The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by LadyGeek »

I merged CloseEnough's thread into the ongoing discussion.

(Thanks to the member who reported the post and provided a link to this thread.)
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by egri »

aragorn1 wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:38 am When does Fidelity deposit the bonus ? It's been a week since I opened my account :?
It took a few weeks for me, long enough that I was getting nervous and called customer service. The rep said not to worry and it should post, and it did within a week of that call.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by calwatch »

Anyone having issues ACATing from Stockpile out? I am having trouble with SoFi taking my transfer. I think they are confused that Apex Clearing is the holder of record. Would communicating via online chat or phone be better? Any other brokers where Stockpile transfers might be good? I am thinking eTrade but their non-retirement bonus is not that great and has been higher in the past. The other option might be to ACAT over to Fidelity or Ameritrade as a stop gap, but I wonder if they reimburse ACAT fees even when you aren't taking advantage of a bonus.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by jocdoc »

i was looking to transfer $650000 into Fidelity. No decent transfer bonuses for a rollover IRA available. Anyone have any success this month in getting a 500 to $1000 transfer bonus from Fidelity. I called earlier in the week and the rep stated $1000 for a million dollars rollover but I called today to arrange for this and the rep stated there is no transfer bonus.

I wanted to use fidelity because they automate RMD withdrawals to my bank for free. I did not want to use a calculator and manually do it.
I don't want to transfer to another brokerage to get a transfer bonus and then to Fidelity. The amount of $ transfer bonus is small compared to the amount transferred but still 500 to $1000 is still real money.

Do you all recommend waiting until they offer transfer bonuses or just transfer now.

JC
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by LadyGeek »

Fidelity's standard offer is $1,000 / million, rounded down (truncated to the nearest million). You get 0.00 for $999,999.99, but $1,000 for $1,000,000.00.

Do the transfer now and forget about it.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Thrifty Femme »

Has anyone heard of Merrill Edge having a minimum account balance? I tried to transfer out via ACATS to another institution and it got declined because I wanted to leave $0.45 in the account :annoyed The receiving institution said the ACATS was declined to the account being below the min balance.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by indexfundfan »

Thrifty Femme wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:33 pm Has anyone heard of Merrill Edge having a minimum account balance? I tried to transfer out via ACATS to another institution and it got declined because I wanted to leave $0.45 in the account :annoyed The receiving institution said the ACATS was declined to the account being below the min balance.
Are you doing a partial transfer? I vaguely recall that Merrill Edge has a minimum remaining balance requirement if you are doing a partial transfer.

You can do a full transfer but then you would have to pay for the Merrill Edge ACAT transfer fee (no fee for partial transfers).
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Thrifty Femme »

indexfundfan wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:38 pm
Thrifty Femme wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:33 pm Has anyone heard of Merrill Edge having a minimum account balance? I tried to transfer out via ACATS to another institution and it got declined because I wanted to leave $0.45 in the account :annoyed The receiving institution said the ACATS was declined to the account being below the min balance.
Are you doing a partial transfer? I vaguely recall that Merrill Edge has a minimum remaining balance requirement if you are doing a partial transfer.

You can do a full transfer but then you would have to pay for the Merrill Edge ACAT transfer fee (no fee for partial transfers).
Yes, it was a partial transfer.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by student »

Thrifty Femme wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:33 pm Has anyone heard of Merrill Edge having a minimum account balance? I tried to transfer out via ACATS to another institution and it got declined because I wanted to leave $0.45 in the account :annoyed The receiving institution said the ACATS was declined to the account being below the min balance.
Not that I am aware of. Just transfer everything and have the receiving firm pays for account closing fee.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by BuddyJet »

Thrifty Femme wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:33 pm Has anyone heard of Merrill Edge having a minimum account balance? I tried to transfer out via ACATS to another institution and it got declined because I wanted to leave $0.45 in the account :annoyed The receiving institution said the ACATS was declined to the account being below the min balance.
Can’t say about Merrill but Fidelity has a $500 minimum remaining balance for a partial ACATS transfer to go through.

My suggestion is to do a full transfer or call Merrill and ask about minimum remaining balance.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by cashmoney »

Etrade offered this to me.Rep said she would also get fee reimbursed for two accounts I will be closing at Merrill.



