Why I love banks

[iamblessed]

Bank of America has given me thousands of dollars in credit card signup bonuses, thousands of dollars in brokerage bonuses (simply for moving Vanguard ETFs in kind to Merrill Edge), free billpay, free safe deposit box, free just about everything including unlimited free ATM withdrawals everywhere (waiving their fee and reimbursing me for the host bank's fee), and credit cards that give me 5.25% cash back on online purchases, 5.25% on another category of my choice from {travel, restaurants, gas, ...}, 3.5% on groceries, dining, and travel, and 2.625% on everything else. Also, my BoA credit cards periodically extend the interest free period for payback on credit cards for up to 18 months at a stretch, giving me free float that can be invested elsewhere.

Their interest rates on checking and saving are admittedly tiny, but they have no minimum balance requirements for those accounts and so I keep most of my cash at Ally, just transferring it into my BoA checking account on a just-in-time basis to pay bills. Interest is taxable but almost all the benefits listed in the previous paragraph are taxfree. (The only exception is that the $1,000 brokerage bonus I got for transferring my taxable account to Merrill Edge was taxable. The bonus for transferring my Roth was taxfree, as were all the credit card bonuses, credit card cash back, and fee waivers.)

You have done great but I think you are part of the 1% of BOA customers that have done as well. Thanks but no thanks I will stick to the credit union.
[/quote]

In the last few months, BoA has closed their very effect ShopSafe online credit card that randomized cc numbers for each purchase. I went to a local branch recently with my big bag of coins and the teller said they don't accept coins from retail customers any more. A couple years ago, they charged my wife $50 when her rIRA CD matured and she moved it to VG. I had ME but closed it out, just wasn't worth the hassle (I prefer mutual funds over ETFs).
[/quote]

I am like Dave Ramsey I think the big banks are out to get you in the wallet.

[fru-gal]

Credit card rewards, nationwide ATMs, 24/7 customer support, international presence, etc., etc.

And Wells Fargo isn't really a shining example for a bank to begin with...

Many credit unions belong to a group such that you can walk into any of them and do transactions with the one you have accounts at.

Almost without exception cus in my area offer much better CD rates than banks.

International presence is of no interest to me.

Websites are available 24/7. The local cu managers know me and offer good service, banks are staffed by sharks who want to fleece me of my money with dubious investments when a CD matures.

You are correct about credit cards however.

[BogleMelon]

I hate credit unions! Once I had a credit union with and left a small balance in it ($5) to keep it open till I transfer more cash. A couple of weeks after, the balance was gone! When I asked they said "inactivity fee" or something like that! They had also a very terrible website and poor customer service. I closed my account and never tried another credit union again. Since then I do free banking with one Megabank, online banks and Fidelity combined.
I probably was just unlucky with the one bad apple in the whole basket, but that apple was enough for me to get me allergy towards all apples!

[Turbo29]

I use E-Trade checking account, free checking etc..

I've had an E*Trade checking account for 20 years now. Never had a single problem with it and they rebate ATM fees. My direct deposit from work goes there and then I ACH it out to other banks as needed.

[iamblessed]

I hate credit unions! Once I had a credit union with and left a small balance in it ($5) to keep it open till I transfer more cash. A couple of weeks after, the balance was gone! When I asked they said "inactivity fee" or something like that! They had also a very terrible website and poor customer service. I closed my account and never tried another credit union again. Since then I do free banking with one Megabank, online banks and Fidelity combined.
I probably was just unlucky with the one bad apple in the whole basket, but that apple was enough for me to get me allergy towards all apples!

I see what you mean about the $5 my credit union requires $100 if you only have a savings account. That is usual among credit unions. Sometimes the smaller ones will not have the best web site or apps. The larger ones are on par with the larger banks.

[bikechuck]

Lemmeee guess, was the bank PNC? (Stands for Profits, Not Customercare

These bank branch managers are like sharks, trained to sniff out fresh blood wherever they can.

I use PNC for traditional banking services and I have always experienced excellent customer care from them. I would not use them for my investment portfolio because of the high AUM fees that they charge, that said I would never pay anyone an AUM fee. I once listened to their pitch for their investment service but I declined it and they have not been annoyingly persistent in my case. I don't mind them occasionally pitching it as it is their job to do so. I just politely decline.

