Comments on: Scottrade Brokerage Cash Management Tips

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:21:52 +0000

Oh now, don’t get cranky. However emotional that makes you, you get the point. There is a broader issue that doesn’t seem to get enough “airtime” about how all this haggling over the difference between a $4.95 TradeKing trade and a $7 Scottrade trade and a $9.95 Sharebuilder trade and a $19.95 Fidelity trade is extremely trivial with even a $1,000 investment. If I want to position myself on a certain day when a stock is going where I want it to, the $2 difference between waiting a week for funds to transfer to TradeKing, and trading immediately via Scottrade, is far overwhelmed by the likely adverse change in stock value.

Especially when you think of how we’re not dumping even a mere $1,000 into the market on expectation of withdrawing $1,000 on a long play — hoping for $5,000? — what the heck is $2 (or slightly more) worth arguing over?

Honestly I suggest this as a MyMoneyBlog front-page topic. Something that surveys the mandatory waiting periods for funds to transfer between the various brokerages, and the lost opportunities not only via changing share prices over one week’s time, but also the lost interest accrual caused by always needing (for sloths like TradeKing) to dump heaps of money into their reserves at super-low interest rate accrual just in case.

In cyberspace, there are routine comments which come to be regarded as “threadcrapping,” such as the phase we just came out of where people were saying, “Windows Vista sucks!” The issue had been parsed a billion times over. No less here.

By: Anti-Paul

Anti-Paul — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:39:23 +0000

Paul, I am sure you are right at the top of the pole for account balances. The meat pole that is.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:21:07 +0000

$7 a trade is cheap cheap cheap. Anyone who bases their brokerage decision on the difference between a $5 trade and a $7 trade is not only a low-roller (like, at the bottom), but more to the point, not likely to make any more money on the market (after time spent) than working a minimum wage job.

By: Job Classifieds

Job Classifieds — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:10:12 +0000

It’s a cool feature but $7 a trade was cheap in 2000. Now it’s expensive.

By: NY GUY

NY GUY — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:17:38 +0000

I called my Scottrade branch and asked questions regarding the check writing/ visa debit card. He informed me that you initially need $5K in equity when submitting the application. Thereafter you do not have to keep that much in equity. You will not be charged any fees for not keeping a $5K equity.

Once you have the check writing feature you will have a routing# and account# for scottrade. Than it as simple as setting up in your own banks online page the external account for scottrade.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:23:03 +0000

Nice! I wish Interactive Brokers had this service too! Well, I’ll have to settle for cheaper trades for now

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:14:27 +0000

Anyone have advice on what the best sign-up bonus is at present? Thanks.

By: Chaitanya

Chaitanya — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:36:33 +0000

I used to do the same thing with the check writing but later I discovered that there is an easier way.

If you initiate a transfer from Scottrade into another bank account (ING in my case) from that bank’s website, it works fine.

By: Maury

Maury — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:09:14 +0000

Speaking of interest rate chasing… Has anyone looked into the Costco Interest Plus online savings account? It appears to have an FDIC insured rate of over 2% and a bonus for first time deposits. ($60 or $20)

Just wondering if anyone has used it as there are a lot of Costco/interest rate buffs on this blog.

By: Dorine Tiller

Dorine Tiller — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:39:41 +0000

Do you recommend this service for beginning investors? What about business stock? How would you recommend getting started?

By: plin

plin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:35:56 +0000

Personally I find it easier to use the ACH from a bank to initiate the withdraw from Scottrade. In my case, I use the free option that comes with a HSBC account and withdraw money that way.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:18:05 +0000

I’ve never actually taken money out of my Scottrade account, but I have been annoyed by this myself — effectively, if I ever want to access the money that’s in it, I’ll have to wait several days. Glad to know about the checking option, though. Have you read the fine print — are there any fees if you drop below X dollars for Y amount of time? Also, how ’bout a new referALL swap post? I suppose whoever my code went to last time must not have used it — never got any trades .

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:05:49 +0000

Thanks for the tip on the check request – I never thought of that.

I’ve had great luck withdrawing money simply by picking up the phone and requesting a check. If I call before 3pm, they get the check in the mail that day and I have it the next day (the nearest office is ~60 miles from my home).

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:58:49 +0000

Thanks for tip. As I have been idling on the sidelines for awhile it would be nice to earn some interest on my cash.