Scottrade Review 5-star brokerage firm rating

Best discount broker for small investors/small accounts



Best Small Investor Broker Commissions

  • 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

Scottrade Community

Scottrade created an active and helpful online user community, where customers could learn about investing as well as new trading strategies, get investing ideas and interact with other traders.

Scottrade Pros

  • 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)

Scottrade Cons

  • Additional 0.5% of the principal value commission for stocks under $1
  • No electronic withdrawals (but can use debit card or checks)

Best Small Investor Broker

Scottrade is the best discount online brokerage firm for small investors (small accounts) since customers could open an account with just $500. There are no minimum balance requirements, no hidden fees and no penalties for having low balance or not making any trades. The firm also offers good commissions of $7 per trade. Compare it to $10 per trade at Etrade or TD Ameritrade. Read full Scottrade Review.

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