TD Ameritrade -Overview of Minimum Deposit, Spreads & Leverage

General Information

TD Ameritrade is an online brokerage offering self-directed brokerage accounts, professionally managed investment accounts, retirement accounts, education savings accounts, and more. Charles Schwab acquired the brokerage on On October 6, 2020. TD Ameritrade provides the same services, but the company will merge its product offerings with Schwab's, according to its website.

TD Ameritrade News

In 2011, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) forced TD Ameritrade to reimburse $10 million to customers it failed to warn about the dangers of a mutual fund known as the Reserve Yield Plus Fund. In 2020, the investment app was accused of failing to warn customers about the risk in oil investments, but it beat all oil-related customer lawsuits.

Earlier in 2021, TD Ameritrade, Robinhood, and several other investment apps faced backlash for restricting trades on Gamestop (GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC), and other stocks that surged due to a Reddit forum called r/WallStreetBets.

Products & Services

TD Ameritrade's investment selection consists of stocks, bonds, mutual funds (it offers more than 13,000), ETFs, options, futures, annuities, IPOs, foreign investments (Forex), and other fixed income securities.

Account Types

TD Ameritrade offers quite a few accounts including the Standard Account, Retirement Account, Education accounts, Specialty Account (including Trust, Partnership accounts, Limited partnership accounts, Investment club accounts, Limited liability accounts, Corporate accounts, Sole proprietorship accounts, Non-incorporated accounts, Small business plans), Managed Portfolios Account, and Margin Trading Account.

Minimum Deposit

TD Ameritrade's brokerage accounts require no minimum opening deposit and include commission-free trades on US-listed stocks, ETFs, and options. However, to open a Managed Portfolio account, investors need at least $25,000 to get started. TD Ameritrade offers several retirement accounts for individuals and small businesses. Each account comes without minimum opening deposits or maintenance fees. You can also save for college and educational expenses with TD Ameritrade's 529 college savings plans and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). The Coverdell ESA offers tax-free distributions, with a $0 minimum deposit and $2,000 annual maximum contribution limit.

Trading platform

In addition to its TD Ameritrade web and mobile platforms, the highly rated thinkorswim platform offers professional-level trading on desktop and mobile.

Customer Support

Phone, email and live chat support 24/7; technical phone support Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. In-person at 250+ local branches. Support also available via text, Facebook Messenger, Twitter direct message, Apple Business Chat and Amazon Alexa.