Current TD Ameritrade Sign-Up Promotions (Updated 10/2010)

With their new commision-free ETF list, there might be a renewed interest for a TD Ameritrade account (though not from me). Here are the current promotions available. They have different opening balance requirements, different expiration dates, and some are valid for IRAs and some are not, so I’ll leave it to you to see which one fits best.

30 Free Trades For 1 Year – Suze Orman Promo
Open a new account with no minimum opening balance, and get 30 free trades good for one year. Valid for IRAs as well as regular individual accounts. Selected fine print:

Offer valid for one new Individual, Joint or IRA TD AMERITRADE account opened by 12/31/10. Offer is not transferable and not valid with Amerivest-related accounts, TD AMERITRADE Institutional accounts, current TD AMERITRADE accounts or with other offers. Qualified commission-free Internet equity orders must execute within 365 days from date account is opened. Limit one offer per client.

$5 trades for 12 months
New accounts opened with at least $2,000 can get $5 market/limit trades for 12 months. Valid for IRAs. Selected fine print:

Offer valid for new TD Ameritrade IRAs, Individual and Joint accounts that are opened by 11/30/10 and funded within 30 days of account opening with a minimum deposit of $2,000 or more. Internet equity or option trades are $5 for market or limit orders during the 12-month introductory period. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) trades will be $5 for market or limit orders. Broker-assisted trades will be $24.99 for a market order or $29.99 for a limit order during this period. Contract, exercise, and assignment fees still apply. Commission rates are valid 12 months from qualifying deposit of $2,000 or more. At the conclusion of the 12-month introductory period, Internet equity or option trades will be $9.99 for market or limit orders, IVR trades will be $34.99 for market or limit orders, and broker-assisted trades will be $44.99 for market or limit orders. Your new account must remain open and funded with the minimum required funding for 12 months or the account will be reverted back to the standard commission schedule.

Up to 25,000 Delta Skymiles
Open with $2,500 and get 5,000 Delta miles, $10,000 for 10,000 miles, and $50,000 for 25,000 miles. Selected fine print:

Offer valid for one new Individual or Joint TD Ameritrade account opened and funded by U.S. residents with $2,500 or more by 12/31/2010. Not transferable and not valid for IRA or other tax-exempt accounts, internal transfers, current TD Ameritrade clients or with other offers. Limit one offer per client. [...] Account must remain open with minimum funding required for participating in the offer for 9 months, or TD Ameritrade may charge the account for the cost of the SkyMiles. Allow 6-8 weeks from account funding for the first half of the miles to appear in your SkyMiles account. To qualify for the second half, TD Ameritrade account must remain open with minimum funding required for participating in the offer for 6 months from the first mileage posting date.

Up to 25,000 United Mileage Plus miles
Same idea as with Delta above, except for United miles. Selected fine print:

Offer valid for new Individual or Joint accounts opened and funded by U.S. residents with $2,500 or more by 12/31/2010. Not transferable and not valid for IRA or other tax-exempt accounts, internal transfers, current TD Ameritrade clients, or with other offers. Limit one offer per client. [...] Account must remain open with minimum funding required for participating in the offer for 9 months, or TD Ameritrade may charge the account for the cost of the miles. Allow 6 weeks from account funding for the first half of miles to appear in the Mileage Plus account. To qualify for the second half, TD Ameritrade account must remain open with minimum funding required for participating in the offer for 6 months from the first posting date.

30 days free trades + $100, $250, or $500 Cash
If you fund with $25,000 minimum, you can get $100 cash. 100,000 minimum gets you $250 cash. Whopping $250k minimum gets you $500 cash. You also get 30 days of commission-free trades. Here’s basically the same offer valid for 401k rollovers. Selected fine print:

Offer valid for one new Individual or Joint TD Ameritrade account opened by 06/30/2011 and funded within 30 days of account opening with $2,000 or more. Funding with minimum of $25,000 – $99,999 receives $100 cash, funding with minimum of $100,000 – $249,999 receives $250 cash, funding with minimum of $250,000 or more receives $500 cash. IRA and other tax-exempt accounts are not eligible to receive the $100 cash bonus. [...] Qualified commission-free Internet equity, ETF or options orders must execute within 30 days of account funding. Contract, exercise, and assignment fees still apply. Limit one offer per client. Account must remain open with minimum funding required for participating in the offer for 9 months, or TD Ameritrade may charge the account for the cost of the cash awarded to the account.

Find more in Deals & Offers, Investing | 10/12/10, 10:00am | Trackback

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American Express Rewards Gold Card: 25,000 Point / $250 Sign-Up Bonus

American Express has temporarily brought back their 25,000 Membership Rewards point offer for their AmEx Premier Rewards Gold Card, which is one of their upscale-oriented charge cards where you must pay off the balance each month. Offer expires October 12th.

* Earn 25,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months of Card membership. MR points are very versatile, and can be converted to 25,000 frequent flier miles in a number of programs in various increments, or you can simply get $250 in gift cards at several stores like Home Depot, Crate & Barrel, or Macy’s. (The usual offers are for 10,000 or 15,000 bonus points.)

* No annual fee for your first year. Another important feature, you can get the sign-up bonus and also try out this card for free for a year. If you keep the card after that, there is a $175 annual fee.

* Offers 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else. The traditional versions only offer 1 point per $ spent, so these are an extra perk for those that spend a lot on airfare.

* Earn an additional 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $30,000 per calendar year. This means that if you spend $30,000 in a year ($2,500 per month) that you’ll get at least 25,000 for sign-up + 30,000 on spending + 15,000 bonus = 70,000 points total, plus any extra for gas/groceries/airfare.

For those that charge a lot, especially with reimbursed airfare, that’s enough for 70,000 frequent flier miles (possibly two flights to Hawaii) or $700 in gift cards. If you don’t, there’s still that $250 upfront bonus with only $1,000 minimum spending. If you can spend $10,000 in four months, there is still the bigger 50,000 points offer for the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card.

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Find more in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 9/29/10, 2:10pm | Trackback

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