Read our full TD Ameritrade review below.
WHAT IS TD AMERITRADE?
Found in 1975, TD Ameritrade is a respectable forex and CFD brokerage firm with its headquarters located in the United States. This online broker is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
At TD Ameritrade, clients can trade a range of trading instruments, such as Stocks, Options, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Futures, Forex, and Cryptocurrency.
INTRODUCTION
TD Ameritrade has been around since 1975 and has a track record of being successful. It is one of the biggest stockbrokers in the United States. This company has been in business for many years and has resources to help new and experienced investors.
A large portion of the stocks owned by TD Ameritrade is owned by Toronto Dominion Bank and this is where the TD comes from. This company has a strong banking background, and it must meet higher regulations than other brokers. This company has been respected and is one of the top leaders in the investment industry.
TD Ameritrade is regulated by the top industries. It is listed on NASDAQ and the company must release financial statements to show they are operating transparently. All their financial information is open to the public and all these fees and profits can be reviewed.
As one of the largest online brokers, TS Ameritrade is leading customers with its innovations and is a great place for beginner investors to start. There are many educational tools that will help new investors and they will be able to retain all the information needed to make informed trades.
TD Ameritrade reaches out to customers in many ways. They have a social media page, and they use sites like Facebook and Twitter to make it easy to communicate with customers. There are several platforms for trading including mobile apps, Thinkorswim, and other activities for traders.
PROS & CONS
Pros
- Extensive tools to do research and there are several news feeds
- There are educational tools to allow the investor to become comfortable with the assets and classes
- Additional channels on social media such as Facebook for easy communication
- Low fees for trading
- Great desktop platform
- Exceptional customer service
Cons
- Clients will need to use more than one trading systems and there are many tools to look through
- There is so much content on the site it can be difficult to look through
- Trading is only open to the United States market
- Fully digital account opening is not an option
- An investor cannot use a credit or debit card for money transfer
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TRADING INSTRUMENTS
With TD Ameritrade there are many classes. There are stocks and even forex trades. The broker has additional features including social trading and Robo services. These products are offered on the United States market. These services can help give you some trading advice and you will be able to get tips to help you make an informed trade.
The availability of the trading products will vary from country to country. Traders in Singapore can only trade using stocks and EFT options. United States clients can trade with all the products. These services can be found online, and it can be found on the trading platform.
TD Ameritrade does not enable cryptocurrency trading but there is a CME Bitcoin futures that can be traded. Long and short stocks can be traded too. There are penny stocks, mutual funds, and different types of bonds. There is something for every trader and for every trading goal.
Trading can take place with up to eight legs and Thinkorswim can be used for trading too.
TD Ameritrade has over 300 EFTs that are commission free. You can buy and sell these funds like stock through your account, or you can invest in a mutual fund family through your account. This is a great resource to find out more information about the different means of trading. This will allow you to track your funds to see if you are ready to trade using real money. you may be able to make a profit.
TD Ameritrade has thousands of mutual funds that do not have buying or selling fees. This will allow you to save some money. There are options and features for both beginner and experienced traders. Experienced traders can enjoy competitive prices. They will know that they are getting a fair deal for their trades.
The accounts at TD Ameritrade have 24 currencies including the British pound, Euro, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, and many other forms of currency. This will allow people from all over the world to participate in this training.
Forex
TD Ameritrade will allow for Forex trading. They have tools and technology to make this trading all from the company. This will help a person learn forex. Forex is a popular trading option and people are enjoying the profits they are seeing by working with this platform.
Stocks
An investor can trade stocks by using real time quotes, charts, and analysis reports. This will allow you to have advanced features when it comes to trading. All the stock is found on the New York Stock exchange and there is information about the different companies.
Options
Options can be helpful and in a volatile market they will allow you to generate extra income. You can learn about options trading with the advanced platforms, educational tools, pricing, and support from trading professionals.
ETFs
This is a good trading experience for those that have some experience in investing. You will be given more information to help you understand them by some of the biggest and most trusted names in the industry.
Mutual Funds
There are over 13,000 mutual funds to trade including those with no transaction fees. There are many subjects such as asset classes, and risk exposure. There are tools and resources to help you find the funds that are best for you. These funds can be used to help you save for several different occasions including your retirement.
Futures
Future trading will allow you to diversify your portfolio and learn about the market. Qualified investors will be able to trade over 70 futures, 24 hours a day and six days a week.
TRADING PLATFORMS
The forex trading platform is the software that is provided by TD Ameritrade for the clients to perform their trades. This is a favorite platform for many traders.
There are platforms for both web and desktop. The web platform is great for research. If you want to trade, then the desktop is a good program for you. There are some advanced research tools to help you.
ACCOUNT TYPES
A forex account with TD American is a trading account that will be linked to your bank account for the purpose of training.
The Islamic Forex account is swap free and there is no swap or rollover which will follow the Islamic religion. The trading accounts will follow all the religious requirements so that these investors can trade here too.
There are accounts that can be opened with a broker and accounts will be issued within their jurisdiction of the country. All the trades are highly regulated.
With TD Ameritrade there are individual accounts owned by one person. There are also joint accounts that can be owed by two or more people or another legal entity.
TD Ameritrade has other accounts. There are retirement accounts including IRAs that are for United States clients. They can be used by those that are self-employed or work for a small business.
HOW TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT
TD Ameritrade has a simple process, but it cannot be done solely on the computer. There is a form that can be filled out online. You will then need to mail or fax in a copy of your government id. It can take up to three days for your account to be verified.
There are some steps to opening an Ameritrade account:
- Select an account type and state your preferences for investing
- Add in your personal information including employment status
- Review the information you entered
- Accept the terms and conditions
- Print out the information and mail or fax it in
It will take around 20 minutes to fill out the online account and the verification will take within 3 business days.