Deposit Amount Cash Credit
$500,000 - $999,999 $2,000
$1,000,000 - $1,999,999 $4,000
$2,000,000 - $2,999,999 $6,000
$3,000,000 - $3,999,999 $8,000
$4,000,000 or more $10,000
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Kookaburra »

cashmoney wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:05 pm Etrade offered this to me.Rep said she would also get fee reimbursed for two accounts I will be closing at Merrill.



Deposit Amount Cash Credit
$500,000 - $999,999 $2,000
$1,000,000 - $1,999,999 $4,000
$2,000,000 - $2,999,999 $6,000
$3,000,000 - $3,999,999 $8,000
$4,000,000 or more $10,000
This is much juicier than their published “standard” offer. How did you manage to get them to offer this? Any chance they would provide a URL that could be used to convince other brokerages to match? Appreciate if you could PM me details.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by jocdoc »

I spoke with etrade rep today and they only offered $1500 for an IRA rollover of 650K.
Can anyone tell if they deposit the bonus in the IRA vs the non IRA account. The rep told me they deposit the bonus in the account that is funded, ie my rollover IRA in my case. He states it is reported as a 1099. This implies that it will be taxed twice once this year upon funding my account and then on RMD withdrawal.
Can anyone tell me if this counts as a contribution for 2022?

Thanks. This is my first rollover to a brokerage that offers a transfer bonus.

JC
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by jeffyscott »

E-Trade bonus was deposited in my Roth IRA account in January.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by EnjoyIt »

jocdoc wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:23 am I spoke with etrade rep today and they only offered $1500 for an IRA rollover of 650K.
Can anyone tell if they deposit the bonus in the IRA vs the non IRA account. The rep told me they deposit the bonus in the account that is funded, ie my rollover IRA in my case. He states it is reported as a 1099. This implies that it will be taxed twice once this year upon funding my account and then on RMD withdrawal.
Can anyone tell me if this counts as a contribution for 2022?

Thanks. This is my first rollover to a brokerage that offers a transfer bonus.

JC
From my understanding:
1) The contribution is not taxed if it is going into a pre-tax IRA, but you will be taxed on it upon withdrawal. When I did similar at Trade with a traditional 401k I did not receive a 1099 for the bonus and no taxes were paid on that bonus.

2) Usually bonus's are paid into the account that was contributed that earned the bonus. In your case it will be the IRA. If it goes into a taxable brokerage account, then you will receive a 1099 and taxes will be assessed on the bonus though I doubt this will occur at Etrade.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by spammagnet »

jocdoc wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:23 am I spoke with etrade rep today and they only offered $1500 for an IRA rollover of 650K.
Can anyone tell if they deposit the bonus in the IRA vs the non IRA account. The rep told me they deposit the bonus in the account that is funded, ie my rollover IRA in my case. He states it is reported as a 1099. This implies that it will be taxed twice once this year upon funding my account and then on RMD withdrawal.
Can anyone tell me if this counts as a contribution for 2022?
We received the published bonus from E-Trade, plus an additional unpublished discretionary bonus which was offered by the broker when discussing the transfer. The published bonus was deposited to the account to which the money was transferred. In our case, that was retirement accounts. The discretionary bonus was deposited to a taxable account. Those accounts had to be created to receive it. We transferred the discretionary bonus out immediately and closed the taxable accounts. We left the retirement accounts long enough to meet the deposit requirements.

We received 1099s only on the taxable deposits. Even if they give you a 1099 on the retirement bonus, they're still not taxable.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by jocdoc »

Thanks to all who replied. When the transfer bonus was deposited into the IRA account was it credited as a contribution for that tax year?

jc
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by jeffyscott »

jocdoc wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 11:03 am Thanks to all who replied. When the transfer bonus was deposited into the IRA account was it credited as a contribution for that tax year?

jc
No, they can not make a contribution to your IRA. For one thing, how would they know if you are even eligible to contribute to an IRA?

It's just listed as a credit, with description "Customer Promotion...", this was deposited in Jan. But my account shows $0 contributions to my Roth for both 2021 and 2022.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by cashmoney »

Kookaburra wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 1:17 am
cashmoney wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:05 pm Etrade offered this to me.Rep said she would also get fee reimbursed for two accounts I will be closing at Merrill.



