Merrill Edge Automatic Investment Plan

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How to Start Investing in Mutual Funds with Merrill

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Who Merrill Edge Is Best For

Merrill Edge is best for you if you consider yourself one of the following:

  • Low minimum
  • Smartphone users
  • Goal focused investors

Seasoned traders probably wont like Merrill Edge as much because it lacks things that more experienced traders probably think of as important, such as commission-free exchange-traded funds and advanced trading platform features.

All traders are likely to find their retirement accounts attractive, however. As a top broker for Roth IRAs, Merrill Edge offers a number of research tools for long-term, tax-saving investment strategies all accessible through an app.

Apart from being the best choice for all BofA customers, theyre also best for helping fledgling traders find their way through this complex, interchanging, and often muddled, sea of investment.

Final Thoughts: Merrill Edge Review

Merrill Edge offer a fair industry price among their competitors, and Bank of America customers can easily begin trading from their accounts. Prices are around $6.95 per trade, $.95 + .75 per contract for trading options, and there are no added charges for stocks less than $1.00 per share.

Bank of Americas award winning customer service team are mighty and provide around the clock to provide help.

Customers will get excellent insights, a great customer service team, up to 100 commission-free trades per month with the Preferred Rewards Program and its all as easy as piekinda.

Overall, if youre new to trading and looking for some guidance, then youll likely enjoy this broker. Similarly, Bank of America customers will be happy to discover that Merrill Edge is a wonderful extension of the bank.

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Merrill Edge At A Glance

Account minimum

Advanced features mimic a desktop trading platform.

Research and data

Research, ratings and reports from over a dozen providers, including Bank of America, Morningstar and Moody’s, and news from 30 sources, including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Associated Press.

Customer support options

24/7 phone, chat, email, with in-person appointments available during Bank of America branch open hours.

How Do I Contact Merrill

Merrill Edge Automatic Investment Plan (2021)

You can get in touch with Merrill customer service by phone at 888-637-3343. You can also schedule an appointment here to meet with someone at one of its 2,000+ brick-and-mortar financial centers.

Note that large full-service banks and brokers aren’t typically known for providing the most helpful customer service. However, both Merrill Edge and Bank of America currently have A+ ratings on the Better Business Bureau .

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Who Should Choose Merrill Edge

Both beginners and experienced investors will find things to like about Merrill Edge, such as quality research and decent investment tools. That being said, when compared to other online brokerages, Merrill Edges tools are hardly top-shelf offerings, and the platform has some significant downsides.

The limited selection of product offerings is our main concern with Merrill Edge. Day traders and more experienced investors might prefer a platform with more robust trading capabilities and advanced order types, like conditional orders.

Merrill Edge would be best for investors who are narrowly focused on basic investments, like stocks, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. One of the platforms advantages is that it does not take payment for order flowalthough we feel that has more to do with its status as Bank of Americas core brokerage offering, rather than a choice designed to attract day traders looking to avoid front-running by market makers.

Bank of America gives its existing customers a few reasons to choose Merrill Edge. They can access their bank accounts, loans and investments all from the same website, and having high balances across all Bank of America-affiliated accounts can qualify them for better rates on financial products.

Merrill Edge Margin Rates

$100,000 and up Contact Merrill Edge

This brokerage may not be the best fit for investors who use margin as an integral part of their investment strategy. That’s because Merrill Edge margin rates are on the higher end of the discount brokerage industry, even for clients who have large balances .

Of course, margin rates are irrelevant if you don’t plan to use margin to leverage your portfolio. Investors who use a cash account can simply forget that margin exists. Investors who use high amounts of margin for long periods of time to leverage their portfolio will likely want to look elsewhere, however, given the high cost of carrying a debit balance.

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Compare To Similar Brokers

when you invest in a new Merrill Edge® Self-Directed account.

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Customer Service And Support

Merrill Edge vs Fidelity – Which Broker Is Better?

One major advantage of using a brokerage that is tied to one of the nation’s largest banks is its customer service and support. Clients can get help at thousands of Bank of America financial centers , where there are Merrill Edge advisors on staff to help you with anything related to your account. For convenience, you can also schedule a meeting with a local representative so as to get in and out as fast as possible, without waiting in line.

Merrill Edge also offers help 24/7 over the phone. An online chat service is available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, and from 7:30 a.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET on Saturdays.

