Update: There’s another link with lower tiers and with better bonuses at the lower tiers. This offer is valid through 7/31. (This other offer uses promo code RETIRE25.)
The Offer
- e*Trade is offering an IRA bonus (or rollover of 401k to IRA) of up to $40,000 for clients who open one new eligible E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley retirement account.
- $25,000 gets $250
$100,000 gets $625
$200,000 gets $1,000
$500,000 gets $2,000
$1,000,000 gets $5,000
$2,000,000 gets $8,000
$5,000,000 gets $15,000
$10,000,000 gets $20,000
$15,000,000 gets $30,000
$20,000,000 gets $40,000
- $25,000 gets $250
The Fine Print
- Must enroll in this offer by 3/31/2025 and fund within 60 days.
- Funds must be maintained for 12 months.
- Each client is limited to a lifetime maximum of two new account offers, across all client accounts (and not just the E*TRADE retirement account eligible for this offer).
Our Verdict
This offer is for an IRA transfers, and the tiers are mostly better than on the e*Trade brokerage transfer offer. Overall this is a solid offer and well worth considering for someone with a large IRA account balance. This should work for either a traditional IRA or Roth IRA (but seemingly not for a combination of the two).
We’ll add this to our List of Best Brokerage Bonuses.
Hat tip to avsterbone
is $20,000–$99,999. $300 the best ? Thanks
I moved $25K in a new IRA. Etrade didn’t honor their promo. They said they have no record of the promo. I moved out the funds.
expired
I wonder if both bonuses apply if you transfer in an IRA and also apply the RETIRE25 code. Like if I moved in my $25k Roth IRA into etrade, would it give both the $250 IRA bonus + $300 RETIRE25 bonus.
Also, would these bonuses contribute to the Roth IRA annual limit? Probably not, I’d assume its interest. otherwise those bonuses larger than 7k wouldnt make sense
I am trying to do this now.
ETrade customer service is a royal pain in the neck to deal with. They cannot even tell me how to do initiate this transfer for this IRA without tax implications. I have talked to two people so far. I am seriously questioning if a few thousand dollars are worth dealing with ETrade.
Not sure where to go for answers.
Does E*Trade bonus into an IRA account get reported on 1099? The bonus shouldn’t count towards the annual IRA contribution limit, right?
Also, if E*Trade reimburses the outgoing broker’s ACATS fee, does that reimbursement go straight into the IRA account and is that reported on 1099?
Bonuses that go into IRAs directly are not taxable. It’s like interest or a dividend; in an IRA it doesn’t cause a taxable event.
Did anyone catch this limitation in their T&Cs? It sounds pretty limiting and is different from their standard language with the addition of “lifetime”.
Each client is limited to a lifetime maximum of of two new account offers, across all client accounts (and not just the E*TRADE retirement account eligible for this offer).
Good catch. This would be my second bonus from them so should be ok!
Yes, I just found out today, and this condition appears in their other promotions as well—likely to be in all future promotions. I used the doc link to create a new account. Typically, ETRADE sends a promotion enrollment email after account creation, but I didn’t receive anything even after a day. Then I realized I’ve already received two bonuses before—one for an IRA and one for a brokerage account. Looks like I’m no longer eligible for ETRADE promotions. RIP.
FYI: “Each client is limited to a lifetime maximum of two new account offers, across all client accounts (and not just the E*TRADE retirement account eligible for this offer).”
Chuck
I’ll add that fine print
Has anyone had this enforced? I already received 2 brokerage bonuses, am currently enrolled in the checking offer with email confirmation (not targeted), and just signed up for this IRA promotion but also did not receive the email confirmation.
No idea if this is being enforced. Maybe we can get some datapoints on users who only received 1 or 0 bonuses and if they received the email confirmation on signup. I’m on the fence for this one. I received 1 new account bonus and I’m currently awaiting a second bonus for adding money to an existing account. So I should be good but it would be a whole lot of work for nothing if they count as a “new” account bonus.
Yeah I’ll probably have P2 try to enroll since they only received 1 brokerage bonus. I also used RETIRE25 for the lower tiers (same will be for P2) so I’m not sure if that makes a difference.
Okay after chatting with CS yesterday, I found out my account was not enrolled in the promotion RETIRE25. I had to call in and they were able to enroll me and I received the enrollment email today. However, the terms were for the regular IRA promotion here, not the alternate one RETIRE25. Chatted again and they were able to swap to RETIRE25. Waiting for that email now.
This should work for either a traditional IRA or Roth IRA (but seemingly not for a combination of the two).
I assume this is because of the “one offer per retirement account”??
Is this a public offer? Curious how risky it is if it wasn’t intended to be public. Probably best to open the account now, even if you don’t immediately transfer (you have 60 days).