[Expired] TD Ameritrade – Up To $1,500 Bonus & $150 Transfer Fee Rebate (TD Bank Customers Only)

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • TD Bank is offering customers a bonus of up to $1,500 and a $150 transfer fee rebate when they open a new TD Ameritrade account. Bonuses are tiered as follows:
    • $1,500 bonus when you open a new account with $500,000 or more
    • $1,000 bonus when you open a new account with $250,000-$499,999
    • $500 bonus when you open a new account with $100,000-$249,999
    • $200 bonus when you open a new account with $50,000-$99,999
    • $50 bonus when you open a new account with $10,000-$49,999
  • $150 transfer fee rebate with a minimum transfer of $10,000
  • 60 days of commission free trades with a $3,000 deposit

The Fine Print

  • Offer valid for one new Individual, Joint, IRA account or a new account managed by TD Ameritrade Investment Management, LLC.
  • New accounts funded with $3,000 or more are eligible for free trades.
  • Accounts managed by TD Ameritrade Investment Management are not eligible to receive the free trades.
  • Once the new account managed by TD Ameritrade Investment Management, is opened, please call 888-310-7921 to have your account registered for the offer.
  • TD Ameritrade accounts must be registered for the offer by 6/30/2019 and funded within 180 days.
  • Valid IRA types include Traditional, Roth, Rollover, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA.
  • Please allow 3-4 weeks from account funding for the cash bonus and/or transfer fee rebate to post to your account.
  • Offer is not valid on tax-exempt trusts, 401k accounts, Keogh plans, Profit Sharing Plan, or Money Purchase Plan.
  • Offer is not transferable and not valid with internal transfers, TD Ameritrade Institutional accounts, or with other offers.
  • Qualified commission-free Internet equity, ETF or options orders will be limited to a maximum of 500 and must execute within 60 calendar days of new account funding.
  • Contract, exercise, and assignment fees still apply.
  • Limit one offer per client.
  • Account value of the qualifying account must remain equal to, or greater than, the value after the net deposit was made (minus any losses due to trading or market volatility or margin debit balances) for 12 months, or TD Ameritrade may charge the account for the cost of the offer at its sole discretion.
  • TD Ameritrade reserves the right to restrict or revoke this offer at any time.
  • This is not an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where we are not authorized to do business.
  • Taxes related to TD Ameritrade offers are your responsibility. Promotional items and cash received during the calendar year will be included on your consolidated Form 1099.
  • Please consult a legal or tax advisor for the most recent changes to the U.S. tax code and for rollover eligibility rules. New Account offer code: 716.

Our Verdict

You need to be a TD Bank customer to do this deal, if you’re not then you can get a bonus of up to $300 for signing up for a checking account. Keep in mind you need to maintain the balance (minus any losses) for 12 months. This is better than a lot of other brokerage bonuses like this, personally I don’t find these offers worth doing as I don’t like moving my investments around.

Hat tip to reader Abey & USam

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42 Comments
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Ren
Ren (@guest_1033085)
August 9, 2020 15:24

The promo is no longer listed in the TD link. Is it dead?

Jim
Jim (@guest_1033092)
August 9, 2020 15:53

Yep. I just tried to open a new account with the promo code (TDB1500) from the TD Bank page and it said was invalid.

TDA must be shutting things down as part of the Schwab merger. TDA used to be the golden goose, compared to the miser that is Schwab and Fidelity

sg77
sg77 (@guest_1033105)
August 9, 2020 16:35

There’s still an offer at https://www.doctorofcredit.com/td-ameritrade-up-to-1000-bonus/#comment-975090 but the lowest tier for that one is $350 for $250,000

cpunk
cpunk (@guest_1001945)
June 22, 2020 11:53

New expiration date: 12/31/2020

chiem
chiem (@guest_771552)
June 18, 2019 16:14

has anyone closed/transferred assets away within the first 12 months and got bonus reclaimed?

roger
roger (@guest_911292)
February 17, 2020 08:24

Yes ,been there ,done that. Td gobbled/clawed back my bonus after I transferred my acct before 12 mths !!

