TD Ameritrade Review

All brokers provide research tools, to a degree, but the research tools, investment advice, and resources available from TD Ameritrade are without equal. No other online broker comes close. Immersive courses, designed to help both beginners and more experienced traders, provide an extensive look at the fundamentals of trading but also include more specialized topics such as Options or Futures Trading.

As well as articles, third-party reports and investing publications customers can avail of the TD Ameritrade Network. This streaming, real-time news channel offers market insights and strategy education from industry experts such as Ben Lichtenstein and Nicole Petallides.

TD Ameritrade Essential Portfolios robo-advisor services

For those looking to take a more hands-off approach to trading, TD also offers, via its TD Ameritrade Essential Portfolios robo-advisor services. The robo-advisor is an automated investment service that builds a portfolio according to customer data. Namely their stated pre-stated risk tolerance, tax situation and overall investment needs. Essential Portfolios will cost you a 0.30% annual fee and a minimum initial investment of $5,000 and a number of different accounts are available, such as IRAs, individual and joint accounts and more.

TD Private Client Wealth

For those wanting to make use of an accredited human advisor with years of experience, there is TD Private Client Wealth. This fund has just under $5.6 billion in assets under management and is one of the best performing funds in the US. Fund customers can avail of the firm’s services include wealth planning, retirement planning, investment management and more.

As well as their extensive range of services TD Ameritrade offers strong customer service support, and skilled, knowledgeable and efficient customer service agents. Customer service is available online, via telephone, and also in one of their branches throughout the US where in-person guidance and support is offered to customers.

Before you start you will need to have some information ready, either your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and the name of your employer and their address (if relevant).

1. Start your application and select your account – Go to the TD Ameritrade “open an account” page and select the relevant account you want to open. If you are still not sure there is a handy link on the page which will help establish what sort of account would be best for you.
2. Enter your information – Once you have selected the type of account you want, you will be required to fill in your personal information and details such as your Social Security number.
3. Confirm your information – After inputting your details, you are given a chance to review all the information before confirming.
4. Agree to terms – After inputting, and confirming your information you will be asked to read the terms and conditions of your relevant account. Information such as the client agreement, account handbook, a business continuity plan statement, and an IRA account agreement disclosure should be carefully read through. You will be asked to agree to the terms and conditions, and will also be asked some information on behalf of the IRS.
5. Create your login – Here you will be asked to set up your account name, password for the account, account preference, and contact information. The last steps before you are ready to start trading.

Deposit & Withdrawal process at TD Ameritrade

Making deposits and withdrawing money from your TD Ameritrade account is easy, but first you will need to deposit funds in order to start trading. There are five ways to do this:

1. Electronic Bank Deposit – Fast and easy, simply deposit funds into your account by means of an electronic transfer (ACH) from your bank account into your trading account. Limit $50-$20,000 and takes just seconds online.
2. Wire Transfer – Transfer money from your bank account into your TD account by wire transfer. You will need to put in a transfer request with your bank but there are no limits on transfers this way, though funds can take one working day to appear.
3. Check – Simply write a check in favor of your TD Ameritrade account, checks can then either be posted or cashed in online, and within 1-3 business days the funds will be in your account.
4. Account Transfer from Another Broker – You can also fund your trading account by transferring stocks, options, ETFs and other assets. This can be done online and though there are no limits to how much you can transfer, the funds will take about a week to appear in your account.
5. Physical Stock Certificates – Admittedly, not many individuals are likely to fund their trading account this way but you can. Simply submit a deposit slip and then mail the physical stock certificates in your name into an individual TD Ameritrade account. Once received, funds will take one day to appear.

When it comes to withdrawing funds from your account your options are significantly fewer, as TD Ameritrade only supports withdrawals by means of a bank transfer. The fee for a wire transfer is $25, regardless of the amount, but there are no fees for electronic (ACH) withdrawals. So, whilst it is true that you are limited in how you withdraw your money, at least you can do so for free if you are withdrawing the funds via ACH.

There are a number of different ways you can contact customer support, including a dedicated customer service line, available 24/7 at 800-669-3900.

In today’s day and age, when so many companies simply consign customer service to a robot with a standard range of generic answers to genuine concerns it is nice to see that TD Ameritrade knows the value of the human touch. With customers able to talk to knowledgeable and courteous agents that are always there to answer your call.

