Fidelity is giving away $100 limited time

[steelyman]

I thought there was a minimum amount required for 1099-MISC reporting. A while ago (2006) I received $600 for an article I submitted to a magazine (no biggie) and there was no 1099 generated.

 

[COcheesehead]

I’ve gotten a few bonuses over the years from Fido for big deposits. They were always recorded as miscellaneous income. So if you do a TurboTax download of your Fido info, it likely will be included. If you don’t, the $600 rule may come into play.
In the end, its virtually free money. Even if you have to pay taxes on it, its so easy to obtain.

 

[rothlev]

I thought there was a minimum amount required for 1099-MISC reporting. A while ago (2006) I received $600 for an article I submitted to a magazine (no biggie) and there was no 1099 generated.

There is a mandatory minimum, but many issue the 1099 whether mandatory or not.

 

[xlf11]

Ok, I’m interested in the ML/BOA Preferred Rewards. How do they pay the reward? I love the Fido Visa that pays 2% automatically into my account monthly.

I already got the $100 Fido new account bonus for opening a CMA when the promo was posted in the bank bonus thread. Already have several accounts there so no credit check.

You can setup CC auto reward amount like $25 min to deposit into your BA account or Merrill. But you do need to open a BA checking to receive the higher reward (175% of normal reward) and it takes about min 3 months to build up a 100k balance needed for Preferred status. But they will keep your status for the whole year even you drain your balance below 100k mid year.

 

[Sue J]

Thanks for the link. Very easy to set up and no crazy hoops to jump through like some bonus offers.

We moved our HSAs to Fidelity earlier in the year for the no fee HSA accounts and I love their website compared to our old HSA accounts at HSA Adminstrators.

Since DH and I already have Fidelity accounts I just opened a brokerage one for me and I'll see if DH wants to open something for himself and get the $100 bonus. Can't imagine he'd say no!

 

[NewEnglander]

thank you for the heads upon this!
I just opened an account, took all of 5 minutes. I already had a brokerage and HSA account at Fidelity so I just transferred $50 from my brokerage account.

no credit check needed so I didn't have to unfreeze our credit holds.

 

[38Chevy454]

Decided to jump on the free $100. Already have my accounts at Fidelity, so it was easy enough to just transfer some cash from another account to satisfy the $50 min deposit. Thanks to OP for the link.

 

[PatrickA5]

Did this a couple of months ago by opening a new joint brokerage account. We have almost everything at Fidelity anyway, but already wanted another brokerage account separate from our CMA account - so this was a no-brainer.

I ended up having to do a chat session to get my $100. I think I did everything right, but it didn't show up, so after about 30 days I sent a chat. They funded it manually the next day.

I did a couple of Citi $400 bonus ($15K checking accounts) back in July and am still waiting on the bonus - which may never come after reading about how bad Citi is about these things. I'll wait until the latest possible time Citi has to fund the bonus and then call. Then, I'll move everything that's left and never deal with Citi again.

 

[PatrickA5]

thank you for the heads upon this!
I just opened an account, took all of 5 minutes. I already had a brokerage and HSA account at Fidelity so I just transferred $50 from my brokerage account.

no credit check needed so I didn't have to unfreeze out credit holds.

Funds need to be from an external account (non-Fidelity funds).

 

[CRLLS]

For those who have already done Roth Conversions very close to the IRMAA trigger level, have you thought of the cost that this $100 bonus might have? Maybe we don't convert it to the absolute limit?

DW opened an account in Nov with Fido. I wonder if our personal advisor would credit her the 100.

 

[COcheesehead]

If $100 throws you into the next HC cost category, that’s cutting it pretty close. What will December dividends and cap gain distributions do? You gotta leave yourself a little slack.

 

[NewEnglander]

Funds need to be from an external account (non-Fidelity funds).

thanks- I just linked my credit union account and transferred $50 from there

 

[tulak]

Funds need to be from an external account (non-Fidelity funds).

Are you sure?

I was left with the impression that I’d get the $100 after transferring from an existing Fidelity account, at least that’s what I remember seeing.

 

[Chuckanut]

Funds need to be from an external account (non-Fidelity funds).

I thought that might be true. So I used the write myself a check and deposit it via the app method Tafkah mentioned to add another $50 to the account.

 

[CRLLS]

If $100 throws you into the next HC cost category, that’s cutting it pretty close. What will December dividends and cap gain distributions do? You gotta leave yourself a little slack.

I do leave a bit of slack. But was just wondering how close others might not. And if they gave any thought to this promotion.