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Is Merrill Edge Trustworthy

Merrill Edge has received an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB rates companies using a grade scale range of A+ to F, so this is the highest score a company can receive. This rating also indicates that Merrill Edge generally interacts well with its customers.

When assigning ratings, the BBB also considers factors like a company’s complaint history, time in business, advertising issues, and more. But ratings can vary per investment app.

Merrill Edge generally hasn’t run into any major lawsuits or public scandals over the years. According to BBB data, the company has resolved more than 2,200 complaints in the last 12 months.

Rickie Houston is a wealth-building reporter at Personal Finance Insider who covers investing, brokerage, and wealth-building products.

Td Ameritrade Dollar Cost Averaging Periodic Investing Plan

Should I use betterment, Wealthfront or Merrill Lynch.

Bank said to plan 201 rollout of automated financial service on an automated investment prototype for Merrill Edge, which targets. Wealth Management Access to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research and insights3. Online. Merrill Edge Automatic Investment Plan . How To Use Dollar-Cost Averaging for. – Merrill Edge. To simplify the process, Merrill Edge offers its To simplify contributions for a dollar cost averaging program, use our Automatic Investment Plan. Footnote 2 This plan automatically invests fixed dollar amounts on a regular basis from the cash available in your Merrill Edge investment account.

You decide on the frequency, dollar amount and mutual fund to purchase ongoing. Merrill Edge Automated Funding Service. Automatic Investment Plan If you want to grow your investments even more, you could add an automatic investment to a security. Merrill Edge offers dollar-cost averaging and automatic investment plans. Investing in Mutual Funds at Merrill Edge. Introducing Merrill Guided Investing. The Chief Investment Office develops the investment strategies for Merrill Guided Investing and Merrill Guided Investing with Advisor, including providing its recommendations of ETFs, mutual funds and related asset allocations.

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Merrill Edge Review: Can It Compete With Online

There are thousands of financial products and services out there, and we believe in helping you understand which is best for you, how it works, and will it actually help you achieve your financial goals. We’re proud of our content and guidance, and the information we provide is objective, independent, and free.

But we do have to make money to pay our team and keep this website running! Our partners compensate us. TheCollegeInvestor.com has an advertising relationship with some or all of the offers included on this page, which may impact how, where, and in what order products and services may appear. The College Investor does not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace. And our partners can never pay us to guarantee favorable reviews .

For more information and a complete list of our advertising partners, please check out our full Advertising Disclosure. TheCollegeInvestor.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. The information in our reviews could be different from what you find when visiting a financial institution, service provider or a specific product’s website. All products and services are presented without warranty.

Quick Summary

  • Self-Directed and Guided Investing options
  • Commission-free trading for stocks and ETFs
  • Extra perks and discounts for Bank of America customers

Guided Investing: 0.45% to 0.85%

Promotions

Get up to $600 for funding a new account

Merrill Edge Make Things Simple

Merrill Edge Guided Investing (MEGI) Robo

Signing up for Merrill Edge is ridiculously easy, especially for current Bank of America customers, and accessing data, using its features and getting advice can all be done in just a few quick steps.

Keep in mind: If theres one strong theme with Merrill Edge, its that theyre clear, concise and easy to use, and that cant be denied.

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This Brokerage Is Right For You If:

Taking into consideration its pros and cons, we think a Merrill Edge account would be a good fit for you if the following statements apply to you:

  • You can make the most of the free stock and ETF trades. This is a valuable perk that helps keep more money in your pocket.
  • You trade options occasionally, but not heavily. Merrill Edge isn’t the best stock broker for options, since the per-contract commission is slightly higher than what you’d be charged for the lowest cost brokers. That said, options trades are free and the per-contract fee is competitive.
  • You value customer support. Merrill Edge is one of the few discount brokers that has a large branch network in virtually every single major metropolitan area. If there’s a Bank of America office near you, help is just a short drive away.

Merrill Edge Research & Educational Tools

Weve already spoken about Merrill Edges research briefly, but it really deserves a spotlight of its own. The BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research franchise, is positioned in the top tier in many external surveys. The entity received a lot of recognition for its work recently, including being awarded No.1 Global Research firm.

Merrill Lynch provides research on stocks, mutual funds and ETFs, which can be seen in the brokers Stock Story and Portfolio Story features, as outlined above.

