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E*Trade Age Requirement. How Old Do You Have To Be To Open an E*Trade Account in 2023
How old do you have to be to open an account at E*Trade? E*Trade age limit:
can you use it under 18 years old?
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E*Trade Age Requirement
If you’re looking to open a brokerage (or bank) account at E*Trade, you will need to be at
least 18 years old. The reason is that there’s quite a bit of legal paperwork that has to be
signed, physically or electronically, and the minimum age to do this is 18.
E*Trade Website
Open Etrade Account
Workaround
Like so many other issues in the world, there is always a workaround. The alternative in this
case is the custodial account. This allows an adult (technically, anyone 18 or older) to open
an account with a minor (anyone under 18).
In fact, there are several types of juvenile brokerage accounts nowadays, and
TD Ameritrade has the lion’s share of them.
TD Ameritrade Website
Open TD Ameritrade Account
Minor Accounts
To find TD Ameritrade’s list of minor accounts, head over to its website and click on the link to open a new account. It appears in the upper-right corner of the site.
On the next page, you’ll be able to browse through all of the available account types. These include regular accounts for legal adults and those for legal minors. The latter are scattered through the list of account types. This list is on the left-hand side in a vertical menu.
TD Ameritrade groups these accounts by category like Retirement, Education, Business/Trust, and Joint/Minor. Obviously, this latter category is where you’ll find a lot (but not all) of the adolescent accounts.
The custodial account available through TD Ameritrade will be found in the Education, Most Common, and Joint/Minor categories. Just look for the UTMA/UGMA link. These are the two custodial account types. Most states nowadays offer only the UTMA.
To open either custodial account type online, just click on the UTMA/UGMA link and follow the prompts. If you prefer a paper application, click on the link and scroll down to the very bottom. There’s a link to download a paper application.
When filling out the custodial account application, information on two parties is required: the custodian and the minor. Social Security Numbers for both are required. Typically, the custodian is a parent or grandparent, but that’s not a must. The custodian could be someone totally unrelated to the minor.
And the custodian doesn’t have to be the donor, either. The donor is the party that contributes funds, while the custodian is the party that is responsible for managing the account.
Another legal requirement is that the custodian must be a living, breathing human being. He can’t be an entity or organization. The donor could be, however.
Other adolescent brokerage accounts have the same basic setup: two parties on the account, a minor and a custodian. An example at TD Ameritrade is the Coverdell Education Savings Account. This one will be found in the Education category in the list of available accounts. The custodial account is in the same category, although funds from a custodial account don’t actually have to be used for education. They could be. For the Coverdell account, funds must be used to cover educational costs. It’s a legal requirement.
The Coverdell also has a different tax structure (it is tax free when funds are used for education). Assets can sit in a Coverdell account longer than a custodial account (30 years old versus 18 to 25 for the custodial account).
For its list of minor brokerage accounts, TD Ameritrade charges no recurring account fees, including annual, low-balance, or inactivity fees. The brokerage house also charges no commissions on trades of stocks and ETFs. Many mutual funds have no transaction fees and no loads.
Custodians who have no clue what to invest in can reach out to TD Ameritrade’s Investment Advisory department for assistance. There is a fee for this service.
TD Ameritrade Website
Open TD Ameritrade Account
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.
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