opening a scottrade account

[poncherelli2]

I've read alot of the old threads here and it seems most people are happy with Scottrade. I'm in college and have a few thousand dollars stashed away plus earnings from this summer I'd like to do something with.

I have money in an ing savings account which I'd like to leave some money in because it transfers to my BoA checking account whenever I need money for rent and bills each month.

I have some money in a BoA checking account (around 1k usually) that I use for paying for almost everything.

I have about 3k invested in those ing mutual funds they offer. I want to know if these are transferrable or if i should cash them out and buy similar (one sp500 large cap, one sp600 small cap) funds once i open a scottrade account?

I have maybe 3k invested in 3 different stocks I bought when I was younger through my parents. The stock is all in their name since I didnt have an account and just gave them the money to buy the stocks, but we've kept track of it all. Can I transfer these over as well even though my name isnt on their account and their name wont be on my new account?

Lastly, does Scottrade offer any signup promotions or referrals for cash or free trades that I should know about before signing up? Thanks.

 

[henryay]

I have an account with Scottrade. I'm pretty happy with them. I am also a college student with a couple thousand in the stock market.

I'm pretty sure it is transferrable. Some companies charge fees for a transfer. I believe that scottrade doesn't charge for transferring.

I don 't think you can transfer from your parents to your new account. You should ask.

They do have a referral thing (5 free trades). It'll be great if I can have them if you do sign up. =)

 

[DaveSimmons]

I looked at those ING funds earlier this year and they seemed weak, high expense ratios and fuzzy sectors, so a Vanguard or Fidelity S&P 500 fund will probably do better long-term.

I'd guess that your parents would have to make you a "gift" of the stocks since they technically own them, max $11K/year to avoid taxes. Or they could sell them and make you a "gift" of the cash but then they'll have to pay capital gains tax on any growth that's happened. I have no idea whether scottrade is set up to accept stock shares instead of cash, you should send them an email.

 

[poncherelli2]

I bought the ing funds because they were right there and able to use the money from my savings account (i wasn't ready to open a brokerage account at the time). I tried reading through scottrade's mutual fund info stuff but its kinda long and confusing. From what I understand, they have around 850+ mutual funds available that I can invest in?

 

[henryay]

The 850+ is for no transaction fee funds. On their website, click commissions and look under mutual funds. That has some more info on fund costs. Oh yea, take a look at ETF's because they carry lower expense ratios.

Personally, I started out with ETFs myself, they got extremely boring, so I am just solely trading stocks right now.

 

[poncherelli2]

i have read alot of articles about etfs and the advantages over traditional funds. The only hangup is you pay a transaction fee with each purchase so its only really better if you buy it all at once as opposed to slowly feeding money in like you do with a mutual fund.

 

[Rike]

I say have fun trading, but first a question. Do you have any debt? If you do, use the money to pay off your debt first. It may not feel very fun right now, but debt is one of the least fun things in life. If you're debt free, congrats and have fun trading.

 

[poncherelli2]

i'm debt free

most of my money is used for living costs with some extra that I save. What I'm really trying to do is consoladate all my random savings from various points in my life and possibly open a roth ira, but at the very least, my own brokerage account. Hell, I have savings bonds from the 1990-1998 that I need to cash in and do something with.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The expense ratio for managing an S&P 500 mutual fund like VFINX might be lower than the expense ratio of an ETF equivalent. You always need to check since the ratio can vary widely for otherwise equivalent funds.

Also, even for "no-load" mutual funds you might pay a transaction fee to buy them. Vanguard doesn't pay enough kickbacks to brokerage houses (since that would raise the expenses of the fund) so you pay to buy VFINX most everywhere except direct from vanguard.com

 

[poncherelli2]

Would the fee I pay to buy VFINX or other vanguard funds be the 7 dollar transaction fee from scottrade or would it be like a 10-20 dollar fee that is assessed upon the purchase and given to vanguard?

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: poncherelli2
i'm debt free

most of my money is used for living costs with some extra that I save. What I'm really trying to do is consoladate all my random savings from various points in my life and possibly open a roth ira, but at the very least, my own brokerage account. Hell, I have savings bonds from the 1990-1998 that I need to cash in and do something with.

That's excellent! If only more people would keep their finical houses in such good order.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: poncherelli2
Would the fee I pay to buy VFINX or other vanguard funds be the 7 dollar transaction fee from scottrade or would it be like a 10-20 dollar fee that is assessed upon the purchase and given to vanguard?

I believe just the $7, but my account is at Schwab so I'm guessing. Something to add to your email to scottrade

 

[Alkesh]

I have Scottrade and it's fantastic. The low costs are great. Their performance tracker could use some work, but its nothing a smart person like yourself can't handle.

 

[poncherelli2]

Yeah, im not interested in too many perks or other costly benefits. I just want cheap, reliable, and no BS nickle-and-dime fees to eat away at the little money I do have

 

[Alkesh]

Yea, its definitely good for a student/investor. Just don't buy ETFs unles you're willing to throw in over 1000 because even at $7 a trade, buying small quantities will eat you alive.