But the area in which Merrill truly shines is fund research. Lets take a closer look at that particular area.

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Access Your Account Online

You can request distributions, make investment changes and contribute online. Visit the My Account page to get started.

Important Information <

NextGen 529 is a Section 529 plan administered by the Finance Authority of Maine . You may obtain the NextGen 529 Program Description by requesting a copy from your financial professional, visiting NextGenforME.com or calling the program manager at 1-833-336-4529. The Program Description should be read carefully before investing.

The Program Description contains more complete information, including investment objectives, charges, expenses and risks of investing in NextGen 529, which you should carefully consider before investing. If you are not a Maine resident, you also should consider whether your or your designated beneficiarys home state offers any state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in such states 529 plan.

Sumday Administration, LLC is the program manager, The Bank of New York Mellon is the program custodian, BlackRock Advisors, LLC is the program investment manager, and BlackRock Investments, LLC, Member FINRA, is the program distributor and underwriter.

NextGen 529 , NextGen 529, and NextGen are registered trademarks of the Finance Authority of Maine.

Just a heads up!

You are leaving NextGenforME.com and going to the Gift of College site.

Link Your Bank Of America Na Accounts

Bank Of America – Merrill Edge – Starting A Retirement Account By Signing Up For Roth IRA

If youre already a Bank of America customer then you can link your checking and savings accounts to see your finances one one screen and transfer funds in real-time.

Once youve connected your accounts you can begin transferring funds by clicking on Portfolio & Accounts. Just select Transfers & Withdrawals and then hit that Cash button, baby. Youll see your balances immediately updated and ready for placing trades.

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Merrill Edge Guided Investing With Advisor

Merrill Edge Guided Investing with Advisor has a management fee of 0.85% and a $20,000 account minimum. If you qualify for the rewards program described above, that fee drops to 0.80%, 0.75% or 0.70% depending on your total combined balance.

The upper-tier service offers access to a human advisor who can give you one-on-one advice, help you establish goals and meet with you for periodic reviews. These advisors hold a variety of designations, and while some of them are CFPs, not all of them are. You can, however, get help in person at Bank of America locations.

While Merrill does offer access to human advisors, other companies provide the same service at a lower cost, or even for free. Vanguard Personal Advisor Services charges 0.30% and includes a team of financial advisors Charles Schwab’s Intelligent Portfolios Premium offers unlimited access to CFPs for $30 per month plus a $300 one-time planning fee which shakes out to 0.36% on a $100,000 balance plus the planning fee. Personal Capital, which caters to high-net-worth clients, charges 0.89% on your first million, a tad higher than Merrill’s 0.85% management fee for the robo-plus-live-advisor tier. Many of those services offer higher-end financial planning services, while Merrills are more limited.

» Want to compare options? Check out our roundup of the best wealth advisors

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What Is An Automatic Investment Plan

An automatic investment plan allows you to automatically transfer a specific amount of money from your paycheck to your investment account401, 403, IRA, etc.on a regular basis.

It makes investing easy. Payroll deductions, automatic bank withdrawals or setting up a direct deposit are all simple ways to automate your investing.

Automating your investment contribution allows you to set it up and leave it alone. That way, youre not tempted to spend investing dollars somewhere elsebecause you wont even see those dollars before theyre invested!

An automatic investment plan could be just what you need to create the retirement of your dreams and leave a legacy that impacts your family tree for generations to come.

Let us explain why you should have an automatic investment planand how you can start.

How Do We Review Robo

Merrill Edge Robo Advisor Review &  Performance May 2021 ...

NerdWallets comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. robo-advisors by assets under management, along with emerging industry players, using a multifaceted and iterative approach. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs.

DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW PROCESS

We collect data directly from providers, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. Our process starts by sending detailed questionnaires to providers to complete. The questionnaires are structured to equally elicit both favorable and unfavorable responses from providers. They are not designed or prepared to produce any predetermined results. The questionnaire answers, combined with product demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each providers performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor to excellent . Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.

RATING FACTORS

FACTOR WEIGHTINGS

The weighting of each factor is based on our teams assessment of which features are the most important to consumers and which ones impact the consumer experience in the most meaningful way. The factors considered, and how those factors are weighted, change depending upon the category of providers reviewed.

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