us what they like or don't like about them?

Added: Any free trades given at TDAmeritrade expire in something like 60 (90?) days if they are not used, so one would have to periodically call for more of them.

It's not that I don't like TDA it's just that they don't meet the needs I am looking for. When I do roll my 401K I want everything at one brokerage and TDA just doesn't seem withdrawl friendly. I also want to convert everything I have to either Vanguard or Fidelity funds and their fees to do either are a bit high. ($49.99 MF trades)

 

[OldShooter]

When Vanguard reduced the minimum for Admiral shares, didn't that make them available at Schwab? I would have thought they would have had to allow them since there are no "regular" shares after the changes. I have been wrong before..... once at least.

Yes, I would have thought the same thing but shortly after the change I checked and I still couldn't get the Admiral shares.

But ... thanks for the point-out. I checked again this morning and saw that Admiral shares were now available, so I emailed my rep. This is what I got: "You are correct, Vanguard index fund Admiral shares are now available. Vanguard is actually going to complete a reorganization/merger of these funds into the Admiral shares for you, nothing more to be done on your or Schwab’s part. Vanguard is targeting April/May of 2019 to complete this process."

So that is very nice. I assume that the same sort of thing will happen at Fido, TD, etc.

 

[LOL!]

It's not that I don't like TDA it's just that they don't meet the needs I am looking for. When I do roll my 401K I want everything at one brokerage and TDA just doesn't seem withdrawl friendly. I also want to convert everything I have to either Vanguard or Fidelity funds and their fees to do either are a bit high. ($49.99 MF trades)

I don't get why you are asking about TDAmeritrade then. If you want to convert everything you have to Vanguard, then it is a no-brainer to go with Vanguard.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I didn't have much experience w/ TDA until they merged with ETrade. I didn't have any issues with them until I tried to get MY MONEY out of my brokerage account. Long, long story made as short as I can...it took almost a MONTH to get MY MONEY out of the account because of a misplaced futures signature card from 2012...on a feature I never used. I jumped though hoop after hoop after hoop and probably spent no less than 4 hours on the phone with half of the traders/back office people at TDA.

When I was able to finally get control of MY MONEY...I immediately moved everything out of it.

So TDA? I am NOT impressed.

 

[Qs Laptop]

It's not that I don't like TDA it's just that they don't meet the needs I am looking for. When I do roll my 401K I want everything at one brokerage and TDA just doesn't seem withdrawl friendly. I also want to convert everything I have to either Vanguard or Fidelity funds and their fees to do either are a bit high. ($49.99 MF trades)

Open a Fidelity account. When you open the account ask the rep to waive any fees for selling your current securities once you bring them over to Fidelity. Also ask them to pay for any account termination fees at TD Ameritrade. Basically ask them to pay for any expenses involved in bringing over your money. Have them throw in 50 free trades. With the amount you are bringing they should happily cover any expenses.

Do an "in kind" transfer of all your TD Ameritrade holdings to Fidelity. Sell them off as you see fit. Won't cost you anything in commissions.

I did this a year ago when I left Edward Jones and it went really smoothly.

Once you are at Fidelity, there are no fees to buy/sell Fidelity funds. There might be fees if you buy/sell the same Fidelity fund within 30 days, not sure though. You can also buy non-Fidelity funds with no commissions if they are marked No Transaction Fees.

You might want to look into the capital gains tax ramifications of selling your holdings when you bring them over.

 

[stephenson]

I’ve worked with TDA, VG and F over the years.

When I punched out, I evaluated all three, plus Schwab as my simplified ... Fidelity paid me $2500 to move, and their service rep, and general level of service has been outstanding. In general, they are very helpful, and have great screens and models.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I've been at TDA for about 15 years. I've got an account there with a little bit of play money that I use to dabble in the stock market. I got into Wendy's WEN back when it was $5.75, and still have it in the $17 range. Rode JC Penney upwards a few years ago. Didn't do so well with GTE.

Recently I opened an individual Roth 401(k) plan at TDA because they are one of the few brokerage houses to offer the Roth option for individual 401k's. I was shocked that Fidelity does not have this option, they only have traditional tax deferred solo 401k's. If Fidelilty had a Roth solo 401k I would leave TDA entirely.

In dealing with opening this solo Roth 401k (it's not a simple process) I've noticed TDA have really upped their game as far as customer phone support as of late.

 

[Montecfo]

If you roll $500K into a TD Ameritrade account that you already have opened, call the support # and ask for free trades since you just rolled $500K into one of your IRA accounts. I've rolled $100K 4 times last year and each time I've completed the rollover, I called and received free trades.

At E-trade, when I add money, I ask and receive cash. It is more valuable to me than free trades, since i do not trade all that often.

Even better ask for both. You know the answer will be "no" if you do not ask.