It’s almost Labor Day Weekend: It’s Time - We Are All Moving to Schwab from TD Ameritrade
The Schwab purchase of TD Ameritrade which was announced nearly 3 years ago is about to become a reality for all of us!
As usual, if we have already moved your TD Ameritrade accounts to Schwab and/or you never had any accounts at TD Ameritrade, you can stop reading now and start your holiday weekend. Enjoy!
For the rest of us, let’s summarize what’s in all those envelopes you have been receiving from Schwab and what you need to do.
Over Labor Day weekend, your existing assets at Ameritrade will be moved to new identically registered accounts to Schwab. There is nothing you have to do for this to happen. In one of those many envelopes from Schwab is a list of your new account numbers. Don’t worry if you can’t locate this envelope, we have your new account numbers too. Starting on Friday evening September 1, you will not be able to access your old Ameritrade account. The plan is that you will be able to access your new Schwab accounts bright and early on Tuesday September 5.
Starting on September 5, you will be able to access your new Schwab accounts online via Schwab Alliance (schwaballiance.com). Schwab Alliance is much like Ameritrade’s AdvisorClient but we think it is easier to use. If you haven’t already done, you can go ahead and set up your Schwab Alliance credentials:
Go to schwaballiance.com
Select New Schwab user
Follow prompts
Note that each client must have their own unique Login ID and password. After the log ins are established, you can link the accounts together so you can see them with a single log in if you wish. We can help with all of this! This is not urgent as your account will transfer and we can access it whether or not you have set up your credentials. And if you do not use AdvisorClient, you do not have to use Schwab Alliance. We can drop everything to paper just as we do now.
If you have your existing Ameritrade accounts connected to a checking account and/or you have automatic transfers established from your checking account, these will carry over to Schwab. Presumably. So will your beneficiaries. Presumably. If you have a checkbook from Ameritrade which you have used in the last year, you will automatically get a new one from Schwab. Presumably. Over the first few weeks, we will be checking all of these details but please help us by letting us know if something is missing or is incorrect.
If you have automatic asset purchases or sales, we have had to cancel some of them since Schwab’s timing to do and transaction fees are different than Ameritrade’s. We will be adjusting these individually with you as needed over the first few weeks if we have not already done with you. There is nothing you have to do on your own.
We can access any statements from Ameritrade that you may need after the transition.
As always, we will be available in our office, with plenty of coffee, up to and after the conversion so do not hesitate to call or drop by.