Comments on: Suze Orman’s Save Yourself Promotion

By: Zack

Zack — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:41:07 +0000

I signed up on 4/2, interestingly there was the option for ACH deposits at that time. There is a delay of a few days to verify the account, but the option is available. Not sure of why Matt wasn’t offered the capability.

By: 40pirate

40pirate — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:02:31 +0000

i just signed up today, and may even make one for my wife. do you realize the interest you earn is 17.xx% for the year. some will tell you 8.3%, but after month 1, you have $100, month 2 – $200 ect, so when calculating the interest it is 17%. not sure where you will find that for a 12 month investment.

By: ExpatFinance

ExpatFinance — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:51:58 +0000

I need to start saving up an emergency fund, and what better way to do it than something that will automatically take $100 every month, and then reward me with a pretty good, safe return?

Thanks for sharing this!

By: Joyce

Joyce — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:28:18 +0000

Very interesting, I just spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to select an ACH transfer because I didn’t find the option either – only the wire transfer option. If this is the case, I will cancel my Ameritrade membership also.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:27:46 +0000

After consulting with the customer service rep on the phone, (Who did confirm that that option was not available to me, because I had according to him…filled out my application wrong)I still canceled my account.

There was no way enable the ACH transfer (keep in mind that this would be the way to fund the account from the beginning for free) and otherwise I would be charged $50 per wire fee from my bank.

The only bright side is that when I said ‘Cancel my account’ the rep simply said ‘ok’ and that was it.

By: Ken Montville - The MD Suburbs of DC

Ken Montville - The MD Suburbs of DC — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:01:54 +0000

I don’t know whether this is a good deal or not compared to other “investments” but the goal is pretty simple. You start the automatic funding of a savings account at a low interest rate and TD Ameritrade now has a steady stream of cash flowing into it’s deposit accounts which will shore up it’s capital position which will increase it’s ability to use the money elsewhere (let’s just hope it’s not a hedge fund or Madoff scheme).

To the many sophisticated readers of this blog, working the system to maximum financial advantage is a piece of cake. However, to the 1000s of people who just “set it and forget it” the $100 is a cheap, cheap way to get depositors “for life” with money flowing in each and every month.

I wonder what the analysis would be, even in this market, if the same “dollar cost averaging” of an automatic purchase of,say, some Dow component or a NASDAQ heavy hitter was applied.

Assuming that I put my $100 into Sharebuilder each and every month (an ING subsidiary), I wonder what my rate of return would be. Speakingof ING, they offer roughly the same APY (.50%) and you can move money between Sharebuilder your ING account and your pocket.

Just wondering.

By: thomas

thomas — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:26:10 +0000

With the way the interest rates are going down so much, this looks like a better option to park your short term cash. Worse case scenario you “lose” $20 in interest over a year (if that) if you pull out early.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:49:05 +0000

I attempted to take advantage of this offer.

When I tried to fund the account I was given wire funds options which the costs me up to $50 per wire. There was no option for the ACH (automated clearing house) transfer which is the free way to fund. I went to the help section and that pull down tab option was missing (even according to the help section).

I am now canceling my Ameritrade account because I will not do business with a business that pulls a bait and switch. Even if this was an honest mistake I could have easily walked into a situation that would have cost $50 per transfer for 12 months.

No thanks, I need things easy and error free.

By: Eric N.

Eric N. — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:12:23 +0000

Here’s another positive review. I signed up for the original promotion in which you only had to deposit $50 a month. I redeemed my bonus just last month. $600 in deposits + $100 in bonus + $0.05 in interest (sad I know). Still, it’s guaranteed and a good return if you don’t mind setting up the auto deposit and waiting a year for the bonus. And no catches or horror trying to close the account afterward. Thumbs up.

By: LionessM

LionessM — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:46:04 +0000

I did the $50 for a year and received my $100 after late last year. It was way cool to get money just for saving!

This sounds like a new promotion. Be sure to check if a promo code is needed (one was needed for my promo) and check if you need to open the account from a link.

By: katy

katy — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:22:30 +0000

Yes, it was $50 when I did it last year. I should be getting the $100 within a month – I’ll let you know.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:43:09 +0000

I did this myself, and it worked out great. No catches that I’m aware of.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:49:55 +0000

And you added a gravatar!

My theme didn’t change too much, I just changed the background.

By: ObliviousInvestor

ObliviousInvestor — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:43:36 +0000

Wow. That is a pretty sweet deal.

…And (having clicked through from Google Reader) I see you changed your blog theme. Always fun to make updates from time to time.

By: Ken M

Ken M — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:41:36 +0000

This promo has been going on for a year +.

My wife already cashed out hers. It used to only be $50, total 600.