Is there a way to avoid TD Investing fees?

xgbsSS wrote: ↑ Unless you are an active trader, no. Your only options really are...

Move to a cheaper brokerage.
-Wealthsimple Trade is free
-VB starts at $1.99, IB is similar and 1 cent
-CIBC, Desjardins, start at $6.95
-Qtrade is $8.45
-Scotia iShares, NBC, Questrade, Qtrade for free ETF purchases

Buy mutual funds
-with the amounts you are investing at a time, unless you move brokerages, it isn't worth buying individual stocks

Save up before buying stock
-i use Virtual Brokers, CIBC and Wealthsimple Trade and manage accounts in Questrade for some people
and the trades I perform at each are done according to their commission
-VB I have graduated a 1 cent per share so I buy freely when I want
-CIBC charges $6.95, so my minimum stock value purchase is always $5000
-Wealthsimple Trade I buy whenever as well (but this is fun money to try it out so I don't strategize)
-Questrade is ETF only for who I manage

If you are adamant on staying with TD, you need to change how you invest. I would recommend going TD e-Series is you really want to buy $500 at a time. If you want to stick with stocks, save up at least a few thousand. At $10 a trade, you are giving up 2-4% of your initial investment (2% to buy and possibly another 2% to sell).

If you want to stick to $500 and stocks, go with the many free/cheaper options above. Wealthsimple Trade would be ideal, just keep in mind, not all stocks listed are tradable.

TD is not competitive for individual stocks for small players.

vivibaby wrote: ↑ Is there any reason to use TD at all?

Clacker wrote: ↑ This is great advice if you need to stick with TD. The e-series will mirror the returns of most broadly diversified ETF's. Simply build the e-series until you're up to several thousand then transfer into ETF's/stocks.

vivibaby wrote: ↑ Is there any reason to use TD at all?

Clacker wrote: ↑ Is it free to buy and sell e-series from other platforms? In Questrade there's a $9.95 fee to trade mutual funds.

Clacker wrote: ↑
After checking both VB and CIBC IE I see you are correct, no fees, but the minimum purchase amounts for both is $1000 which is not good if you're looking at monthly or bi-weekly contributions (and definitely wouldn't work for the OP). Thanks for the info.

xgbsSS wrote: ↑ Unless you are an active trader, no. Your only options really are...

Move to a cheaper brokerage.
-Wealthsimple Trade is free
-VB starts at $1.99, IB is similar and 1 cent
-CIBC, Desjardins, start at $6.95
-Qtrade is $8.45
-Scotia iShares, NBC, Questrade, Qtrade for free ETF purchases

Buy mutual funds
-with the amounts you are investing at a time, unless you move brokerages, it isn't worth buying individual stocks

Save up before buying stock
-i use Virtual Brokers, CIBC and Wealthsimple Trade and manage accounts in Questrade for some people
and the trades I perform at each are done according to their commission
-VB I have graduated a 1 cent per share so I buy freely when I want
-CIBC charges $6.95, so my minimum stock value purchase is always $5000
-Wealthsimple Trade I buy whenever as well (but this is fun money to try it out so I don't strategize)
-Questrade is ETF only for who I manage

If you are adamant on staying with TD, you need to change how you invest. I would recommend going TD e-Series is you really want to buy $500 at a time. If you want to stick with stocks, save up at least a few thousand. At $10 a trade, you are giving up 2-4% of your initial investment (2% to buy and possibly another 2% to sell).

If you want to stick to $500 and stocks, go with the many free/cheaper options above. Wealthsimple Trade would be ideal, just keep in mind, not all stocks listed are tradable.

TD is not competitive for individual stocks for small players.

Jyelong wrote: ↑ I usually buy small amounts of stock (500-600$) and the 9.99$ TD charges for each transaction eats up a lot of the appreciation I try to get from the trade.
Is there a way I can avoid these fees? Does TD offer options that do not include this fee? Or are there other brokers that do not charge a fee when you buy/sell stock?

Jyelong wrote: ↑ By the way, I hear from an American friend that RobinHood is good. Is this available in Canada?

xgbsSS wrote: ↑ No. Most people I see that use TD or any bank brokerage only go with them because they bank there.
TD other than having e-Series is really not competitive for everyday investors. And as TD e-Series is now available at other brokerages, there really isn't a reason to stick with them. The only time I would probably stick with them is if one is to stick solely with TD e-Series. As an active trader, there are better, low cost programs with as good layouts, data and research.

But people express things such as convenience or even safety (I think it's a ludicrous argument imho) to stick with large bank brokerages. Whether one wants to pay that much more in commission for that, is up to one to decide.

garmium wrote: ↑
The main benefit is that if there is a house deal or auto deal and you need that money immediately, you can move $20,000 (or even $200,000) from your margin account into your TD Checking account and within the same second head over to a local branch and have them write a certified check for you.
I have once went to a TD Branch. While waiting in line, transferred $6,000 from my margin account to my checking account, and then went up to the cash and got them to write a certified check.

OR if for some reason you need to pay someone money, you can instantaneously withdraw money from your margin account to your TD account and send them an e-transfer.

Thus, there is absolutely no need to keep a float. My float is essentially my brokerage.


Thus I see a benefit for keeping all your investments under 1 brokerage. If for some reason you need money and it is time sensitive, you don't need to wait business days for transfers to clear from your 5 different banks.

StevePos wrote: ↑ It has the best platform and best customer service. I have accounts with all the banks and a brokerage with TD and BMO. TD uses by far the best technology.

CheapMang wrote: ↑ +1 to this. I have tried out the platforms on all 6 banks and had accounts with BMO, RBC, and Questrade in the past. TD surpasses them all in customer service and platform. If OP wants to save money, go with Wealthsimple, it's very barebones however. You get what you pay for.