Pablo
Pablo (@guest_1014140)
July 10, 2020 22:28

I did the same thing very recently when the SoFi 1% match promotion came up and as far as I can tell based on the cash that ended up in my SoFi account, TD did not claw back my bonus amount. I was fully expecting clawback, needless to say I was happy it didn’t happen seemingly.

Mike
Mike (@guest_1015343)
July 13, 2020 04:35

Pablo
Did you do a full transfer or partial transfer, and did you have any uninvested cash in the account? Did the account transfer fee show up as a negative balance in your SoFi account after the transfer? And how far away were you from the 1 year mark?

Pablo
Pablo (@guest_1015395)
July 13, 2020 07:47

I did a full transfer and I had uninvested cash which is why I’m fairly confident they didn’t claw back. I did have $75 charge show up on my SoFi account after the transfer but I wasn’t gonna ask around it, not sure who charged that TD or Sofi. I was 6 months+ from hitting the 1 year mark. The SoFi promotion was just too good to pass up.

mocha
mocha (@guest_752409)
April 25, 2019 15:53

Does TD have any money markets available like Vanguard Prime MM VMMXX?

Ron
Ron (@guest_750606)
April 20, 2019 19:21

Are those funds required to be deposited for bonus $ cash or stocks equivalent to those amounts? Asking because TD ameritrade is an investment company and also will the funds covered by FDIC insurance ?

Closertothesun
Closertothesun (@guest_751398)
April 23, 2019 12:01

Cash, stocks, or whatever securities. Mostly people transfer their index funds, but I suppose some speculative traders might do this as well.

Brokerage accounts are not FDIC insured as a rule. No brokerage account is.

Fathiss
Fathiss (@guest_750310)
April 19, 2019 18:19

One thing to consider if going for the $1500 and you currently have an account with them: SIPC limit is $500,000 in case the brokerage firm goes belly up.
Consider that risk if the cumulative assets exceed this.

Wilson
Wilson (@guest_750543)
April 20, 2019 12:41

“TD Ameritrade also provides $149.5 million worth of protection for each client through supplemental coverage provided by London insurers. The $149.5 million of coverage includes a sub-limit of $900,000 on cash. Each client is limited to a combined return of $150 million from SIPC or London insurers. The TD Ameritrade supplemental insurance policy has an aggregate limit of $500 million for claims from all TD Ameritrade clients. ” Risk with established brokers is low since your securities should still be there even if the firm goes bankrupt, unlike cash deposited at a bank, which is really an unsecured loan to bank. Of course if you have a lot of money then the risk of the broker embezzling from clients is something to worry about

Fathiss
Fathiss (@guest_750640)
April 20, 2019 21:16

Supplemental insurance, like all insurance is suspect. The devil is in the details which they don’t readily supply. They just give the headline.
I have home insurance but it excludes hurricanes and sink holes, the two most common forms of catastrophic losses in this area. So I can claim to have hone insurance but leave out the important details of the exclusions.
Brokerage companies incentive to advertise supplemental insurance is to secure more asset transfers. But do they pay the high premium insurance that would cover fraud (Ponzi schemes) and money laundering? The real high risk scenario for investors (Madoff type).
I have marginal confidence in SIPC (not government backed), but it’s much higher than supplemental insurance.
A safer way if you want to exceed the $500,000 limit in the same brokerage firm is to split into different accounts if possible as each would individually have the full SIPC coverage. Just my opinion.

losingtrader
losingtrader (@guest_750658)
April 20, 2019 22:34

Fathiss, you need better homeowners insurance. You can buy coverage without windstorm in Florida? The sinkhole coverage is standard but requires catastrophic collapse.
I lend to flippers in Florida so I know a little bit about the coverages.