Of course, you can also chat online and customer support is also available via the company’s Facebook Messenger and Twitter channels.

Last but by no means least you can walk into one of their brick-and-mortar branches, and with over 175 offices across the nation your nearest branch may well be closer than you think. You can check the exact location of your nearest branch at https://www.tdameritrade.com/branches.html.

Meanwhile the Stocks Charts and Stocks Overview tools let you quickly identify potential opportunities in stocks. This way you can stay ahead of the herd and invest in shares that look set for growth.

The fully customizable range of research tools let you set filters and parameters in line with your investment goals to ensure that you are not swamped by irrelevant data but instead are managing information for meaningful insight.

Once you have fully customized the parameters then why not sit back and relax a bit knowing that each morning the Market Java report will provide you with your daily shot of market news and insights, before the markets open. Packed with useful information this report includes all the latest news about pre-market conditions, as well as any significant stock moves, and more.

Market Edge

Market Edge is a subscription service available for just $19.95 a month, and just one of the many tools TD Ameritrade offers customers. Market Edge helps you make better decisions and provides genuine insight and analysis of the markets.

Daily email market reports provide accurate information. Trading Ideas help you identify the best early entry, long, and other picks available. Stock Watch alerts help you manage your portfolio and stay in control. And Industry Group Analysis lets you quickly identify growth sectors, for picks with strong growth potential.

Regardless of whether you want to trade stocks, mutual funds, penny stocks, futures, commodities, or any of the other financial products available, Market Edge is designed to give you an edge in the market.

The curriculum is immersive and goal focused. Courses such as those on how to identify rising and falling stocks, are designed to help students understand important trading concepts. But even experienced traders are well served, with advanced lessons taking a look at topics such as the Fintech sector, or how to hedge your portfolio.

Available on desktop, web-based, and mobile formats the education center consists of a vast library of content which provides access to podcasts, tutorials, videos, webinars, articles, and even investment coaching.

If practice makes perfect then the paperMoney demo account tool, available via the thinkorswim platform, is the stuff of dreams. This powerful tool is a robust stock trading simulator that is great for new investors. But even seasoned traders can benefit from paperMoney as it lets you test out new theories and opportunities, without putting your money on the line.

All interactions on the secure TD Ameritrade website make use of secure 128-bit encryption. This is a method of encryption that is considered as being logically unbreakable and is the most modern and secure methods of protecting important information.

As well as using 128-bit encryption the company also employs advanced firewalls to keep unauthorized parties from gaining access to your personal information. On top of which anomaly detection and intrusion detection technology monitors and protects customer accounts and automatically alerts TD, as well as customers, in the event of any unusual account behavior.

Deposits made into TD Ameritrade fully insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which means that in the unlikely event of the bank going bust deposits of up to $250,000 are fully insured. Not only that but TD Ameritrade is also a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), whereby securities in your account are protected up to the value of $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash.

TD Ameritrade takes its commitment to top-tier security one step further, and will reimburse any customer for the cash or shares of securities from their account that may be lost as a result of unauthorized activity.

So, whilst trading is indeed a risky business you can breathe easy knowing that your broker has got your back.

If you are a new trader then TD Ameritrade is worth taking a closer look at. Its emphasis on providing users with the knowledge needed to make informed trading decisions, coupled with its excellent stock trading simulator, really help differentiate it from its rivals. Even experienced traders are well served though, such is the quality and sheer scope of useful resources on offer.

As a well-established broker you can be sure that they will be there for you, and the brick-and-mortar branches are reassuring in today’s day and age when flash in the pan operators seem to pop-up every day.

Useful information about TD Ameritrade

This section contains useful information to make your experience at TD Ameritrade as seamless as possible.

How to contact TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade can be contacted by:

• Phone: New accounts – 800-454-9272, existing clients – 800-669-3900
• Facebook messenger: https://www.facebook.com/tdameritrade
• Twitter DM: https://twitter.com/TDAmeritrade
• Or by visiting your nearest local branch: https://www.tdameritrade.com/branches.html

How to withdraw from TD Ameritrade

You can make withdrawals from TD Ameritrade by means of either a wire-transfer or by an electronic transfer (ACH)

How safe is TD Ameritrade?

TD Ameritrade is considered very safe. On top of providing 128-bit encryption and being insured by both the FDIC and SIPC, TD Ameritrade promises to compensate customers fully for any losses on their account that are the result of unauthorized activity.