Deposit Amount Cash Credit
$500,000 - $999,999 $2,000
$1,000,000 - $1,999,999 $4,000
$2,000,000 - $2,999,999 $6,000
$3,000,000 - $3,999,999 $8,000
$4,000,000 or more $10,000
This is much juicier than their published “standard” offer. How did you manage to get them to offer this? Any chance they would provide a URL that could be used to convince other brokerages to match? Appreciate if you could PM me details.

Was applying for the old bonus 1800.00 last day of deadline in June for 500k level online was having difficulty so called etrade.Rep was not able to apply bonus but said to open account and they will have advisor call me who could manually attach a bonus to account.She did and I was sent an email confirming what I pasted here.I also advised the rep that I was self a self directed investor that didn't want to be pitched managed accounts and the advisor that called evidently got the memo because it went very smooth.

After reading my email from Etrade apparently I was able to get this bonus because I had already opened an account and was considered an existing customer by the time the Advisor had called me .



Offer valid for E*TRADE Securities customers with an eligible non-retirement or retirement account and funded within 60 days of enrollment day with $500,000 or more.

OFFER DETAILS

Cash credits for eligible deposits or transfers of new funds or securities from accounts outside of E*TRADE will be made as follows: $4,000,000 or more will receive $10,000; $3,000,000-$3,999,999 will receive $8,000; $2,000,000-$2,999,999 will receive $6,000: $1,000,000-$1,999,999 will receive $4,000; $500,000-$999,999 will receive $2,000.

In addition, reward tiers under $3,999,999 ($500,000-$999,999; $1,000,000-$1,999,999; $2,000,000-$2,999,999; $3,000,000-$3,999,999) will be paid within seven business days following the expiration of the 60 day period.

For example, if you have deposited at least $1,000,000 in the eligible account, deposits made in eligible linked accounts during the 60 day period will be aggregated for purposes of the reward and the credits will be paid pro-rata to all accounts where deposits were made during the 60 day period. However, if you deposit $4,000,000 or more, you will receive a cash credit within seven business days.

OFFER RULES FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS

New funds or securities must be deposited or transferred within 60 days of enrollment in offer, be from accounts outside of E*TRADE, and remain in the account (minus any trading losses) for a minimum of twelve months or the cash credit(s) may be surrendered. For purposes of the value of a deposit, any securities transferred will be valued on the first business day following completion of the deposit. Removing any deposit or cash during the promotion period (60 days) may result in lower reward amount or loss of reward. Any assets transferred from Morgan Stanley accounts to E*TRADE are not considered to be from accounts outside of E*TRADE and may not be included for purposes of offer eligibility or reward amount calculations, at E*TRADE's sole discretion.

If you are attempting to enroll in this offer with a Joint Account, the primary account holder may have to fulfill at the tiers noted before the secondary account holder can enroll in this offer. If you experience any issues when attempting to enroll with a Joint Account, please contact us at 800-387-2331 (800-ETRADE-1) and we will be able to assist you with your enrollment.

OFFER LIMITATIONS

Offer valid for existing E*TRADE Securities brokerage, Coverdell, and the following types of E*TRADE retirement accounts: Traditional IRA, Individual 401(k), Roth Individual 401(k), Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, Beneficiary Roth IRA, and Beneficiary Traditional IRA.

This offer is not valid for any business (incorporated or unincorporated) accounts, other E*TRADE Securities retirement account types (SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, retirement accounts for minors, profit sharing plans, money purchase pension plans and investment only noncustodial retirement plans, Beneficiary IRA Estate, Beneficiary IRA Trust, Beneficiary Roth IRA Estate, Beneficiary Roth IRA Trust), E*TRADE Capital Management, E*TRADE Futures, and Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association accounts. Excludes non-U.S. residents, and residents of any jurisdiction where this offer is not valid. You must be the original recipient of this offer to enroll. Customers may only be enrolled in one offer at a time. Cannot be combined with any other offers.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

I’ve been lurking and following this thread for some time.

I’m ready to to put my taxable brokerage and Roth brokerage on a long trip for the bonus game. The end destination may not be back at Vanguard, but yet Fidelity. I’m really done with Vanguard‘s poor customer service,
but that’s not the topic here.

However, what is the best path amongst these brokerages to get to Fidelity? E*Trade, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Merrell, Ally, Fidelity.

