TD Ameritrade: A Review of the Platforms, Tools, and Services

TD Ameritrade is a company with a long tradition, offering online broker services for online stock trading, long-term investing and retirement planning. Today, we’ll cover all the basic information about TD Ameritrade help you decide if you want to try using their services.

The History of TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is a company that offers various services and tools, including equities, mutual funds, forex trading, bonds, and many more. They a company that has been in business for 40 years.   This fact alone gives a good impression of the company since they have definitely learned a lot from all those years of experience.

They claim that they focus on each individually, and they have proven this is true by offering personal guidance and one-to-one support. They seem to understand that every trader has different goals and needs and they try to accommodate them as much as possible.

TD Ameritrade is, in fact, one of the first companies that started using modern technology to make investing easier and faster. The company was founded in Omaha in 1975 by Joe Ricketts. Ever since the beginning, they determined to help every client gain control of their financial life. The company was acquired by K. Aufhauser & Co. in 1995, but they continued to focus on bringing online trading closer to self-directed investors. They were also one of the first to start with sending trade confirmations by email and extended trading hours.

Today, TD Ameritrade is still very successful. It has around 7 million clients placing an average of 450,000 trades per day.

TD Ameritrade – Platforms, Tools, and Services

The TD Ameritrade platform looks quite fancy and trendy at the first glance, but it’s also very well organized. It’s not too stuffed and it’s fairly easy to use, even for first-time users.

The slogan TD Ameritrade uses for advertising says that they would help their users become superheroes if knowledge was power. How do they achieve that? They offer their clients the education they need to make informed decisions in their best interest. You will find everything you need in the Education Center on the platform.

Furthermore, TD Ameritrade tries to make learning as easy as possible for everyone, so they let clients choose what kind of training they prefer. You can also choose what you want to learn so you can go with a full curriculum or choose from a wide variety of courses and videos.

Let’s move on to the main part of the platform. TD Ameritrade offers web, downloadable, and mobile platforms for active traders and long-term investors. The platforms provide real-time quotes, live-streaming CNBC as well as advice from experts. The users can research stocks, manage their portfolios and execute their orders.

TD Ameritrade offers options for investors of all levels. The web platform provides access to education, planning tools, and independent research, but you can also choose to use the Trade Architect or thinkorswim for more advanced tools and options.

Types of accounts

The users of TD Ameritrade platform can choose between 6 different types of accounts. This way, you can find one that suits your needs and strategy perfectly.

Standard Accounts provide a user-friendly environment with easy access to investment products and intuitive trading platforms. There is the option to use it as a joint account. The Standard Account can be upgraded for options, futures, and/or forex trading.

With Retirement Accounts, you can choose between Traditional IRA, Rollover IRA, and Roth IRA to reach your retirement goals. Since the focus is on education, you will also be informed about various kinds of tax advantages.

If you are saving up for college, the Education Accounts help you plan your future and invest in it. You can opt for various UGMA/UTMA accounts and 529 plans.

TD Ameritrade offers Specialty Accounts for business partnerships, pension plans, individual trusts and sole proprietorships. They also offer Managed Portfolios as well as Margin Trading.

Conclusion

TD Ameritrade really has something to offer for everyone. There are various types of accounts, quality information sources and highly advanced tools offered. Their platforms are easy to use and the customer support is great. Furthermore, the pricing is very transparent and there are no hidden fees. Because of this, TD Ameritrade is a good choice for investors of all levels.

 

 

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