Brokerage New Account Bonuses

[Debinnov a]

I have some Pen Fed CDs maturing. I met with Fidelity a few months ago and was told I would get a bonus for opening a new account. Up to $2500 for $1,000,000. Today when I went to open an account, I was told they now only give bonuses for a minimum of $1,000,000. Nothing for $500,000.

Other than Vanguard (who I currently use), what other low cost self directed brokerage firms are recommended? Itnwill be mainly for fixed income and some index funds. Not much in the way of trades. Hoping I will find one with a local office for convenience. And hopefully I can get a bonus for new account. Thanks!

 

[braumeister]

Brokerage bonuses for new money come and go all the time, and usually don't last long. You have to watch for them and pounce when they become available.

https://www.creditdonkey.com/promotions/fidelity/

and

https://www.moneysmylife.com/fidelity-promotions/

Are a couple of the sites that track these things.

 

[Sunset]

Here ya go.

https://www.merrilledge.com/offers

If you are moving a lot, talk/chat to the Rep before opening the account, as they have unpublished rewards for large amounts over $200,000.

 

[COcheesehead]

Fidelity has backed away from cash or gift card bonuses in the last while. I got some early on for big deposits and now they only offer me free trades.

 

[Freedom56]

Try TD Ameritrade. They give cash incentives for large deposits/transfers and have many retail offices if you need that. I have accounts at Fidelity, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade.

 

[Islandtraveler]

In March of 2018, I received a $10,000 incentive from e trade for moving 2.5m from Ameritrade. They also gave me $3.95 stock and MF trades and a 4% margin fee. I don’t know how long the offer was good for but it was a progressive offering based on assets. The company is great and there technology is top rate. I would call them to find out what they are currently offering as I only found out about the offer from a phone call. They did require me to commit to a year with them.

 

[Debinnov a]

Thanks everyone for the tips! I have a substantial amount, so hoping for a bonus. I also want to keep some cash available should a good bank CD come up in December.

 

[Scuba]

Just FYI, these bonuses are reported as taxable income. I didn’t realize that, so the value of the bonus DH and I received from Fidelity for moving our account is a lot less than I thought, net.

 

[DrRoy]

Here ya go.

https://www.merrilledge.com/offers

If you are moving a lot, talk/chat to the Rep before opening the account, as they have unpublished rewards for large amounts over $200,000.

I closed my Merrill Edge account because Fido bond trading service was better.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Just FYI, these bonuses are reported as taxable income. I didn’t realize that, so the value of the bonus DH and I received from Fidelity for moving our account is a lot less than I thought, net.

I have done two transfers to Merrill Edge each for $200,000 and each earning a $1,000 bonus. Neither was reported as income.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have done two transfers to Merrill Edge each for $200,000 and each earning a $1,000 bonus. Neither was reported as income.

I have also had a bunch of opening bonuses over the last few years and have never gotten a tax statement.

 

[swakyaby]

Just FYI, these bonuses are reported as taxable income. I didn’t realize that, so the value of the bonus DH and I received from Fidelity for moving our account is a lot less than I thought, net.

I received the $2,500 bonus from Fidelity this year for transferring $1.025M from my workplace profit-sharing plan to Fidelity rollover IRA. The Fidelity rep said she could transfer the bonus directly into my rollover IRA. I asked if that was a taxable event? She said no, it was considered a gift. I’ll see if I receive a taxable income statement for this, although she assured me I would not.

 

[COcheesehead]

I think you got some bad info. I have gotten cash bonuses from Fido and it was reported as miscellaneous income when I did my Turbo Tax download.

 

[Montecfo]

I always ask for bonuses for moving any amount of money in to my Etrade accounts. I have always gotten some.

I have an account to consolidate that is with Schwab and i will probably check with TD first (My HSA account is there) and see what is possible. My guess is Etrade would match.

 

[Sojourner]

Thanks everyone for the tips! I have a substantial amount, so hoping for a bonus. I also want to keep some cash available should a good bank CD come up in December.

I started a thread several months ago about the large cash bonus that Ally Invest was offering for new account transfers. You'd get a $2,500 bonus for transferring $1MM+ in assets to a new account. I was very tempted by this at the time, and honestly I still am -- although I got a fair bit of feedback that the amount of cash offered wouldn't compensate for the hassle of switching brokerages. At any rate, looks like it's still the best bonus offer out there right now.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/ally-invest-nice-cash-bonus-offer-92235.html

 

[Luck_Club]

I received the $2,500 bonus from Fidelity this year for transferring $1.025M from my workplace profit-sharing plan to Fidelity rollover IRA.

When did you get this bonus? I recently moved amounts over to fidelity, and all I got was a 2 year free trade on only that account!

I'm going to call on monday and tell him, I'll take the hit on $60 in trading fees and move the money if he doesn't give me the 0.25% bonus. I'm quite upset. I even asked about cash bonuses, last month when I moved the money, and had been discussing the move for 10 months.

 

[wolf]

Interesting. Also, have CD's at Penfed, maturing in a couple of years. Never new these
bonus existed. Thanks for the heads up everyone!

 

[swakyaby]

When did you get this bonus? I recently moved amounts over to fidelity, and all I got was a 2 year free trade on only that account!

Luck Club, it wasn't smooth sailing with Fidelity. Before initiating the transfer of assets, and because I didn't see this offer anywhere on their website, I spoke in person to one of Fidelity's senior investment specialists to confirm whether there is a $2,500 cash bonus to transfer at least $1M to Fidelity. I noticed she hesitated, then quietly said, "yes."

On 3-28-18, a cash check for $1.025M from my retirement plan was directly deposited into my new Fidelity rollover IRA. In June, I inquired when I would see the bonus. The Fidelity rep explained that the transfer took over 60 days, so there would be no bonus. I expressed my irritation, so she offered to ask her boss if they would award the bonus despite the transfer delays, and said his decision would be final. After a week, she called back to say the bonus was deposited in my rollover IRA. At the time, I had approximately $1.6M in assets at Fidelity.

 

[COcheesehead]

When did you get this bonus? I recently moved amounts over to fidelity, and all I got was a 2 year free trade on only that account!

I'm going to call on monday and tell him, I'll take the hit on $60 in trading fees and move the money if he doesn't give me the 0.25% bonus. I'm quite upset. I even asked about cash bonuses, last month when I moved the money, and had been discussing the move for 10 months.

I had two large deposits in the last 12-18 months and Fido told me both times no more cash bonuses - though I had gotten them in the past. Free trades only. They used to offer airline miles, gift cards (got an Apple one once) and cash. Was told those are a thing of the past.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Is Fidelity still giving complimentary TurboTax?

 

[COcheesehead]

Is Fidelity still giving complimentary TurboTax?

Hope so. The link usually appears in the next 30 days.

 

[audreyh1]

Is Fidelity still giving complimentary TurboTax?

They did last year, so fingers crossed....

 

[Scuba]

I have done two transfers to Merrill Edge each for $200,000 and each earning a $1,000 bonus. Neither was reported as income.

Interesting. I looked at my YTD tax info on the Fido website and they include it as Misc Income.

 

[COcheesehead]

The IRS loves unreported income.

 

[GrayHare]

As I understand it, a bonus to an IRA account is a gift. A bonus into a non-retirement account is taxable income.