[tesuzuki2002]

What kind of useful perk is free checks? I don't think I write more than 5 checks a year. Isn't it 2019?

My landlord only takes checks (unless if I pay a heavy fee). I think that's still very common.

Have you suggested to him collecting rent via paypal or other? He would just wake up and the money would be there.. no passing of checks or dealing with it.

[tesuzuki2002]

Haha!! I'm closing my PNC account next month since they want to start charging me $25 a month to keep the account open unless I keep $15K in there checking earning almost 0 interest... Such a joke PNC.

$25 a month? This must be a business account, right?

Can't recall all details, but couple of years ago PNC changed "premier" checking for individuals w/out any notice (terms were no min. balance, no monthly fee) All of a sudden is this mysterious service charge of like $7.50 (or $10 can't remember for sure) on my statement And meantime I was keeping around $10,000 in savings paying next to nothing.

Went in to customer service to complain - the woman just airily told me "oh, just switch to "standard" checking," No minimum balance, no monthly charge, as long as I kept at least $5,000 in either savings or a HELOC balance.
So of course I did. But wondered to myself, why didn't you just do this automatically. Basically, nothing has changed. Same acc. #. , just a diff. name "standard checking".

Know what? Unless you are a young person, living in urban area with lots of choices, very flexible in your banking needs (all things I am not ) these mega banks know they have us as hostages. Really. In the age we are now living in - direct deposit, autopay, EFT linkage, et al - the banks know, and count on it - It is going to be just too daunting for most of us to switch banks.

Just off the top of my head I can count around 15 different entities I would have to notify, either direct deposits or auto-pay setups. Compiling a complete listing would exceed 20, when counting 3 mutual fund companies.

The sheer enormity of it all - switching everything to a new bank - is just too much. Add in the worry of when the changes would go through, and the risk of a slip-up. With something super-important like an insurance premium.
Or my soc. sec. $$$

Kudos to you for standing up to the 800 lb. Pittsburgh Gorilla in the Room......

Not a business account. It is an old old ... account that used to be called "everyday Checking"

account has been open around 15 years. I'm almost to the point where I don't want to change due to all the other account affected... but I also don't want to start paying them for holding on to my money. They are getting to use my money while it is in there anyway.

Agreed that it is very annoying. I think they just want people to change accounts so they can show a "New Activation"

[Swimmer]

We have had checking at PNC for nearly 30 years. We maintain a low balance of about $1000.

This is the first I’ve heard of a monthly charge. We have no investment account with PNC and never have. Could it be the monthly charge is a regional thing? If we got hit with that, we’d walk.

What bank would be better? Not a credit union fan.

[mrc]

I hate credit unions! Once I had a credit union with and left a small balance in it ($5) to keep it open till I transfer more cash. A couple of weeks after, the balance was gone! When I asked they said "inactivity fee" or something like that! They had also a very terrible website and poor customer service. I closed my account and never tried another credit union again. Since then I do free banking with one Megabank, online banks and Fidelity combined.
I probably was just unlucky with the one bad apple in the whole basket, but that apple was enough for me to get me allergy towards all apples!

Gee, that sounds like a bank!

[pepys]

What kind of useful perk is free checks? I don't think I write more than 5 checks a year. Isn't it 2019?

My landlord only takes checks (unless if I pay a heavy fee). I think that's still very common.

Have you suggested to him collecting rent via paypal or other? He would just wake up and the money would be there.. no passing of checks or dealing with it.

I have not. I can get checks mailed to me for free, so it isn't a big deal to me how they collect. They do have an option to pay online, but it comes with a fee (5%, if I recall correctly) that is higher than the cash back I would get, so I don't use it.

[mmcmonster]

I can't stand my bank.

In fact, I do my best to not step foot inside it, if at all possible.

Every time I step inside, they recognize me (from my uncommon last name) and ask why I'm coming in, rather than my wife (since she deposits checks there sporadically).

They then see my balances and the fact that I have weekly outflows to Vanguard. They invariably ask that I speak to the manager regarding "other services" that they are happy to offer me. I always say that I'm not interested, but it never deters them.

I can't remember the last time I went in without walking out with one of the employee's business cards.