I’m not interested in the small brokerages. I’m only partially interested in Ally because that’s gonna require a one year commitment due to the fine print. Lastly and importantly, do all of these firms allow one to set a TOD designee for his/her taxable brokerage? My taxable brokerage at Vanguard has a TOD to our trust.

And lastly, do these other brokerage firms have a tool like Vanguard’s portfolio watch? My wife’s Roth brokerage wouldn’t be making this bonus trip with mine yet, as she’ll stay back at Vanguard. Those, since we still have an account at Vanguard, I guess I could upload the accounts from the other institutions and try to get them to load for the portfolio watch tool
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by whodidntante »

calwatch wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:44 pm Anyone having issues ACATing from Stockpile out? I am having trouble with SoFi taking my transfer. I think they are confused that Apex Clearing is the holder of record. Would communicating via online chat or phone be better? Any other brokers where Stockpile transfers might be good? I am thinking eTrade but their non-retirement bonus is not that great and has been higher in the past. The other option might be to ACAT over to Fidelity or Ameritrade as a stop gap, but I wonder if they reimburse ACAT fees even when you aren't taking advantage of a bonus.
Try not mentioning Stockpile at all. That's the route I took when leaving Firstrade.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Mardoc01 »

Anyone aware about transferring to Schwab from TD. I k wo they are gonna merge next year probably but any bonus to transfer early. Would Schwab give a bonus for this Now ?
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by tj »

Mardoc01 wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:02 pm Anyone aware about transferring to Schwab from TD. I k wo they are gonna merge next year probably but any bonus to transfer early. Would Schwab give a bonus for this Now ?
They continue to operate as independent firms.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by need403bhelp »

Mardoc01 wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:02 pm Anyone aware about transferring to Schwab from TD. I k wo they are gonna merge next year probably but any bonus to transfer early. Would Schwab give a bonus for this Now ?
Just to be safe I transferred TD -> Merrill Edge for their up to $900 bonus and recently same funds to Schwab for referral bonus.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Mardoc01 »

need403bhelp wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:21 pm
Mardoc01 wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:02 pm Anyone aware about transferring to Schwab from TD. I k wo they are gonna merge next year probably but any bonus to transfer early. Would Schwab give a bonus for this Now ?
Just to be safe I transferred TD -> Merrill Edge for their up to $900 bonus and recently same funds to Schwab for referral bonus.
I guess I could ask. Just wondering if anyone knows ? I’ve been with TD for 25 yrs..
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by need403bhelp »

Mardoc01 wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:26 pm
need403bhelp wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:21 pm
Mardoc01 wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:02 pm Anyone aware about transferring to Schwab from TD. I k wo they are gonna merge next year probably but any bonus to transfer early. Would Schwab give a bonus for this Now ?
Just to be safe I transferred TD -> Merrill Edge for their up to $900 bonus and recently same funds to Schwab for referral bonus.
I guess I could ask. Just wondering if anyone knows ? I’ve been with TD for 25 yrs..
That might be safest option (to ask). I asked for datapoints on several Internet forums and seemed to get mixed replies at best. So I decided to play it safe since holding period for Edge bonus was only 3 months at the time, already have accounts there for preferred rewards, and that way there is no question and hopefully don’t have to follow up with anyone if there is a problem .
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Kookaburra »

For those who have recently done a transfer of assets to Fidelity, do you know if they have a look back period before the transfer process starts and count any outgoing funds against you, so to speak? If so, what is that look back period?
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by LadyGeek »

Fidelity has a 12 month clawback period after you make the transfer. From my earlier post:
LadyGeek wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am
student wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:51 am
MandyLuna wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:27 am When Schwab matches the bonus offer of a competitor, such as E Trade, what are the "unwritten" terms? Do they generally require X number of months the money has to remain with Schwab in order to avoid a clawback? Thanks
For me, 12 months.
I would think that Schwab has this in writing. If not, ask for it.