COMMISSIONS & FEES
With TD Ameritrade you can make commission free trading online. There are no minimum deposits, trading minimums, or hidden fees.
Since October 2019 TD Ameritrade became to join commission free online services including stock and options trading for free. The forex fees are low and there is no commission for EFT trades. The other fees are as low as $6.95 each month.
There is no per leg commission fee. Per contracted commissions are $ 0.65. the frees are waived for less than five cents. An order of 50 options will cost $32.50.
Call trades of 500 or more will cost $3.25 and the mutual fund commission for funds that are outside of the transaction fee is $49.99. Margin interest is round 10.25% for a balance of $10,000 and 8.5% for over $100,000.
Future transactions are $2.25 per contract plus exchange fees. The forex current is traded in increments of 10,000 and there will be no commission for this volume. TD Ameritrade does not charge a fee for inactive accounts. Transferring parts of an account is free but the transfer of the full account is $75.
LEVERAGE
Leverage allows you exposure to the market and you can trade. Leverage includes forex trading and will help increase your profits. With this, there is also a chance that you can increase your loss.
Leverage is a ratio. For example, 50:1 or 100:1. If you have $ 1,000 in your account you and your trade tick is 500,000 the leverage is 500:1.
Margin is another example of collateral that is used with credit risks. It is expressed as a percentage such as 5% or 1%. You need to have enough funds in your trading account to cover this.
The margin account under $25,000 of your own money will have a leverage of 2:1. The leverage may vary based on how much money you have in your account.
WITHDRAWALS AND DEPOSITS
There is no fee for deposits. The United States traders can use a check, ACH, or a money wire. Traders from Hong Kong can use wire transfers and checks.
Debit and credit cards and electronic wallets are not accepted. There is a $25 withdrawal fee for wire transfers. It will take around two days for the money to be in your account.
You can only withdraw money in the account that has your name on it. You will need to log into your account and go to the deposits and transfer withdrawal section. You will then be able to take out your money.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Potential traders will need to make sure that customers are able to find the answers they need and that they have the best user experience.
There is 24/7 phone support and there are chat boxes for chats. There are also contact options on Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Apple Business Chats and We chat in Asia. Live chat can also be used on the mobile trader.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
TD Ameritrade has some of the best security in the industry.
- There is the option to use biometric authentication such as fingerprints to log into the mobile app.
- There is a security algorithm that will recognize if the computer has been used in the past. If a new computer is used a client will need to answer security questions to prove identity.
- Each client has $149.5 million worth of protection for their securities and $2 million for cash protection through coverage provided by London insurers.
RESEARCH
To trade with confidence traders, need to research the different types of trading before each deal. There are plenty of tools on TD Ameritrade to help make smart trades.
On the website, there is an income estimator that will show the potential income on your trade portfolio. There is a monthly report you can get. You can also use the peer comparison tool to allow you to compare stocks to four peers and look at the social data points.
There are sources for help such as real time streaming, and news from the Dow Jones and MarketWatch. There are plenty of charts and platforms on this site.
EDUCATION
Before you begin to trade you should look at the skills and information session on the website. If you cannot find all the information you want on TD Ameritrade you should continue to do more search.
There are education modes on TS Ameritrade such as live videos, webinars, articles, and courses including quizzes. They are separated by skill level.
TD Ameritrade features nine hours of videos each day. This will allow traders to get all the information that they need. If you want to use the Thinkorswim platform you can begin by downloading a simulator. It is called the paperMoney6.
There are additional ways for TD Ameritrade to help you expand your knowledge:
- Demo account
- Tutorial videos
- General education videos
- A series of webinars
- Educational articles
We like the demo account and the videos. The papermoney account is operated by the Thinkorswim. They have some professional trading products and charts. You can try out your skills without spending real money. you will have $100,000 of virtual money to play around with and try your skill.
The webinars or webcast will provide information on different topics starting at beginner and going to advanced. They are all day long and run 10-11 times except on Fridays.
GLOBAL AWARDS
TD Ameritrade has won several global awards. They include:
- Best overall online broker
- Best trading site for beginners
- Best stock trading app
- The best company for EFTs
- Best options trading
- Both company for Roth IRAs
- Best for overall IRAs
- The best site for day trading
- Best web-based trading platform
SAFE OR SCAM?
TD Ameritrade is being watched by some authorities so you can know that it is safe for trading. This company has a banking licensed and will give financial statements. They are all regulated which shows that this company can be regulated.
TD Ameritrade is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. It is also certified internationally by the Hong Kong Securities and Future Commission and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
TD Ameritrade is also covered by the United States investor protection schedule and is closely monitored by other legal entities. This will help protect against cash loss and securities in case the broker goes under.
There is additional security taken out by TD Ameritrade. They are covered for a total of $152 million or $2 million per client with a $500 aggregated limit.
CONCLUSION
TD Ameritrade is a company that has many benefits for traders. There are many platforms to help you research the potential trades and will provide a lot of information for traders and investors.
If you are a new investor you can begin with some approaches and educational material you can benefit from the trades. The ThinkorSwim platform is also useful when it comes to learning how to trade.
TD Ameritrade is one of the largest online brokers in the United States. The desktop trading platform is one of the best on the market for traders of all skill levels.
There is a margin charge and there is no way to add or take funds out of the accounts while using a debit or a credit card. There is no digital wallet transfer. This company will only cover products and services that are offered on the United States trading market.
A new or an experienced investor will figure out that when they are using TD Ameritrade all their investment needs are going to be met. The company is now offering to customers $0 stock trades and it was one of the top investment firms for 2020.
