Reader Bob has the following question that you may be able to help with:
Are you aware of any deals [with online discount brokerages] that give 5 or 6 free trades to switch to their online/self-serve brokerage account?
It is very tempting to sign up with a broker that offers a great initial deal but it is far more important to look for a broker that offers everything you are looking for. For example, E*Trade has low commissions and charges no administrative fees. But if you have a lot of US stocks that you are planning to sell and buy index funds listed on American exchanges, you may want to consider TD Waterhouse, which allows “wash trades” instead.
Discount brokers do offer deals to switch customers from a rival every once in a while. A few months back, RBC Direct Investing offered 1% of the value of the transfer in cash. Currently, E*Trade is offering 5 free trades and up to $500 in cash for transferring your RRSP. I would suggest picking a broker first (check out Rob Carrick’s guide to online brokers) and consider any initial offer as a secondary bonus.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Ivor // Feb 13, 2007 at 12:17 pm
We decided to make the move to E*Trade last year in December and am sorry to say that it was only last week after a total of about 8 weeks that I fainally managed to get the account up and running in its entirety.
The customer service has been very unresponsive. I have not put any money into this account as yet but if opening an account with them has been any indication of what is to come, I will not be with E*trade long.
I am sure there are others who have had better experiences though and hope mine turns positive once I start investing with them.
2 awardtour // Feb 13, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I dread the thought of moving my brokerage back to Canada some day. The prices charged are utterly ridiculous and hearing stories of customer service like that in the comment above is pathetic.
Scottrade (and others like them) need to open offices in Canada.
3 Ivor // Feb 13, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Their customer service usually takes a few days to get back to me by email. That isn’t too bad, compared to my web host which takes longer to respond. The phone service is good, however.
awardtour, can give us an example of these ridiculous charges and compare those to the US?
4 Dave // Feb 16, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Oops, that last comment says it’s from Ivor but it should say Dave
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