What Is a Brokerage Account at E*Trade?
Key Takeaways:
• An E*Trade brokerage account is an investment account.
• A brokerage account at E*Trade can buy and sell a range of financial products.
• E*Trade’s brokerage accounts have low fees and minimums.
Do you want to try investing? If so, E*Trade wants you to know about its brokerage account. Here’s the information you need:
Overview of Brokerage Accounts at E*Trade
Simply put, a brokerage account at E*Trade (or anywhere else) is a financial account that holds investments. These investments could be securities, which are assets like mutual funds and stocks. Or the investments could be cryptocurrencies or traditional currencies. In any case, the brokerage account holds these assets just like a bank account holds money. A brokerage account can also hold money.
To compensate a brokerage firm for its service, the brokerage account has a pricing schedule. Generally speaking, a brokerage account is charged for trades. These fees are called commissions. In recent years, online discount firms like E*Trade have gradually lowered their commissions on brokerage accounts. Now, many trades at E*Trade are completely free. Those that aren’t have low trading fees, such as 65¢ per option contract at E*Trade. There are no annual fees for E*Trade’s brokerage accounts.
There are miscellaneous fees that brokerage accounts at E*Trade are subject to. Examples include:
- $2 for each paper statement (unless an exemption applies)
- $250 per foreign stock certificate request
- $25 for an outgoing wire transfer
Some of these charges could apply to investment-advisory accounts. An advisory account, also called a managed account, isn’t charged any commissions; instead, it pays a percentage of account value every year or quarter.
E*Trade’s automated accounts through its Core Portfolios program, for example, pay 0.30% per year of account value. There are no commissions on these accounts. Robo accounts are not brokerage accounts.
In E*Trade’s managed accounts, an investment advisor in digital format decides what to invest in and when to submit trades. With a brokerage account, on the other hand, you’re completely on your own.
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Potential Investments in Brokerage Accounts at E*Trade
For its brokerage customers, E*Trade offers the following investment vehicles:
- Options
- Stocks
- Mutual funds
- Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
- Closed-end funds
- Bonds and other fixed-income securities
- Futures
The last one, futures, isn’t considered a security, so it must be held in a separate brokerage account. Because of industry regulations, securities and futures must be segregated. If you trade both securities and futures at E*Trade, you’ll have two brokerage accounts.
A bank account can’t hold either securities or futures (or any other type of investment product). Therefore, if you want to invest at E*Trade, you’ll have to open an investment account, either brokerage or managed. A checking or savings account at E*Trade, which is a possibility, can only hold cash.
Brokerage Accounts at Morgan Stanley
E*Trade’s parent company, Morgan Stanley, also offers brokerage and investment-advisory accounts. In both cases, the accounts are full-service accounts, which means a financial planner is always attached to them for extra help.
E*Trade’s brokerage accounts, by comparison, don’t have any investment advisors attached to them. Therefore, every brokerage account at E*Trade is self-directed, which means the account owner shoulders full responsibility for managing it, selecting investments, placing trades, making tax-wise decisions, and so forth.
Free E*TRADE Account
Visit E*TRADE Website
Updated on 6/17/2026.
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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