It's gotten to the point that I use their drive through to do the rare deposit (when my wife is busy that day).

And I always withdraw from the ATM. Even if I just made a deposit. Less exposure to the tellers is worth parking at the ATM machine attached to the bank location.

[drawpoker]

I can't stand my bank.
In fact, I do my best to not step foot inside it, if at all possible.

I know exactly what you mean. PNC used to have an adequate no. of CSR people on duty (usually 4) so there was very little waiting when you needed to speak with one, or get somebody to open lockbox. Now, they have cut back staff so there is usually only 2. They used have today's copy of both the Sun and WSJ to read while you wait. They have disappeared, replaced by DiscoveryKids "Oink on the Farm" and "Rumble with the Dinosaurs". Really, not kidding. (Maybe intended as subconscious message for bank customer?)

Most troubling of all (at least for me since I feel I have committed faux pas & oughta apologize ) When no one in CSR dept is available a teller will close window, telling the people in line "Will be right back" to let me into my lockbox. Jeeez almighty, when this happens, wish I could shrink down to about 4 inches high, people are staring.

Do other banks do this? Have a sign on the entrance saying "Please remove hats and sunglasses while inside bank." The PNC branch here does. What does this mean? Their camera equipment is old, second-rate, and the images of bank robbers won't be captured in good clarity, so kindly do your part to help us out?

I can't stand my bank.

[an_asker]

If anybody is even a tiny bit in the middle class, banks are the way to go over credit unions. You can often see people on Reddit or other platforms blindly say credit unions are the best because they're not for profit, blah blah. But if you can have at least $1000 or whatever the minimum is for a checking account, the large banks are the only way to go. There is absolutely no comparison.

What's your logic there? I've been using Alliant Credit Union for years. They have better checking rates than all of the big banks and decent savings rates. Fast ACH's. Free billpay. heard Wells Fargo now charges $10/mo for bill pay. Why would I switch to a big bank?

Bank of America has given me thousands of dollars in credit card signup bonuses, thousands of dollars in brokerage bonuses (simply for moving Vanguard ETFs in kind to Merrill Edge), free billpay, free safe deposit box, free just about everything including unlimited free ATM withdrawals everywhere (waiving their fee and reimbursing me for the host bank's fee), and credit cards that give me 5.25% cash back on online purchases, 5.25% on another category of my choice from {travel, restaurants, gas, ...}, 3.5% on groceries, dining, and travel, and 2.625% on everything else. Also, my BoA credit cards periodically extend the interest free period for payback on credit cards for up to 18 months at a stretch, giving me free float that can be invested elsewhere.

Their interest rates on checking and saving are admittedly tiny, but they have no minimum balance requirements for those accounts and so I keep most of my cash at Ally, just transferring it into my BoA checking account on a just-in-time basis to pay bills. Interest is taxable but almost all the benefits listed in the previous paragraph are taxfree. (The only exception is that the $1,000 brokerage bonus I got for transferring my taxable account to Merrill Edge was taxable. The bonus for transferring my Roth was taxfree, as were all the credit card bonuses, credit card cash back, and fee waivers.)

I meant to ask you this earlier ... what kind of investment vehicle do you use with Merrill/BOA? I noticed that to get to the level you discuss one needs to have $100k worth of a relationship...

[edited to add]: I see that you moved Vanguard ETFs. I was asking whether they are free to buy/sell or is it better to just buy outside and move it into the BOA account?

Thanks!

[dodecahedron]

I meant to ask you this earlier ... what kind of investment vehicle do you use with Merrill/BOA? I noticed that to get to the level you discuss one needs to have $100k worth of a relationship...

[edited to add]: I see that you moved Vanguard ETFs. I was asking whether they are free to buy/sell or is it better to just buy outside and move it into the BOA account?

Thanks!

Yes, I just moved Vanguard ETFs there. I am pretty sure they would be free to buy/sell (because my Platinum Preferred status gives me an insane number of free trades) but I have never actually bothered to do anything other than hold the ETFs there. When the ETFs pay dividends, I immediately move the cash thrown off to my BoA checking account and deploy the funds elsewhere. Otherwise, there is zero activity in my Merrill Edge account.

[tesuzuki2002]

What kind of useful perk is free checks? I don't think I write more than 5 checks a year. Isn't it 2019?

