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- Configuring Your Account - Account Requirements | Interactive Brokers LLC
- Summary of Best Online Stock Brokers for Beginners of April 2021
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- Configuring Your Account
Merrill Edge offers investment choices that will help you build a diversified portfolio. These include stocks , ETFs , mutual funds , bonds and fixed income , annuities , and options for experienced traders. When you link your Bank of America banking and Merrill Edge investment accounts, you can easily transfer money between eligible accounts; view all your eligible account balances on both websites; and quickly switch between the two sites without having to sign in again.
You can access your Merrill Edge account anytime anywhere—online and across all your mobile devices. There are no costs for downloading the Merrill Edge mobile applications, but you may be charged access fees from your wireless service provider. Please check with your wireless service provider for details on specific fees and charges. Your action plan will include an asset allocation strategy to help you build a balanced portfolio of investments aligned to your investment goals, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, and time horizon.
Skip to main content. Frequently Asked Questions. Select Your State Please tell us where you bank so we can give you accurate rate and fee information for your location. Expand all panels Show all panels Hide all panels. How much do I need to open an investment account? What are the advantages of investing with Merrill Edge? While there are certain brokerage features that will be more important for some investors than for others, there are a few things any reputable online brokerage should have.
With such a wide range of available options, checking on these basic necessities is a great way to narrow the field quickly. There will typically be some kind of notation or disclaimer at the bottom of the home page. You can quickly look up the brokerage on the SIPC website. This should also be very clearly noted in an easy-to-find location. If the brokerage offers checking or savings accounts, or any other deposit products, are they covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC?
Investment products — such as brokerage or retirement accounts that invest in stocks, bonds , options, and annuities — are not FDIC insured, because the value of investments cannot be guaranteed. What kind of insurance do they provide to protect you in case the company fails? If the company adheres to the Customer Protection Rule, it should also provide additional coverage above and beyond the basic requirements of the SIPC. Is there any kind of guarantee of protection against fraud? Will the company reimburse you for losses resulting from fraud?
Make sure you double check what the brokerage requires of you in order for you to be reimbursed. Find out if you have to provide any documentation or take specific precautions to protect yourself. What are current customers saying? Try searching online for consumer reviews of the brokerage, using keywords like " insurance claim ," "fraud protection" and "customer service. However, if there are several users from different sites all lodging the same complaint then you may want to investigate further.
Does the brokerage website offer two-factor authentication? Do you have the option of activating a security feature in addition to your password? Common options can include answering security questions, receiving unique, time-sensitive codes via text or email, or using a physical security key that slots into your USB port.
What kind of technology does the broker use to keep your account safe? Find out if the broker uses encryption or "cookies," and if it clearly explains how it uses them to protect your account information and how they work. Does the company ever sell customer information to third-parties, like advertisers?
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The answer should definitely be no. What kinds of accounts does the broker offer besides standard taxable investment accounts? For example, if you have dependents, find out if you can open an Education Savings Account ESA or a custodial account for your child or other dependents.
Can you open a retirement account? Look into whether the broker offers Roth or traditional retirement accounts and if you can roll over an existing K or IRA. Are there different products for different investing goals? For example, find out if the broker offers managed accounts. Also, find out if there investment minimums for different types of accounts. Can you manage retirement accounts for employees through the brokerage? This applies if the only employee in your small business is you.
For some, a small premium may be justifiable if the platform offers features that its cheaper competitors lack. In general, however, you want to lose as little of your investment returns as possible to accounting fees and trading commissions.
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Does the broker charge a fee for opening an account? Is there a deposit minimum? Are there any annual or monthly account maintenance fees? If so, are they waived for larger accounts or is there an easy way to avoid them even if your account balance is small? For example, Vanguard waives its annual fee if account holders agree to receive documents electronically. Does the broker offer access to a trading platform as part of their free membership?
Is there a Pro or Advanced trading platform that is pay-to-play? Some advanced platforms are free for customers who agree to place a minimum number of trades per year or invest a minimum amount.
Configuring Your Account - Account Requirements | Interactive Brokers LLC
What are the margin rates? Margin trading is only for very experienced investors who understand the risks involved. Do trading commissions depend on how much you have invested through the brokerage or how often you trade? Make sure you look at the prices that will most likely apply to you based on your anticipated account balance and trading activity. Are there different commission rates for different securities?
Summary of Best Online Stock Brokers for Beginners of April 2021
If you plan on trading more than stocks, make sure you know what the fees are to trade options, bonds , futures, or other securities. What is the minimum investment? Mutual funds often come with a number of different kinds of expenses, some of which can sneak up on you. Does the brokerage offer any free or reduced-price trades?
Also be sure to check on what kinds of trades qualify for the discount—if it's just for stocks and if ETFs, options, or fixed-income securities count. Are you rewarded or penalized for more active trading? This means that customers that focus on passive, buy-and-hold investing reap the most benefit. If the broker offers advisory services, how much do they cost? Is there a minimum account balance required to qualify for those services?
While any brokerage should have a pretty decent description of what kinds of tools and resources their trading platform offers, sometimes the best way to assess platform quality is to give it a test drive. Go through the motions of placing a trade to see how smoothly the process operates. Pull up multiple quotes for stocks and other securities, and click on every tab to see what kind of data the platform provides.
You should also check out any available screeners or other tools provided to help you find investments that meet specific criteria. What types of securities can you trade on the platform? Make sure this platform automatically allow you to trade preferred shares, IPOs, options, futures, or fixed-income securities. Are quotes in real-time? Are they streaming? There will be multiple ways you can pull up a price quote for a given security, but not all of them will provide the most up-to-date data.
Make sure you are aware of where you can find real-time streaming information to ensure your trades are well-timed. Simple quote-level data is delayed by 20 minutes or more. Can you set up customized watchlists and alerts? Does the platform provide screeners that you can customize to find stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, or other securities that meet your specific criteria? A good platform will be intuitively organized and easy to operate.
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What kinds of orders can you place? Go through the motions of placing a trade and take a look at what types of orders are offered. A basic platform should offer at least market, limit, stop, and stop limit. A better platform will also allow you to place trailing stop orders, or market-on-close orders which execute at the price the security reaches at market closing.
If you're more advanced, you should look for the ability to place conditional orders that allow you to set up multiple trades with specific triggers that will execute automatically when your specified conditions are met. Do you have control over order timing and execution of trades?
Configuring Your Account
A basic platform should at least allow you to place trades that are good-for-day meaning they can be executed at any time during trading hours or good-until-canceled which keeps the order for up to 60 days until it is executed or you cancel it. Can you trade in Extended Hours? Stock and ETF trades take place outside of normal market hours of a. EST, the in pre-market and after-hours periods. Each brokerage has its own definition of the specific time periods these Extended Hours sessions occupy.
For example, Schwab has Pre-Market trading beginning at 8 a.