Fathiss
Fathiss (@guest_750707)
April 21, 2019 08:58

Lodingtrader,
It is possible not to have windstorm if the bank does not hold a mortgage on your property. But obviously you know that.

losingtrader
losingtrader (@guest_750800)
April 21, 2019 15:55

No, actually I did not know you could buy homeowners sans windstorm coverage .Like I said I know a little bit about the coverages. I’ll make sure everyone I lend to carries windstorm

losingtrader
losingtrader (@guest_750665)
April 20, 2019 23:00

Having been in the securities industry, SIPC coverage is 500,000 ABOVE whatever is left in your account after a brokerage firm failure. The limit on cash is $250,000 , but money market funds are considered securities, and thus would be subject to the higher coverage.
SIPC is industry-funded, and in the wake of the Madoff scandal, every firm was assessed .25% or .5% of annual profits for a period of time because SIPC only had about $1 billion in reserves.
I was a registered firm trader and was assessed the fee.
The reason you’re (and SIPC) unlikely to have a loss–except in the event of a catastrophic failure of all the brokerages as almost happened in 2008, is that securities and cash must be legally segregated from the firm’s assets.
In a catastrophic failure of the system, some very bad things will happen as brokerage firms cannot file Chapter 11, only Chapter 7. Bear Stearns board didn’t even realize this and contemplated filing Chapter 11 until their lawyers told them they had to sell to JPM or be liquidated.

One of the reasons you’ll find Lloyds syndicates willing to provide a large amount of protection is the segregation of securities requirement in retail accounts. Failure to segregate by a broker-dealer would likely be a crime.

Please note other rules may apply to futures trading firms. They are regulated by CFTC.

All this being said, in 2008 and early 2009 I was withdrawing profits on an almost daily basis because the insurance scheme most likely to crash –other than private credit union insurance–was the SIPC system because of systemic risk and lack of a government backstop.

If possible your securities should be “customer name” securities, not “street name.” This is next to impossible these days . Many securities are book -entry only. Virtually anything you hold at a brokerage firm is in “street name.”

Here’s a good explanation of what happens in a brokerage failure , and I have never liked the part about aggregating the cash and securities of all customers.

I’m not quite sure how that would work:
https://www.willkie.com/~/media/Files/Publications/2008/03/What%20Happens%20When%20a%20Broker-Dealer%20Fails%20%20A%20Summa__/Files/SummaryofKeyBankruptcyCodeandSIPARelatedIssuespdf/FileAttachment/Summary_of_Key_Bankruptcy_Code_and_SIPA_Related___.pdf

Fathiss
Fathiss (@guest_750709)
April 21, 2019 09:16

Losingtrader,
Yes, if they don’t segregate the securities it is a crime. My point is a catastrophic failure in a brokerage firm would likely be due to a crime (fraud). I doubt that Lloyd’s is going to cover in that case.

It’s also interesting that they are insuring up to $500 million but TD Ameritrade has over $1 trillion in assets. Why don’t they insure all of their assets?

As far as SIPC, although it is not have a government backing, I expect if they bailed out AIG they would bail out SIPC before an insurance company.

Thank you for your comment. It is interesting read.

S
S (@guest_867495)
January 7, 2020 16:27

losingtrader – I am not expert on these things, but I always thought my securities are always safe, no matter what happens to the brokerage firm, is that not true? Let’s say, if I have 1M+ all in securities, and firm goes bankrupt, are my securities at risk?

Ken
Ken (@guest_750303)
April 19, 2019 18:06

This link does not require you to be a TD Bank customer:
https://www.tdameritrade.com/offer/for90days/index.html

It does not have the top $1500 tier though.

Bob
Bob (@guest_750280)
April 19, 2019 16:03

I did this deal last May, and found it very easy. My memory is that the bonus posted the day after TD received my securities. I opened a TD Bank account before I did this deal, but at no point in the process was i ever asked for my TD bank info. TD Ameritrade did nothing to verify that I had a TD Bank account. I’ve found TD Ameritrade to be easy to deal with and will remain with them for the foreseeable future.