Fidelity also has a 12 month clawback. From cash acquisition offer terms.pdf:
Account holders must maintain the minimum account balance (minus any losses related to trading or market volatility, or margin debit balances) at Fidelity for at least twelve months from the date on which the bonus award is credited to the account, or Fidelity may charge the account the cost of the bonus award.
Note that they use the word "charge". When they issue the award, it's a "credit".
Is this what you were referring to, or something else?
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Kookaburra »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:15 pm Fidelity has a 12 month clawback period after you make the transfer. From my earlier post:
LadyGeek wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am
student wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:51 am
MandyLuna wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:27 am When Schwab matches the bonus offer of a competitor, such as E Trade, what are the "unwritten" terms? Do they generally require X number of months the money has to remain with Schwab in order to avoid a clawback? Thanks
For me, 12 months.
I would think that Schwab has this in writing. If not, ask for it.

Fidelity also has a 12 month clawback. From cash acquisition offer terms.pdf:
Account holders must maintain the minimum account balance (minus any losses related to trading or market volatility, or margin debit balances) at Fidelity for at least twelve months from the date on which the bonus award is credited to the account, or Fidelity may charge the account the cost of the bonus award.
Note that they use the word "charge". When they issue the award, it's a "credit".
Is this what you were referring to, or something else?
Something else. What I’m referring to is whether they look to before the transfer was made and say, “hey, you had $X in Fidelity that you transferred out, so you don’t get credit for transferring that back in.” So if your goal was to transfer in Y for a bonus, but in the past month (or whatever the look back period is, if any, which gets at the heart of my question) you transferred out X, then you would need to transfer in Y+X to get the bonus.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by LadyGeek »

OK, now I see what you're asking. The first 2 paragraphs of cash acquisition offer terms.pdf have the limitations.

It's a 12-month rolling window and there are a few restrictions on the funding source.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by sycamore »

bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:12 pm I’ve been lurking and following this thread for some time.

I’m ready to to put my taxable brokerage and Roth brokerage on a long trip for the bonus game. The end destination may not be back at Vanguard, but yet Fidelity. I’m really done with Vanguard‘s poor customer service,
but that’s not the topic here.

However, what is the best path amongst these brokerages to get to Fidelity? E*Trade, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Merrell, Ally, Fidelity.

I’m not interested in the small brokerages. I’m only partially interested in Ally because that’s gonna require a one year commitment due to the fine print. Lastly and importantly, do all of these firms allow one to set a TOD designee for his/her taxable brokerage? My taxable brokerage at Vanguard has a TOD to our trust.

And lastly, do these other brokerage firms have a tool like Vanguard’s portfolio watch? My wife’s Roth brokerage wouldn’t be making this bonus trip with mine yet, as she’ll stay back at Vanguard. Those, since we still have an account at Vanguard, I guess I could upload the accounts from the other institutions and try to get them to load for the portfolio watch tool
In the past I've transferred to Schwab, ETrade and Merrill Edge for bonuses. I'd use any of them again and probably will again later this year or next.

Not sure what the best bonuses are these days. I was and remain happy with the above brokers for basic online features & customer service. To be sure, my customer service needs are minimal/DIY and so easy to please on that point.

Regarding TOD, I imagine if a brokerage has TOD for IRA it would also support it for a taxable brokerage. Whether the account is a trust is probably another matter; I have no experience with that.

Here are TOD forms. Don't remember if they all can be done online.
ETrade: https://content.etrade.com/etrade/custo ... Death2.pdf
Merrill Edge: https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content ... t_EDGE.pdf
Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/resource/schwab- ... pplication

I use my own spreadsheet for portfolio tracking so no comment on portfolio watch tool. Hopefully someone will be along to answer that.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:15 pm Fidelity has a 12 month clawback period after you make the transfer. From my earlier post:
LadyGeek wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am
student wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:51 am
MandyLuna wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:27 am When Schwab matches the bonus offer of a competitor, such as E Trade, what are the "unwritten" terms? Do they generally require X number of months the money has to remain with Schwab in order to avoid a clawback? Thanks
For me, 12 months.
I would think that Schwab has this in writing. If not, ask for it.

Fidelity also has a 12 month clawback. From cash acquisition offer terms.pdf:
Account holders must maintain the minimum account balance (minus any losses related to trading or market volatility, or margin debit balances) at Fidelity for at least twelve months from the date on which the bonus award is credited to the account, or Fidelity may charge the account the cost of the bonus award.
Note that they use the word "charge". When they issue the award, it's a "credit".
Is this what you were referring to, or something else?
I have not read the fine print for Fidelity. Thanks.