My landlord only takes checks (unless if I pay a heavy fee). I think that's still very common.

Have you suggested to him collecting rent via paypal or other? He would just wake up and the money would be there.. no passing of checks or dealing with it.

I have not. I can get checks mailed to me for free, so it isn't a big deal to me how they collect. They do have an option to pay online, but it comes with a fee (5%, if I recall correctly) that is higher than the cash back I would get, so I don't use it.

completely understand... I wouldn't pay that fee either.. and I love free checks!

[mptfan]

I can't stand my bank.

In fact, I do my best to not step foot inside it, if at all possible.

Every time I step inside, they recognize me (from my uncommon last name) and ask why I'm coming in, rather than my wife (since she deposits checks there sporadically).

They then see my balances and the fact that I have weekly outflows to Vanguard. They invariably ask that I speak to the manager regarding "other services" that they are happy to offer me. I always say that I'm not interested, but it never deters them.

I can't remember the last time I went in without walking out with one of the employee's business cards.

It's gotten to the point that I use their drive through to do the rare deposit (when my wife is busy that day).

And I always withdraw from the ATM. Even if I just made a deposit. Less exposure to the tellers is worth parking at the ATM machine attached to the bank location.

There is a simple solution to your problems...use an online bank. I stopped using a local bank and I now use Schwab Bank and I have been very happy, I wish I would have done it sooner.

[Chuck5781]

Lemmeee guess, was the bank PNC? (Stands for Profits, Not Customercare

These bank branch managers are like sharks, trained to sniff out fresh blood wherever they can.

I use PNC for traditional banking services and I have always experienced excellent customer care from them. I would not use them for my investment portfolio because of the high AUM fees that they charge, that said I would never pay anyone an AUM fee. I once listened to their pitch for their investment service but I declined it and they have not been annoyingly persistent in my case. I don't mind them occasionally pitching it as it is their job to do so. I just politely decline.

I actually do love my bank. I enjoy being greeted by name, but then again I enjoy people in general. I also have taken the time to greet the teller by name when I can, maybe that’s forbidden in the (crabby) Boglehead world.

I’m never offended when a waitress offers me dessert, I flew this past weekend and the flight attendants offered us credit cards and I don’t recall being upset or calling them greedy. I’m always asked at the supermarket if I want to make a donation, tip jars are at many sandwich shops, but my head hasn’t exploded over them. The nice people at Costco always ask me if I need stamps. I have no problem saying a polite ‘no’ to offers, because I know full well companies incent their people to promote their services.

My bank has a free checking account that I use, along with free bill pay, free on line and mobile banking, free debit card. I’ve never bounced a check, but I know their overdraft fee is actually less than the maximum allowed by law. I don’t recall if I’ve ever paid for checks, I rarely write them. I do run out of deposit slips, but they are quick to give me whatever I need.

I use Vanguard’s bank transfer feature to move funds back and forth with them. Works great.

I don’t wear a hat inside, just was taught it was bad form.

I use a community bank. I try to be friendly. Perhaps the people who are dissatisfied here could give that combination a try.

[EnjoyIt]

I meant to ask you this earlier ... what kind of investment vehicle do you use with Merrill/BOA? I noticed that to get to the level you discuss one needs to have $100k worth of a relationship...

[edited to add]: I see that you moved Vanguard ETFs. I was asking whether they are free to buy/sell or is it better to just buy outside and move it into the BOA account?

Thanks!

Yes, I just moved Vanguard ETFs there. I am pretty sure they would be free to buy/sell (because my Platinum Preferred status gives me an insane number of free trades) but I have never actually bothered to do anything other than hold the ETFs there. When the ETFs pay dividends, I immediately move the cash thrown off to my BoA checking account and deploy the funds elsewhere. Otherwise, there is zero activity in my Merrill Edge account.

Is it possible to just move a portion of one's assets? For example, lets say you have in your brokerage account:
$200k in VTI and $100k in BND can you just move $100k of VTI leaving the rest behind?

[Lastrun]

Is it possible to just move a portion of one's assets? For example, lets say you have in your brokerage account:
$200k in VTI and $100k in BND can you just move $100k of VTI leaving the rest behind?

