Comments on: ShareBuilder Review – Online Brokerage for Long Term Investors

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:53:53 +0000

Monique, Good catch on the fine print - it's always good to read it! FDIC insurance only applies to guaranteed accounts, usually things like savings accounts and CDs. Some government bonds are also guaranteed. Stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, REITs, and similar investments carry a certain amount of risk; in other words, they aren't guaranteed and can lose value. That doesn't mean they are bad investments though, because with that higher risk also comes the potential for higher rewards than a standard savings account. If you go back and look at your 401k, you will probably find similar language regarding risk and possible loss of value. ShareBuilder is a fine institution and would be a good place to invest your retirement funds. Here are some more places to open an IRA; check out these resources because you may like one of these options better than ShareBuilder. I also have tutorials for doing a 401k Plan Rollover into an IRA and 401k Rollover into a Vanguard IRA. Best of luck!

By: MoniqueL

MoniqueL — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:09:51 +0000

I’m a novice and know nothing about investments, but I need to rollover my money from a previous employer’s 401K. (I don’t qualify for a Roth IRA). I already have an ING Savings account that I’m pleased with, and thought about investing my money with Sharebuilder. I need something low maintenance that will allow for long term investing. This article was most helpful. However the fine print on Sharebuilder’s website made me apprehensive:

“Securities products are: Not FDIC insured • Not Bank guaranteed • May lose value”

Should I be concerned that Sharebuilder is not FDIC insured, and are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal invested ?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:00:48 +0000

rmorris, I have had nothing but excellent experiences with TradeKing, which you can read about in this TradeKing Review. Individual trades are cheaper and there are more investing tools available at TradeKing. They also reimburse new customers up to $150 to transfer their funds to their company. TradeKing was rated #1 discount brokerage overall two years in a row by SmartMoney, a financial magazine from the Wall Street Journal. I encourage you to check them out.

By: rmorris43

rmorris43 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:49:21 +0000

I had a bad experience where they took 14 minutes to process a transaction. I did not have a lot of shares, so the money factor was not a big deal. (It went up $3 a share in that time period) It was the customer service that bothered me. I am going to migrate my account when I find a company that will pay for the transfer.
Just thought I should share that. Thanks.

By: FFB

FFB — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:28:59 +0000

I like my Sharebuilder account. I find the interface to set up a trade to be a bit confusing in timing the trade and turning it on (for the $4 trade option) but overall it satisfies my needs. Thanks to them I can say I own a teency tiny bit of Berkshire Hathoway (a fractional B share).

If you’re buying for the long term and don’t plan to sell often then this is a nice place to check out.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:13:42 +0000

Hi DGI, Yep, no admin fees, but standard commissions still apply ($4 or less per automatic trade, or $9.95 for real time trades). Here is the ShareBuilder IRA fee schedule.

By: Dividend Growth Investor

Dividend Growth Investor — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:36:44 +0000

Is it true that Sharebuilder doesn’t charge you any annual fee on IRAs? If that’s the case I might open one next year with them. I hate paying a $30 annual fee to my stock broker ( I didn’t pay commissions up untill early 2009 though).

By: Miss M

Miss M — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:54:50 +0000

Yep, only good for long term investors. I have an account and I’ve never paid for a trade. Sometimes you can find promo codes for free trades and they have a sign up bonus for costco members (usually between $50 – $100). I like that it’s linked to my ING account, I can log in to my savings account and see my investment balance at the same time.