 

[tulak]

I thought that might be true. So I used the write myself a check and deposit it via the app method to add another $50 to the account.

Found the answer from Fidelity:

Fund the account with a minimum of $50 ("net deposit') from an external, non-Fidelity source.

Now to transfer $50 from my bank account.

 

[38Chevy454]

^^^^^
Thanks for that clarification. I'll need to do the transfer from my bank account.

 

[COcheesehead]

Are you sure?

I was left with the impression that I’d get the $100 after transferring from an existing Fidelity account, at least that’s what I remember seeing.

It’s in the FAQs. Has to be external funds.

 

[RobbieB]

Thanks. I did the transfer from existing FIDO account. I'd be bummed not getting my benji!

I sent them a check today from my BofA account after being unsuccessful trying to do it direct from Capitol 1.

Old school, snail mail -

 

[sengsational]

I already have cash accounts (FDRXX or SPAXX) associated with every HSA, Roth, Rollover and taxable account. I don't think I purposefully added those, they just came when opened those investment accounts. Are these considered "cash management accounts"?

No.

When I log in to Fidelity, I see 5 accounts on the main "All Accounts" summary page (Individual, Rollover, Roth, 529 and HSA). When I click on the "Cash Management", I see those same accounts. Some have debit cards assigned, some say 'we don't do debit cards for accounts like this'. I was assuming that because they showed up under "Cash Management", I already had what everyone else seems to be getting $100 for setting up.

 

[COcheesehead]

When I log in to Fidelity, I see 5 accounts on the main "All Accounts" summary page (Individual, Rollover, Roth, 529 and HSA). When I click on the "Cash Management", I see those same accounts. Some have debit cards assigned, some say 'we don't do debit cards for accounts like this'. I was assuming that because they showed up under "Cash Management", I already had what everyone else seems to be getting $100 for setting up.

Here’s a nit with Fidelity. You can have accounts with cash management features like a debit card, etc, but it is not a separate cash management account with its own account number and cash segregated from the rest of the account.
A true cash management account will appear as a stand alone account, just as a checking account would. Don’t confuse cash management features with a cash management account.

 

[RunningBum]

I do leave a bit of slack. But was just wondering how close others might not. And if they gave any thought to this promotion.

I've gone to the brink of a limit, but not in early December. Too many unknowns. And actually I only did that when I could recharacterize Roth conversions after the end of the year.

 

[sengsational]

....

Thanks for your patience.

I actually put in a bit of time reading the links in the opening few posts.

• May I open a Fidelity® Cash Management Account if I already have a Fidelity brokerage account? The Fidelity® Cash Management Account is intended to complement, not replace, your existing brokerage account. It lets you separate your spending activity from your investment activity.
  
  
• What spending and money movement features are included?
  • Free mobile check deposit and mobile Bill Pay, via the Fidelity mobile app
  • No annual fee debit/ATM card with ATM fee reimbursements3
  • Free online Bill Pay
  • Free checkwriting
  • Free online transfers between your Fidelity accounts and bank accounts4
  
  

I wonder if the overhead of processing transactions in a brokerage account is higher (for Fidelity) than if those same transactions were processed in a cash management account or something, because it looks like I can do all this stuff from my existing brokerage cash account. Well I've never tried mobile deposit since I don't have (or need) a Fidelity mobile app. But I've always had check writing and always had transfers and always had billpay. Ah, maybe that's what the other shoe to drop will be...they'll say "we're eliminating features X, Y and Z from brokerage accounts...if you want those, please get a cash management account".

I like the idea of a "free" $100, but I don't like the idea of yet another account. As I mentioned in my 'html statement gone' thread, the total monthly statements from Fidelity add up to 48 pages. Yes, not a typo. It's a dang book! DW and I have lots of separate accounts as driven by the US tax code, and that, combined with the nutty format and needless cr8p they put on the pages, the total page count is insanely high. I think I'll pass on the incentive.

 

[tulak]

I’m mildly annoyed with Fidelity right now. DD didn’t have an account with Fidelity and I figured this was a good opportunity to open one. We created the account and we get to the funding page where we tried to link her bank’s checking account. The option that we could find required her bank’s username and password to verify her account.

Yeah, right, we’re really going to give that info to you Fidelity. It’s scary that they think this is ok. I know there’s a general trend towards aggregators, etc, but in no way will we participate in any of that. Now we need to figure out another way to fund her account.

 

[RobbieB]

Easy.

Write out a check payable to Fidelity FBO "your name"
Write a letter to Fidelity instructing them to deposit to your account "number" and sign the letter.
Mail both to your local branch.