Turn A Sharebuilder $50 Bonus into $1000+

Please visit this page for the latest active Sharebuilder promotion codes.

In a move of utter brilliance, and something the Motley Fool “Buy-And-Hold” strategists would love, jp of MyMoneyBlog wrote about an idea that someone should’ve thought of earlier (or at least, told me they thought of earlier). Essentially, you can get a $50 bonus from Sharebuilder (from numerous places, I list the one I used below) for opening an account and making one transaction. JP has taken that one step further, simply invest the $46 ($50 - $4 commission) into an ETF for 20-30 years, and withdraw $1000 - $5000 in 20-30 years… read on for details.

1. Open account with ShareBuilder under this promotion.
2. Deposit $50 of my own money (to make the 1st trade).
3. Pick the Basic Plan with no monthly maintenance fees and $4 trade. ShareBuilder Plans & Fees.
4. Buy $46 of EEM, an emerging markets ETF. I would buy VWO, but they don’t offer it. $4 will go towards the trade.
5. Wait the 4-6 weeks for my $50 bonus.
6. Withdraw my $50 bonus. Net cost to me: nothing!
7. Don’t touch the account or make any more trades for 20-30 years. Hopefully they [Sharebuilder] last that long.

You need to read the whole post to capture the entire idea and his justification of EEM.

The promotion code I used was IPLANGIFT (courtesy of Flexo from ConsumerismCommentary) and you need to use this link to be able to use that code when you sign on. [the IPLANGIFT has expired but here's a list of some $40 promotion codes that are still valid]

The power of the personal finance blogger network shining through! See you in Hawaii in 20-30 years!

Update: Just received confirmation of the promotion code acceptance:

Thank you for opening your iplanlife ShareBuilder Account. To receive the $50 promotion, all you need to do is make sure you’ve set up your ShareBuilder Plan and have a transaction before 02/05/2008.

Also, there are no inactivity fees according to their fee schedule.