Free Charles Schwab Account
Visit Schwab Website
Is TD Ameritrade a Scam?
TD Ameritrade is a well-known broker in the U.S. This article will explore whether TD Ameritrade is safe and legitimate, providing a brief overview.
TD Ameritrade Company Overview
TD Ameritrade has been operational for over 40 years, making it one of the biggest brokers in the U.S.
today. Although now a part of Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade continues under its own name.
TD Ameritrade manages over
11 million client accounts and controls more than $1 trillion in assets. They provide services for over 6,000 investment advisors. On average, their clients make over 500,000 trades daily. According to Charles Schwab’s 10-K annual report, TD Ameritrade brought in over $7 billion in revenue in 2021.
Is TD Ameritrade Legitimate?
As a broker/dealer, TD Ameritrade is subject to extensive regulation. Several authorities monitor TD Ameritrade, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and others like FinCEN and the IRS.
With stringent oversight and decades in business, it's nearly impossible for TD Ameritrade to operate illegitimately or as a scam. TD Ameritrade is also voluntarily registered with the Better Business Bureau.
TD Ameritrade Reviews & Complaints
Any long-standing company like TD Ameritrade will have some negative feedback. The good news is that public resources are available to review customer feedback and complaints.
TD Ameritrade has been registered with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 1980 and
has an
A rating. They've had 427 complaints closed in the last three years, a small number considering their large client base. Despite a low customer review score, this is based on just 36 reviews, which may not represent general customer satisfaction.
TD Ameritrade also has a public FINRA profile where anyone can review their regulatory history using their FINRA number 7870.
Use TD Ameritrade For Free
Visit TD Ameritrade Website
TD Ameritrade Awards & Accolades
TD Ameritrade has received numerous credible awards. In 2024, they were recognized by Investopedia for customer service, beginner friendliness, and mobile app quality. They also topped several categories in a major financial magazine, including Platforms & Tools and Customer Service.
TD Ameritrade has consistently won awards over the years, which is unlikely for a scam operation. Their thinkorswim platform has been rated the best desktop platform for a decade.
Is TD Ameritrade a Safe Place to Keep Your Money & Investments?
TD Ameritrade offers multiple protection layers, including SIPC and FDIC insurance, to ensure your investments are secure. They also provide an Asset Protection Guarantee to cover losses from unauthorized activities in your account.
While market losses are not covered, your investments are protected against company failures. Additional supplemental insurance also covers amounts beyond the basic SIPC and FDIC limits.
Is TD Ameritrade a Scam or Legitimate? The Conclusion.
TD Ameritrade is undoubtedly legitimate and not a scam. If it were not, it would quickly be shut down by its regulators.
Open TD Ameritrade Account
Visit TD Ameritrade Website
TD Ameritrade Review
TD Ameritrade offers investors/traders of all types and experience levels a plethora of brokerage products and services. TD Ameritrade offers many different account types including non-retirement brokerage accounts, IRA’s, annuities, custodian accounts, small-business retirement accounts, college savings accounts, business accounts, and trust accounts. TD Ameritrade offers trading in stocks, options, ETFs, mutual funds, futures, options on futures, bonds, IPOs, and FOREX.
The one major area that TD Ameritrade does not currently offer trading in is cryptocurrency however, they do offer trading in Bitcoin futures. TD Ameritrade offers both regular margin accounts and portfolio margin accounts. TD Ameritrade also offers brokerage programs such as a Fully Paid Lending Income Program, Collateral Lending Program, and a Dividend Reinvestment Program.
Trading Tools & Platforms
TD Ameritrade is famous for its award-winning desktop trading platform thinkorswim. Along with the thinkorswim platform, TD Ameritrade also offers trading on its website and mobile app.
