Page 1 of 2

To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 6:27 pm
by IRQVET
Does anyone here use Scottrade? I used them about 8 years ago once when I first started trading, and I haven't traded since. (For no real reason other than I was new and just trading/ investing for the first time)

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 8:52 am
by Kendig
I use them and have had no issues.
Cheers!

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 9:09 am
by geojim
Me too. No problems. no account fees, low trade fees

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 9:32 am
by phxmrc
Been using them for years hassle free, no problems!

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 9:52 am
by wulfent
Me too, never had an issue, and the local office is very helpful if I call with questions.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 10:59 am
by cantspeak
I've been using them with no issues. The only thing I don't like is that you have to call the local office to withdrawal any funds and they send a check. Or you can open a bank account with them to electronically move money.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 11:09 am
by bad70nova
I agree with Cantspeak that is the only issue I have with them. Love the easy trading, and so easy to put money in to an account with them, but they make it hard to get it back should not be that way, but I still use them have for about 6 years.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 12:32 pm
by Nigel
Are you folks using stock trade in addition to the TSP account?

I retired last year and am always searching for the optimal investment mix.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 12:53 pm
by skeelo1811
I have Scottrade for personal investment options in addition to my TSP. Closed it out couple years ago due to divorce but reopened earlier this year because I liked them so much. Previous posts about getting money out are true but really that works to your benefit. You want that money to be less liquid so you CAN save it. You can still get it just takes a little bit. I have mine going into ROTH instead of Traditional.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 4:13 pm
by ArrieS
One thing to consider is how much do you have to start with. At Merrill Lynch you can trade 30 times a month if it's more than $50,000 in total, or $25,000 deposited in a your trading account as a cash balance. Which means the moment you invest it and it drops below $25,000 the free trades go away. More than $100,000 you get 100 free trades a month.

Nothing better than free stock trades and their option prices aren't bad either.

Look at your current bank too. Sometimes staying in house has lots of benefits because with more than $20,000 at BOA I get additional benefits like reduced auto loan rates, mortgage origination fee reduction, and ETC. Consider everything. Those benefits get better at $50,000 and $100,000.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:32 am
by TopNotch
For everyone that uses Scottrade, do they let you buy leveraged ETFS online? Yesterday I tried to buy a Direxion leveraged ETF from my broker (not Scottrade) online, but the order would not fill. :x When I called my broker, they explained that leveraged ETFS are risky investments (which I already know) and that a phone order needs to be placed instead, so that they can read some legal disclaimers, etc. Since timing is everything, this destroyed a good entry point.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:15 am
by Snapdragon
I'm at TD Ameritrade. I was looking to leave them, but realized pretty much everybody else charges an outrageous fee to trade small cap. Different online brokers have different cut offs of what that is, but it would effect me. So I stay at Ameritrade

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:31 pm
by evilanne
Snapdragon wrote:I'm at TD Ameritrade. I was looking to leave them, but realized pretty much everybody else charges an outrageous fee to trade small cap. Different online brokers have different cut offs of what that is, but it would effect me. So I stay at Ameritrade
From my research, TD Ameritrade seems to have the best platform and better set up for reporting on retirement accounts/taxes. I know the trade prices vary among the discount brokerages, but any other pros & cons for TD Ameritrade? Have you needed assistance from one of their professionals for anything? I'm planning on transferring part of TSP to IRA somewhere in order to gradually transfer from regular to Roth IRA over time, just haven't figured out when or where to transfer.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:42 pm
by crondanet5
I use Fidelity. I used to trade VIX but no more. Fidelity charges $4.95 a trade. You could call Fidelity and ask if they allow leveraged ETFs.

Re: To Scottrade or not . . .

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 5:49 pm
by Snapdragon
evilanne wrote: From my research, TD Ameritrade seems to have the best platform and better set up for reporting on retirement accounts/taxes. I know the trade prices vary among the discount brokerages, but any other pros & cons for TD Ameritrade? Have you needed assistance from one of their professionals for anything? I'm planning on transferring part of TSP to IRA somewhere in order to gradually transfer from regular to Roth IRA over time, just haven't figured out when or where to transfer.


I have called them several times for different things. I always get a real person and they always do a good job. One time I ran in to a problem with the website, didn't effect me much but they apologized and gave a few free trades. I called them back later to see if I could move the free trades to another account and they said sure and did it quickly. I value customer service and I think they do great. They lowered their trade fees this year too. YEA! Downsides: 1) If your trade takes more than 1 day (because of so many shares trying to buy/sell), you get charged another fee the next day. Example: I want to sell 1,000 shares. If it takes 3 transactions to make it happen, but it all happens the same day, the fee is $6.95. If it takes 3 transactions over the course of 2 days you get charged $6.95 for each day. Not sure if a phone call would help that. 2) they don't always have all the news. If one of my stocks is moving more than normal, I hit Google to see if I can find something. But for what they do have, the news can be broken down by your positions and watch lists. Its pretty nice. It takes time to learn how to take advantage of stuff on the site. But again, secure messaging and phone calls and they will be more than happy to help you.