But this 12 month clawback is synonymous with Ally’s 12 month period. Does that happen to be industry practice for the other brokerage firms such a Schwab, Etrade, TDA, Merrell?
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

sycamore wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:03 pm
bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:12 pm I’ve been lurking and following this thread for some time.

I’m ready to to put my taxable brokerage and Roth brokerage on a long trip for the bonus game. The end destination may not be back at Vanguard, but yet Fidelity. I’m really done with Vanguard‘s poor customer service,
but that’s not the topic here.

However, what is the best path amongst these brokerages to get to Fidelity? E*Trade, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Merrell, Ally, Fidelity.

I’m not interested in the small brokerages. I’m only partially interested in Ally because that’s gonna require a one year commitment due to the fine print. Lastly and importantly, do all of these firms allow one to set a TOD designee for his/her taxable brokerage? My taxable brokerage at Vanguard has a TOD to our trust.

And lastly, do these other brokerage firms have a tool like Vanguard’s portfolio watch? My wife’s Roth brokerage wouldn’t be making this bonus trip with mine yet, as she’ll stay back at Vanguard. Those, since we still have an account at Vanguard, I guess I could upload the accounts from the other institutions and try to get them to load for the portfolio watch tool
In the past I've transferred to Schwab, ETrade and Merrill Edge for bonuses. I'd use any of them again and probably will again later this year or next.

Not sure what the best bonuses are these days. I was and remain happy with the above brokers for basic online features & customer service. To be sure, my customer service needs are minimal/DIY and so easy to please on that point.

Regarding TOD, I imagine if a brokerage has TOD for IRA it would also support it for a taxable brokerage. Whether the account is a trust is probably another matter; I have no experience with that.

Here are TOD forms. Don't remember if they all can be done online.
ETrade: https://content.etrade.com/etrade/custo ... Death2.pdf
Merrill Edge: https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content ... t_EDGE.pdf
Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/resource/schwab- ... pplication

I use my own spreadsheet for portfolio tracking so no comment on portfolio watch tool. Hopefully someone will be along to answer that.
Great Sycamore. Thank you so much for that info. Yeah I’m not as tech savvy with the spreadsheet to be able to use that to maintain the portfolio. Hence am relying on portfolio watch.
bbrock
tj
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by tj »

bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:48 pm
LadyGeek wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:15 pm Fidelity has a 12 month clawback period after you make the transfer. From my earlier post:
LadyGeek wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am
student wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:51 am
MandyLuna wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:27 am When Schwab matches the bonus offer of a competitor, such as E Trade, what are the "unwritten" terms? Do they generally require X number of months the money has to remain with Schwab in order to avoid a clawback? Thanks
For me, 12 months.
I would think that Schwab has this in writing. If not, ask for it.

Fidelity also has a 12 month clawback. From cash acquisition offer terms.pdf:
Account holders must maintain the minimum account balance (minus any losses related to trading or market volatility, or margin debit balances) at Fidelity for at least twelve months from the date on which the bonus award is credited to the account, or Fidelity may charge the account the cost of the bonus award.
Note that they use the word "charge". When they issue the award, it's a "credit".
Is this what you were referring to, or something else?
I have not read the fine print for Fidelity. Thanks.

But this 12 month clawback is synonymous with Ally’s 12 month period. Does that happen to be industry practice for the other brokerage firms such a Schwab, Etrade, TDA, Merrell?
Most of them are 12 months.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

Thx tj
bbrock
Watson15
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by Watson15 »

For Fidelity, will they count corporate 401k money already with Fidelity as part of the amount that qualifies for the transfer bonus?
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by tj »

Watson15 wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 11:11 pm For Fidelity, will they count corporate 401k money already with Fidelity as part of the amount that qualifies for the transfer bonus?
Unlikely to count.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

tj wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 10:20 pm
bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:48 pm
LadyGeek wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:15 pm Fidelity has a 12 month clawback period after you make the transfer. From my earlier post:
LadyGeek wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am
student wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:51 am

For me, 12 months.
I would think that Schwab has this in writing. If not, ask for it.