The thinkorswim platform allows trading in all securities except for bonds. The thinkScript feature in the thinkorswim platform allows users to perform automated trading via writing custom scripts. One of the main features that thinkorswim offers, that you cannot get in all of the major desktop trading platforms, is paper trading. If you are a new trader looking to learn without risking your real money or an experienced trader looking to test out ideas, the paper trading feature alone makes it worth having an account with TD Ameritrade.
TD Ameritrade’s website allows trading in all securities except for futures and FOREX. The website provides a fluid process for executing trades and gives investors a few different methods to use for trading. One of the trading methods is called the SnapTicket which is a fixed floating bar at the bottom of the screen that you can use to trade from almost any page on the website. One of the benefits of trading on the website is the helpful guides that investors can click on that explain the terminology during the trading process.
TD Ameritrade’s mobile app allows trading in stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds. The mobile app is easily one of the best mobile apps for trading in the entire industry. The mobile app has an amazing user interface, incredible charting abilities, and an easy-to-use options trading system. Investors can create a custom dashboard on the mobile app along with many other customization options. The mobile app is great not only for trading on the go but also for researching the markets and individual securities at any time.
TD Ameritrade Cost Review
TD Ameritrade has a competitive price offering in almost every area of its brokerage. The core of their price offering is $0 commissions on online stock trades, ETF trades, and options trades. The $0 commissions apply to stocks, ETFs, and options that are U.S. exchange-listed, which typically applies to most trades for the majority of people. Options have a $0.65 fee per contract on all buys and sells.
The $0 commissions also apply to FOREX trades, but TD Ameritrade does include a markup/markdown in the bid/ask spread. A few of the hidden gems when it comes to TD Ameritrade’s price offerings are 3,000 no transaction fee mutual funds, $1 commission per bond on online secondary marketplace transactions and a $2.25 fee per contract on futures trades.
TD Ameritrade provides investors with a great value that some other brokers don’t by offering free real-time streaming quotes and free level 2 quotes. TD Ameritrade doesn’t charge any extra data fees or platform fees for access to market data or using their thinkorswim platform. TD Ameritrade doesn’t charge any account opening fees or monthly maintenance fees.
The one area of TD Ameritrade that traders might find to be pricier than other brokers is their margin interest rates. Their lowest published margin rate is 8.25% for margin balances of 250,000.00 - $499,999.99. For balances under $10,000, the published margin interest rate is 10.25%. Other than the high margin rates, TD Ameritrade delivers incredible value to investors across the board.
Get TD Ameritrade For Free
Visit TD Ameritrade Website
TD Ameritrade Education & Research Resources
Whether you are a long-term investor or a serious day-trader, TD Ameritrade has an amazing suite of educational and research resources that will support your needs. TD Ameritrade provides research tools on all three of its main platforms which are its website, app, and thinkorswim. Investors at TD Ameritrade have the ability to research stocks, bonds, ETFs, options, mutual funds, and even the overall market.
Investors can create watch lists, set up alerts, and browse charts on any of TD Ameritrade’s three main platforms. TD Ameritrade offers unique research features such as a daily markets overview, a proprietary index designed to indicate the sentiment of retail investors called the Investor Movement Index, and screeners for stocks and mutual funds. Once you have experienced TD Ameritrade’s research tools for yourself, you will understand why they won Nerdwallet’s 2024 Best Online Broker for Stock Trading Platform and Research award.
TD Ameritrade has an Education Center on its website that includes material about every topic you could think of such as portfolio management, personal finance, options trading strategies, and fundamental stock evaluation. You could effectively earn a bachelor's degree in investing by utilizing their content.
TD Ameritrade Review Conclusion
TD Ameritrade ranks highly in basically every category of a broker that you could measure. They are undoubtedly one of the best brokers in the industry. We only briefly touched on certain categories of TD Ameritrade in this article but there is much more that could be said about the positives of TD Ameritrade and not that much to be said about the negatives. You will have to try out TD Ameritrade for yourself but if you are asking for our opinion, we give them two big thumbs up.
Updated on 6/28/2024.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
|