If I understand your question right, this is what I did. I moved certain securities I had at Vanguard to Merrill Edge, leaving others behind, to meet the $100K requirement.

Merrill Edge did the work as part of the application, and it was done very quickly and efficiently.

[Jack FFR1846]

If anybody is even a tiny bit in the middle class, banks are the way to go over credit unions. You can often see people on Reddit or other platforms blindly say credit unions are the best because they're not for profit, blah blah. But if you can have at least $1000 or whatever the minimum is for a checking account, the large banks are the only way to go. There is absolutely no comparison.

Absolutely no comparison? Really?

I'll name names and let you compare. DCU.

Branch Locations: They are in the Co op network which means I can walk into virtually any credit union as if it's a DCU. There are 2 or 3 huge banks with more locations but beyond that, no.
ATM Locations: Same deal plus deals that some credit unions have made with businesses for free use (Walgreens) and if you do get fees, they refund.
Minimums: let me laugh. I have not had an account anywhere with a minimum in 30 years. This is 1960's terminology.
Checking fees: What are these? I do use checks to pay tuition and taxes and a few other things that only accept checks. I also use my checking account as my central bill pay location. I hear that some banks charge these, but I haven't had any in....I think forever, so that's over 40 years.
Notary services: Well, yes, of course. And every branch has several. And of course it's free.
Golden Ticket Medallion Blessed by the Pope Guarantee: I've never needed one but all branches offer this free.
Wire transfers: There are posted fees. In actual practice, I've found that every one gets charged...then removed.
Overdrafts: It's happened a few times. Usually when I transfer money to Schwab where both my and my wife's accounts are linked and I goof. I go in and ask them to waive the fee and they do. Every time. I also have called and asked them to waive and they do. Every time. I think if I just yelled out the window, they'd likely waive.
Credit Card Rewards: Only 1%. I don't use them. My Citi Sears has been running promotions all this year and I get 10% on groceries, restaurants and gas. If my spending is going to be on something else, I either use my citizen's 5% card or I buy gift cards at the grocery store for my 10% (or more if they are promoting gift cards).
Safe Deposit Boxes: DCU doesn't have them. I've also never had one in my life. I guess this lines up well for me.
Various rates: When DCU does better than expected, it does things like retroactively reduces mortgage rates and other loan rates. My primary savings account pays 6.12% for the first $1k in it (as well as the rest of my family's accounts)
App and online: I have a ton of online accounts, so can easily compare with Ally, Redneck, CIT, Discover, Cap One, and half a dozen I even forget I have. DCU is at least as good and to me better.
Direct Deposit: Our company officially pays on Fridays. My pay is always in my account Thursday at 12:01am. One more day of interest is better than a sharp stick in the eye.
Investments: Who in their right mind does investments with a bank or credit union? Schwab, TDA, eTrade and Fidelity all trade for zero. I have them all. Fidelity has their Zero funds. I have one of them.
Loans: DCU is very no nonsense with loans. A new car or used car rate is the same up to something like 6 or 7 years and tends to be on the low side. You can likely find something for less, but not by much less.
Fee for Tellers: No, this ain't BoA (aka, the evil empire). They don't charge to see a teller.

So I am very interested. If you feel there is absolutely no comparison, then what advantages are offered by your bank? If you say safety deposit boxes, then well...ya got me there.

[EnjoyIt]

Is it possible to just move a portion of one's assets? For example, lets say you have in your brokerage account:
$200k in VTI and $100k in BND can you just move $100k of VTI leaving the rest behind?

If I understand your question right, this is what I did. I moved certain securities I had at Vanguard to Merrill Edge, leaving others behind, to meet the $100K requirement.

Merrill Edge did the work as part of the application, and it was done very quickly and efficiently.

So you said "Merrill Edge, I want you to take $100k of VTI from my Vanguard account."
Is that correct? You may have more VTI, but Merrill Edge only took $100k leaving the rest of VTI behind?