James
James (@guest_750493)
April 20, 2019 09:26

Been with TD Ameritrade and it’s predecessor companies for decades . They are the tops for customer service . They make it easy to transfer stuff in . Done opening offers for a bunch of other brokerages . Cake to transfer stuff in

Peter
Peter (@guest_750239)
April 19, 2019 13:19

Is there a downside to moving investment (vs. cash) around? I get that it’s a lot of hassle to fill out the paperwork and stuff, but especially if you are a long-term investor just holding onto stocks or ETFs, isn’t it pretty sweet to move them around and get free money?

Fathiss
Fathiss (@guest_750253)
April 19, 2019 14:25

I used to do this every few years to chase the money. To me, in the past, it was not worth the effort for less than $1000.
When you look at it as percent return, on an annualized method it boosts returns by only 0.3 – 0.5% if you transfer at the bottom end of each tier (less if you spread it out over years of the investment). Not bad I suppose these days.
But then again, $1500 is still $1500. I would not go through the hassle these days for less than that, and will likely even pass this time on that amount even though I qualify as a TD customer. Just too lazy I guess. Not good reasoning I know, since I am willing to MS for a lot less return on my time.

Peter
Peter (@guest_750261)
April 19, 2019 14:48

Yes it’s a small % when compared to the asset that you transfer, but I don’t think that’s a fair perspective because you aren’t giving up any value of the asset in the process. Bank account bonuses are the opposite where tying up $5k in a checking account has some opportunity cost. I’d think of this as effort vs. dollar value earned. Most of us on this forum would rejoice over a $500 cc sign-on bonus, despite the effort and opportunity cost associated with meeting the minimum spend.

Lrdx
Lrdx (@guest_750256)
April 19, 2019 14:28

Lot of hassle? Took me approximately 5 clicks last time.

Steve
Steve (@guest_750259)
April 19, 2019 14:42

In some cases it doesn’t even require much paperwork, just a few clicks online. (But for some brokerages like Chase You Invest, it does require annoying paperwork and getting it notarized to do a partial transfer; but someone said if you initiate the transfer at the other brokerage it may be easier.)

Thomas
Thomas (@guest_750271)
April 19, 2019 15:09

My biggest concern is on tax reporting. My current brokerage knows cost basis and lots and such.. If I start transferring back and forth, I fear I might have extra work at the end when I sell and need to account for different lots and cost bases.

Bob
Bob (@guest_750281)
April 19, 2019 16:05

I don’t know ho many securities you have, but I find it easy to keep track of cost basis for myself because i usually hold onto my securities for a long time, and have changed brokerages a few times.

Steve
Steve (@guest_750287)
April 19, 2019 16:32

The cost basis info should transfer over. (But I guess it’s possible that something could go wrong.)

losingtrader
losingtrader (@guest_750655)
April 20, 2019 22:30

Since 2011, brokerages have been required to transfer cost basis information when you move securities between brokerages.

Now that I’ve given an answer, can anyone tell me if the $1500 offer is available to people who previously received a cash payment from TD Ameritrade

Jim
Jim (@guest_750662)
April 20, 2019 22:39

Yes, TDA is very liberal. Just open a new account with the offer code attached, transfer from an external firm, and you’d be eligible.

I’ve done at least 4-6 TDA bonuses the past few years. Just space them out by 6 months or so, and you’d qualify as a new account

LNK
LNK (@guest_750288)
April 19, 2019 16:33

Not sure what are you talking about, if you transfer the whole account, it’s pretty straight forward shouldn’t take you 15 mins (max 30 mins) for normal people.

Hari
Hari (@guest_750232)
April 19, 2019 12:52

TD’s ThinkorSwim is considered a great product for trading considering it has live L2 data. Even though you do not need to have funds in the account for the application’s access.