Fidelity also has a 12 month clawback. From cash acquisition offer terms.pdf:
Account holders must maintain the minimum account balance (minus any losses related to trading or market volatility, or margin debit balances) at Fidelity for at least twelve months from the date on which the bonus award is credited to the account, or Fidelity may charge the account the cost of the bonus award.
Note that they use the word "charge". When they issue the award, it's a "credit".
Is this what you were referring to, or something else?
I have not read the fine print for Fidelity. Thanks.

But this 12 month clawback is synonymous with Ally’s 12 month period. Does that happen to be industry practice for the other brokerage firms such a Schwab, Etrade, TDA, Merrell?
Most of them are 12 months.
If I am not mistaken, but I thought I was reading in this thread about how some have gotten their bonus, it settled, and transferred out. Maybe I did not understand the process correctly at the other non-Ally institutions I listed, but are all you who are playing the bonus grab game really holding your accounts at these institutions for the 12 mo. timeframe?

Can you await the bonus settlement, then transfer out prior to the 12 mo., or do you forfeit the entire bonus?
Last edited by bbrock on Mon Jul 18, 2022 4:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
bbrock
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by nalor511 »

bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 11:36 pm
tj wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 10:20 pm
bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:48 pm
LadyGeek wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:15 pm Fidelity has a 12 month clawback period after you make the transfer. From my earlier post:
LadyGeek wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am
I would think that Schwab has this in writing. If not, ask for it.

Fidelity also has a 12 month clawback. From cash acquisition offer terms.pdf:


Note that they use the word "charge". When they issue the award, it's a "credit".
Is this what you were referring to, or something else?
I have not read the fine print for Fidelity. Thanks.

But this 12 month clawback is synonymous with Ally’s 12 month period. Does that happen to be industry practice for the other brokerage firms such a Schwab, Etrade, TDA, Merrell?
Most of them are 12 months.
If I am not mistaken, but I thought I was reading in this thread about how some have gotten their bonus, it settled, and transferred out. Maybe I did not understand the fine print at the other non-Ally institutions I listed correctly, but are you all who are playing the bonus grab game really holding your accounts at these institutions for the 12 mo. timeframe?

Can you await the bonus settlement, then transfer out prior to the 12 mo., or do you forfeit the entire bonus?
If you don't hold for the entire period stated in your bonus terms, yes, they will really claw back the entire bonus. It's better to stay for the number of months you agreed to
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

Got it. Thx nalor511
bbrock
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by HKexpat »

Has anyone had a problem with Interactive Brokers's signup bonus? I used a referral code from a blog where I got a lot of useful info about them. Signup completed smoothly, and after a year, I was supposed to receive $1k in IBKR stock (max incentive for $100k, and I transferred in considerably more than that).

Well, it's been a year, and I got nothing. Reached out to IBKR, and they responded that they don't see my account linked to a referral URL. The CSR said that it's an automated process, there's nothing they're going to do manually, and closing and re-opening the account will not be eligible for a signup bonus.

I've never had an issue with any opening incentive, and this seems like a crazy bait-and-switch. I wasn't planning to transfer to a different brokerage, but it makes me wonder how awful their customer service will be if something more important goes wrong.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

Regarding cost basis accounting. Does anyone have experience they could share with how it was managed coming from Vanguard to his/her next firm (preferably Schwab, Fidelity, Etrade, TDA, Merril)?

I have a taxable brokerage with 2 ETFs - VTI, VXUS. VTI 18 noncovered lots, 3 covered lots. VXUS 3 noncovered lots. I am curious how it will be transferred to the next firm, let's say Etrade. In VTI, will they conglomerate the noncovered into one lot?

Thanks for any input.
B
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by slinky$ »

HKexpat wrote: Mon Jul 18, 2022 6:50 am Has anyone had a problem with Interactive Brokers's signup bonus? I used a referral code from a blog where I got a lot of useful info about them. Signup completed smoothly, and after a year, I was supposed to receive $1k in IBKR stock (max incentive for $100k, and I transferred in considerably more than that).

Well, it's been a year, and I got nothing. Reached out to IBKR, and they responded that they don't see my account linked to a referral URL. The CSR said that it's an automated process, there's nothing they're going to do manually, and closing and re-opening the account will not be eligible for a signup bonus.

