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Merrill Lynch vs Scottrade
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Merrill Lynch Brokerage does not exist anymore. Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch and together they created
new online broker called Merrill Edge (Merrill Edge Review).
To compare Just2Trade and Merrill Edge, read
Scottrade vs Merrill Edge review.
Scottrade vs Merrill Lynch: Trading Fees and Investments Offered
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- Stocks and ETFs: $7
- Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $27
- Stocks and ETFs interactive voice response (IVR) telephone system: $17
- Options: $7 plus $1.25 per contract
- Mutual Funds: 2,800+ free mutual funds, $17 for others
- CDs, OTC Secondary Corporates, OTC Secondary Municipals, U.S. Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds and STRIPS, New Corporate Offerings: subject to a markup or markdown
- Listed Corporate Bonds: $35 fee plus $3 per bond (minimum investment $1,000)
- Unit Investment Trusts (UIT): $50 liquidation fee
- Foreign Stocks Transferring In or Out: $60 per transaction
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, CDs, munis, U.S. Treasury, Canadian and foreign stocks, ETFs
- Minimum to open Scottrade account: $500 for a cash account, $2,000 for a margin account
- All Scottrade fees
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- Stocks and ETFs: $29.95 for limit orders; $14 market orders
- Options: expensive with complicated structure
click here to see it
- Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, bills, notes, munis, CDs, corporate bonds, ETFs,
annuities
- Minimum to open Merrill Lynch account: $2,000
- All Merrill Lynch fees
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- No inactivity, account maintenance or hidden fees
- No-fee IRAs
- One of the highest customer satisfaction ratings according to JD Power and Associates
- 500+ local branches
- Great support for beginner investors with massive amount of educational resources
- Online user community
- Banking services: savings, CDs, money market and checking accounts (visa check card and first order of checks is free)
- No ACAT fee
- Only $500 minimum to open account
- Free real-time streaming quotes and charts
- Free dividend reinvestment for mutual funds (but not for stocks)
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- Many investment products
- Participation in IPOs, if you have 100K account balance (not guaranteed)
- Free checking account
- Free Visa debit card
- 600 offices nationwide
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- Additional 0.5% of the principal value commission for stocks under $1
- No electronic withdrawals (but can use debit card or checks)
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- Highest commissions of all stock brokers
- Additional $0.03 per share for orders of over 1,000 shares
- Account maintenance fee: $25/quarter (waived if 25K balance or make 2 trades in 6 months)
- Annual custodial fee of $50 for IRA and ROTH IRA accounts (waived if $20,000 in assets at Merrill Lynch)
- Mutual fund Short-Term redemption fee if held less than 180 days: $50-$250
- Optional Exchange Fee: $30. Mandatory Exchange Fee: $50
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Merrill Lynch vs Scottrade: Comparison Summary
Merrill Lynch (Merrill Lynch Review) is
the most expensive brokerage house in the country: $29.95 commission for stock and ETF limit orders! The firm
also charges additional $0.03 per share for orders of over 1,000 shares.
Scottrade (Scottrade Review)
offers by far lower commissions - just $7 for stock and ETF trade. The company has no large order surcharge but it does
charge more for penny stocks.
Thanks to helpful online community, where users could ask questions and learn from more experienced investors, as well as plethora of
learning materials, Scottrade is one of the
Best Brokers for Beginner Investors.
It is also made it into our list of Top Rated Brokerage Firms in 2012.
Merrill Lynch has annual custodial fee of $50 for IRA and ROTH IRA accounts. Scottrade, on the hand, offers
fee-free retirement accounts and the firm is rated as one of the
Best Brokerages For IRA Account.
Both companies have no account inactivity fees and, in cse of Scottrade, no maintenance fee. Merrill
Lynch charges $25 per quarter account maintenance fee.
Based on much lower investing and maintenance costs, we strongly recommend Scottrade over Merrill Lynch.
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