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TD Ameritrade has one of the strongest online presences in the brokerage industry, but it also offers the convenience of a traditional brokerage house, with over 175 brick-and-mortar branches in 44 states and the District of Columbia. This means TD Ameritrade straddles the line between online and full-service brokers.
Plus, with Charles Schwab completing its acquisition of TD Ameritrade in October 2020, additional features and services are likely to be rolled out. Combined with a wide range of account types, the online and physical capabilities of Schwab and TD Ameritrade make for a powerful combination.
The bottom line: TD Ameritrade charges $0 commission for most trades and offers trading tools for every level of investor, from beginning to expert, in addition to numerous branch locations for support.
| Ninja Column 1 | Ninja Column 2 | Ninja Column 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 | ||
| Account types | Standard |
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| Retirement |
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| Education |
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| Specialty |
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| Managed Portfolios |
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| Tradable securities |
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| Fees |
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| Sign-up bonus |
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How much would you like to invest?
If you’re looking to trade nearly any type of security, TD Ameritrade could be a good option. With no commission on stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), $0 commissions on options (with a $0.65 per contract fee), thousands of no-load and no-transaction-fee mutual funds and access to more advanced securities like forex and futures, TD Ameritrade checks all the boxes in terms of investment types.
Although TD Ameritrade is a low-cost provider, there can still be some costs involved. In addition to the per-contract fee for standard options, TD Ameritrade also charges a per-contract fee for futures and options on futures. A charge also applies to buying and selling over-the-counter stocks not traded on a U.S. exchange. And in spite of the name, no-load mutual funds carry a cost, though there’s no fee for no-transaction-fee and load funds.
| Ninja Column 1 | Ninja Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Option trading fees | $0 + $0.65 per contract |
| Stock trading fees | $0 |
| Account fees |
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Most of TD Ameritrade’s brokerage and trading fees are low or nonexistent, so many investors won’t end up paying much by way of fees overall. The firm does charge various service-oriented fees, as listed above.
Some of the fees only apply to customers with TD Ameritrade checking accounts, so not all brokerage customers will be affected. Customers can opt to have a brokerage account, a checking account or both, so fees will only apply to the applicable accounts selected. Having a checking account in conjunction with a brokerage account makes it easier and faster to transfer funds back and forth than if an external checking account was involved.
TD Ameritrade customers can screen for securities matching particular variables. The firm offers stock, option, mutual fund and ETF screeners. Sample parameters include EPS growth, P/E ratio, dividend yield, Bollinger bands and many others.
TD Ameritrade offers a wide variety of third-party analyst research coverage from firms such as Argus, Market Edge, CFRA, Vickers and Thomson Reuters First Call. Reports cover a wide variety of topics, from market movers to earnings surprises and insider trades.
Customers at TD Ameritrade have free access to real-time streaming quotes, in addition to Level II quotes on all platforms for nonprofessionals.
Some of the many online tools and calculators available at TD Ameritrade include a retirement savings calculator, 401(k) fee analyzer, IRA selection tool, RMD calculator and inherited IRA & beneficiary tool. In addition, TD Ameritrade customers also have free access to the Morningstar Instant X-Ray tool for a deeper dive into specific securities.
Trade Flash helps TD Ameritrade customers generate trading ideas and strategies based on real-world market data, such as high-quantity trades, substantial price movements, analyst upgrades and so on. The firm’s paperMoney virtual stock trading simulator uses real-time market data to enable customers to test out trading ideas and strategies without having to risk their own money.
In addition to providing extensive educational material on charting, TD Ameritrade offers comprehensive charting capability for customer accounts. Charts can extend up to 20 years on individual securities, and a variety of additional features are available, including moving averages to trendlines, upper and lower indicators and comparisons with other securities.
TD Ameritrade focuses on providing a varied and complete user experience, offering web, desktop and mobile trading platforms. Features available on these platforms include the following:
Each level of TD Ameritrade’s trading platform offers varying capabilities, and the web and mobile versions can have slight differences as well. One of the benefits of TD Ameritrade is that investors can pick and choose the platform that’s best suited to them, whether they prefer mobile, desktop or web-based functionality.
TD Ameritrade clearly emphasizes investor education on its website and mobile apps. Specific tools and tips provided by the firm include the following:
Beyond these standout features, TD Ameritrade offers a wide variety of additional educational resources, from articles and in-person events to information on inherited accounts and taxes. The firm also runs the podcast Talking Green, focused on how investors interact with their money.
These types of extensive features are far beyond the basic articles and general investment information offered by some online competitors.
An additional feature that’s particularly helpful for traders is paperMoney, available on the thinkorswim platform. With paperMoney, traders can test out strategies using the same thinkorswim platform they would use when putting their own assets at risk. On the paperMoney platform, customers can trade up to $100,000 in virtual money risk-free.
TD Ameritrade has many of the standard security features offered by online brokerage firms, including two-factor authentication and account shutdown in the event that fraudulent activity is detected. TD Ameritrade also offers an asset-protection guarantee in the event of loss due to unauthorized account activity.
TD Ameritrade is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which grants client accounts $500,000 in SIPC insurance, including a $250,000 limit for cash. CDs purchased through TD Ameritrade are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as are cash deposits held in FDIC-insured deposit accounts.
Mobile apps offered by TD Ameritrade are protected by facial recognition and/or fingerprint ID, subject to the biometric limitations of an individual smartphone.
| Average Cost Per Trade | Minimum Deposit | Best for... | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TD Ameritrade | $0 | $0 | Beginners and experts who want the backing of a branch network and a diversified account offering |
| E*TRADE | $0 | $0 | Active options traders, online traders |
| Robinhood | $0 | $0 | Online-only traders that need basic information and stock, ETF and crypto trading only |
E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade share two of the characteristics that are popular with customers: No account minimums and $0 commission on stock and ETF trades. E*TRADE charges just $19.99 for transaction-fee mutual funds, versus the $49.99 fee at TD Ameritrade. Its per-contract fee for options trades drops to $0.50 after 30 trades in a quarter, versus the level $0.65 per-contract charge at TD Ameritrade.
Although both firms offer educational resources for investors, the options available at TD Ameritrade are broader and deeper. In addition to general articles on investment knowledge, TD Ameritrade offers everything from webinars and videos to a podcast and an immersive curriculum; E*TRADE’s offerings are limited to articles, videos and an educational library.
Like TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE also has physical branches and advisory services, but fewer branches in comparison (30 located in 16 states, plus D.C.).
Both TD Ameritrade and Robinhood have $0 commissions on most stock and ETF trades. However, Robinhood doesn’t charge a per-contract fee on options trades, whereas TD Ameritrade customers pay $0.65 per options contract.
Robinhood does come up short compared with TD Ameritrade when it comes to diversity of products and physical branch presence. While customers can buy many types of securities at TD Ameritrade, from stocks and bonds to CDs, futures, annuities and foreign currencies, Robinhood customers are limited to stocks, ETFs, ADRs and cryptocurrency. Robinhood also has no physical branches, making it a completely different experience than with TD Ameritrade, which offers branches in 44 states, as well as the District of Columbia.
All rates and fees mentioned in this article are accurate as of the date of publishing.
The “Find a Financial Advisor” links contained in this article will direct you to webpages devoted to MagnifyMoney Advisor (“MMA”). After completing a brief questionnaire, you will be matched with certain financial advisers who participate in MMA’s referral program, which may or may not include the investment advisers discussed.
John CsiszarJohn Csiszar earned a Certified Financial Planner designation and served for 18 years as an investment counselor before becoming a writing and editing contractor for various private clients.
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