I've never had an issue with any opening incentive, and this seems like a crazy bait-and-switch. I wasn't planning to transfer to a different brokerage, but it makes me wonder how awful their customer service will be if something more important goes wrong.
Unlucky - I did this one and it worked fine for me. I got IBKR stocks as I deposited, so would get $100 worth if I deposited $10k or so. Over the course of the year I maxed it out for the full $1k. They would remove stock too as I had some withdraws from the account but I was able to get it back to the full amount. Maybe try p2? Still a good deal.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by spammagnet »

bbrock wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:12 pm... However, what is the best path amongst these brokerages to get to Fidelity? E*Trade, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Merrell, Ally, Fidelity. ...
I based my transfers on the holding period required, from shortest to longest. For similar holding periods, the level of bonus determined my next step.

My bonuses came from Chase, Citi, E-Trade, Merrill and Tastyworks. I have not tried Ally, Schwab or TD Ameritrade. Their bonuses were not attractive enough to me for the amounts I had available for transfer and/or the holding period was longer that I was willing to commit to. That's obviously a personal choice, affected by personal circumstances. Your conclusions may (probably will) differ.
nalor511
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by nalor511 »

bbrock wrote: Mon Jul 18, 2022 8:59 pm Regarding cost basis accounting. Does anyone have experience they could share with how it was managed coming from Vanguard to his/her next firm (preferably Schwab, Fidelity, Etrade, TDA, Merril)?

I have a taxable brokerage with 2 ETFs - VTI, VXUS. VTI 18 noncovered lots, 3 covered lots. VXUS 3 noncovered lots. I am curious how it will be transferred to the next firm, let's say Etrade. In VTI, will they conglomerate the noncovered into one lot?

Thanks for any input.
B
The lots remain as they were at the source brokerage, it just takes a week or two extra for that info to come over
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

Got it. Thanks nalor511.
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by bbrock »

I looked more at the Schwab offer, which I assume would be the same TD Ameritrade.
https://www.schwab.com/client-referral
Under see full terms, what does this mean on line 5 "assets transferred from affiliates other than Schwab Retirement Plan Services are excluded?"

Are assets that are transferred in, excluded? If so, it doesn't make any sense. Plus, it reads clearly that assets must be maintained for one year or they maintain the clawback. That's a long time (another Bogleheader here pointed out that the 12 mo. is typical). That would mean that if I planned on assets moving from Vanguard to Schwab, then TDA, then Fidelity, then E-trade, that could be 4+ years. Right? I am not sure the bonus game is worth it more so than once or twice perhaps (YMMV).
bbrock
spammagnet
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by spammagnet »

bbrock wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 1:34 pm I looked more at the Schwab offer, which I assume would be the same TD Ameritrade.
https://www.schwab.com/client-referral
Under see full terms, what does this mean on line 5 "assets transferred from affiliates other than Schwab Retirement Plan Services are excluded?"

Are assets that are transferred in, excluded? If so, it doesn't make any sense. ...
I believe "from affiliates" is a key term.
need403bhelp
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by need403bhelp »

If have $100k in Roth IRA and already done TD Ameritrade, Schwab, and Merrill Edge offers, what is next best offer?

So far I see:

E trade $500 6 month holding period
Interactive brokers $1k in IBKR stock 12 month holding period
CITI wealth management $500 (for $50k) 3 month holding period, must apply over phone

Any others or suggestions based on these?

EDITED TO ADD: funds currently at Schwab so will want receiving brokerage to reimburse account closure fee

EDITED TO ADD 2: DW will be following me with same amount in Roth IRA in few months so I suppose if we are able to refer each other could get extra financial incentive (IBKR I think gives $200? E trade I believe referral only for non retirement?)
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Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Post by calwatch »

calwatch wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:44 pm Anyone having issues ACATing from Stockpile out? I am having trouble with SoFi taking my transfer. I think they are confused that Apex Clearing is the holder of record. Would communicating via online chat or phone be better? Any other brokers where Stockpile transfers might be good? I am thinking eTrade but their non-retirement bonus is not that great and has been higher in the past. The other option might be to ACAT over to Fidelity or Ameritrade as a stop gap, but I wonder if they reimburse ACAT fees even when you aren't taking advantage of a bonus.
To update I opened up a support ticket and they asked for a brokerage statement. The transfer took about a week after the paperwork was submitted, as expected, but impressively the cost basis was updated immediately. SoFi is not particularly sophisticated but it will work for buy and hold.
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