How to Close a Brokerage Account with Acorns
In case you’re no longer using your investment account at Acorns, it’s time to close it out. This is an important, although not difficult, task.
Avoiding Acorns’ Monthly Fee
Acorns charges a monthly subscription fee of $3 or $5. For this reason, you may want to close an inactive account. However, simply withdrawing money from an account but not going through with an actual account closeout request won’t stop the monthly billing. Therefore, it’s important to actually close an Acorns account and also cancel the account’s linked subscription to eliminate the fee.
Closing the account is a necessary, but not sufficient, step in getting rid of the subscription fee. A second step is required to also cancel the subscription.
Acorns assesses its monthly fee on the anniversary of the account opening. For example, if you signed up on the 18th of the month, the fee will be assessed on the 18th of each month. If this day falls on a holiday or weekend, Acorns will pick the closest business day. To avoid another monthly fee, it’s important to submit both requests (account and subscription cancellations) before the billing date.
Close Acorns Account: Option #1
There are two ways a brokerage account at Acorns can be closed: transfer or regular termination. First, we will look at how to close by transferring the account.
Acorns does what is known as a non-ACAT transfer. This basically means the process is more bureaucratic;
nevertheless, it can be done. To start the migration process, you need to open a new account with a
second brokerage firm (see Broker promotions).
An existing account can be used as well.
Once that account is open, you need to contact the broker and request a transfer. You must obtain paperwork from that brokerage firm and have a medallion signature guarantee placed on it. That finalized paperwork then needs to be sent to Acorns (we told you this was going to be bureaucratic). It can be emailed to help@acornssecurities.com or snail mailed to:
Acorns Securities, LLC
ATTN: Account Transfers
5300 California Ave, Bldg 1
Irvine CA 92617
Once Acorns receives everything in order, it will email you. You must respond to that email. Otherwise, Acorns will cancel the transfer.
Once Acorns receives confirmation via email, it will transfer whole shares of the account’s positions to the second brokerage firm. Partial shares will be liquidated and transferred to the brokerage account’s linked checking account. At this point, Acorns will close the investment account.
Besides all the red tape involved, there is also the cost. Acorns charges $50 per fund for a transfer. Because Acorns’ algorithm trades up to 12 funds per account, the highest possible transfer fee is $600.
Some brokerage firms do have standing transfer fee rebate programs, although you should verify the
maximum fee rebate with the incoming firm just to be on the safe side before commencing with the
transfer. If you move your account to
TD Ameritrade,
they will reimburse up to $125 of this ACAT fee (must have a minimum $2,500 account balance).
Also keep in mind that some banks will charge for a medallion signature guarantee.
Best Alternatives
Close Acorns Account: Option #2
If the steep transfer fee or bureaucratic process causes you to balk, never fear. There is another method, and it costs nothing. This is the old-fashioned way of closing an account. Instead of transferring assets, the account is liquidated, and the cash proceeds are withdrawn. Because Acorns is a robo-only firm, it is the party that will sell assets.
To make the closeout request on the mobile app, log into the app and hit the main menu icon in the upper-left corner. Scroll down to hit the settings link. On the next page, tap on the My Subscriptions link. Finally, tap on the account you wish to close. A pop-up window will have a link to close the account.
Once this request is made, Acorns will sell everything and transfer the account’s cash balance to the linked deposit account.
Acorns Subscription Cancellation Request
With the account closed, it’s now time to cancel the subscription. To do this, go back to the My Subscriptions link on the app or website. This time, scroll down to find the link to cancel the subscription.
From our experience, if a bank account isn’t linked to the Acorns plan, the monthly fee isn’t charged. Nevertheless, it’s always a good idea to cancel the subscription just to be on the safe side.
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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