I came across another top broker promotion, and this time, it’s from ShareBuilder, the online stock broker arm for ING Direct, a highly regarded online bank. At this time, they are offering a $25 cash bonus to new investors who would like to open an Individual, Joint or Custodial account. While there are other online stock trading promotions available, this is most likely more suitable for small investors who are interested in mutual fund investing and automatic investment programs. ShareBuilder is one of those brokers that makes the investing process easy, as I describe in this ShareBuilder review.
At any rate, here are more details on this promotion, dubbed “The Gift of Stock”:
- ShareBuilder accounts don’t require a minimum balance and have no hidden fees.
- Once you’ve registered with them, opened a new account and deposited at least $25 in it, you’ll be eligible for the $25 cash bonus.
- You’ll need to make the deposit by March 8, 2010.
- The $25 bonus will be deposited in your account within 4 to 6 weeks of your first deposit.
- The offer applies to all types of accounts (Individual, Joint and Custodial) except for retirement accounts (ESAs or IRAs).
- Once received, you won’t be able to withdraw the cash bonus until after 30 days of receipt.
- The offer is available only till January 31, 2010.
Why ShareBuilder?
Here are a few more reasons to check out ShareBuilder:
They have great support for new investors who want to build long term stock portfolios; for instance, they offer educational materials, resources and tools geared for the retail investor and also have great, affordable pricing plans for their automated investment programs. These pricing plans benefit mutual fund investors and those who subscribe to dollar cost averaging as an investment strategy, with a fee of just $4 a transaction (other plans may be more economical based on your needs). Also, they charge $0 for online trades involving certain no-load, no-transaction fee mutual funds. You’ll have to review their Pricing & Rates page more closely to check their fees (regular stock trades are $9.95 a trade).
| DCA Program Features | Basic | Standard | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Automatic Investments Included with Program |
None
|
6 per month
|
20 per month
|
| Additional Investments |
$4 each
|
$2 each
|
$1 each
|
| Base Fee | None |
$12/month Most Popular |
$20/month Best Value |
The fact that ShareBuilder is affiliated with ING Direct is assuring, given that ING Direct is a solid online bank that’s got a great reputation. With ING Direct covering the gamut of banking products, it becomes pretty convenient when you’ve got both your short term and long term savings housed with them. Here are some other financial products available at ING Direct that may be of interest:
- a checking and savings account (Electric Orange)
- an online savings account (Orange Savings Account)
- an investment account for mutual fund and stock investing (ShareBuilder)
- certificates of deposits (Orange CDs)
- various business accounts (Business Savings Account, Business CDs, Sharebuilder 401k)
- home mortgage loans (Orange Mortgage, Easy Orange)
- Stock trades: Free stock trades from Zecco, Cheap stock trades from TradeKing, Stock news and Investment info at INO TV Free, No cost Trend Analysis for stocks
- Earn top returns: FNBO Direct [1.90%], HSBC Direct [1.65%], WTDirect [1.76%], E*Trade Bank [0.95%], ING Direct [.25% to 1.65%]
- Cash bonus: Discover More [$50], American Express [$25], Lending Club [$25]
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a sharebuilder account and I it fits my needs. Thru the years I have had Etrade, Ameritrade, and Sharebuilder. Personally I think Etrade was about the best, but they are all so similiar it really does not matter.
The main purpose is the discount trading – usually around $10 per trade is what you need to look for.
Also, if you have an ING Savings account you can link to your Sharebuilder account and move around funds easily.
You always want to keep transaction costs at 1% of the trade. With they’re 6 trades/mo plan you should be investing a minimum of $1,200/mo in total and with their $20/mo plan you should be investing $2k/mo minimum in total. Otherwise your paying too high of a percentage (over 1%) of your investing in trading fees. You also have no control over the price the trades executes at and you are paying a high transaction fee to sell compared to discount brokers.