[stoptothink]

Another reason I love banks. My wife opened a separate checking account with another bank because she wanted to keep better track of her (separate) side hustle money. The only way I found out is when "debit from Bank X" showed up several times one day on our joint account. I asked her what it was, we discussed it, and although I had no idea why she was doing it and did not agree, I just let it be. It's now been 3 months, she didn't make a single debit or deposit from that new account, the initial pull from our joint account just sat there for 3 months, and when she tried to pull some of the funds out a week or so ago, she was declined. She's now decided it was a mistake and wants to just close it, but they say the reason her debit was declined is because there are no funds and the account is frozen. Where exactly did the initial debits go? She brought in the bank statement to "Bank X" that shows the debits from our joint account and they just threw up their hands. Apparently the funds just disappeared. It's a small 3-figure amount, but the wife is MAD.

[CedarWaxWing]

face. She made it clear that she prefers if I invest actively with them. Ok, I said, what's the fee? Get ready for it: 1.45%. I came very close to laughing her out of the room but I decided that would have been impolite. Just for kicks and giggles, I did look at their active fund. Does it outperform the indexes? It does actually, but only by a nearly imperceptible hair's breadth. That's before fees. After fees? Nope.

Being polite is good... and kind. Far kinder than the bank employee who is trying to pick your pocket.

Relying on people's wanting to be polite... is how EJ, WR, Chase investing... makes their living. A friend is currently getting out of WR... to send his investing funds to VG. WR is NOT being very polite to him... but being very very passive aggressive.

So yes, be polite, but it is fair to be passive aggressive by asking "them" to explain in detail why you should invest through their brokerage service if that lowers your ROI.

Beware of investing via a bank, esp when they try to sell an annuity to you as a place to put your IRA funds at age 62. I have seen that happen to a friend who is very very financially illiterate (key bank).

[Chuck5781]

You can often see people on Reddit or other platforms blindly say credit unions are the best because they're not for profit, blah blah.

So I am very interested. If you feel there is absolutely no comparison, then what advantages are offered by your bank? If you say safety deposit boxes, then well...ya got me there.

First, Credit Unions are most certainly “for profit”. They make plenty of profits, they must or they will be quickly shut down. They simply don’t have individual shareholders who lay claim to those profits, but make no mistake they make profits.

They also do not pay federal income tax on those profits. So, they start every day with a financial advantage over banks. And they typically offer better consumer deals than banks, at least in part due to the fact they pay no federal income tax.

So for consumers, a reliable rule of thumb would be a credit union will provide at least as good if not better consumer products than banks.

Credit Unions are also restricted from holding more than a relatively small amount of their assets in commercial loans. So a business owner might find borrowing from a credit union to be problematic, especially as the business grows and needs more loans. Not a big deal if you are an average consumer, and likely explains why credit unions go out of their way to be consumer friendly.

Having said all that, many community and regional banks have exactly the same consumer friendly products and service as the poster described. Mine certainly does.

[arf30]

It may not be as important to the Bogleheads demographic but local credit unions and banks have terrible online banking and mobile apps which is an instant turnoff for younger generations (mega CUs like Alliant are an exception). Shared branching is hit or miss as well - CU employees are often confused why you're not at your own CU or place extreme limits on deposits/withdrawals.

[dodecahedron]

Is it possible to just move a portion of one's assets? For example, lets say you have in your brokerage account:
$200k in VTI and $100k in BND can you just move $100k of VTI leaving the rest behind?

If I understand your question right, this is what I did. I moved certain securities I had at Vanguard to Merrill Edge, leaving others behind, to meet the $100K requirement.

Merrill Edge did the work as part of the application, and it was done very quickly and efficiently.

So you said "Merrill Edge, I want you to take $100k of VTI from my Vanguard account."
Is that correct? You may have more VTI, but Merrill Edge only took $100k leaving the rest of VTI behind?

Yes, essentially. I did a partial in-kind transfer of some of my VTI out of Vanguard. (It was more than $100K though. I believe I got a bonus of $1,000 for transferring about $200K worth of VTI from Vanguard to Merrill Edge and holding it there for more than six months.) But it was definitely not all of my VTI. And if I recall correctly, I specified a whole number of shares of VTI, not a dollar figure for the in-kind transfer. Sometime after six months was up, I did another partial transfer, this time out of Merrill Edge into another brokerage (Schwab), leaving enough behind at Merrill Edge to meet the ongoing $100K minimum.

[EnjoyIt]

Is it possible to just move a portion of one's assets? For example, lets say you have in your brokerage account:
$200k in VTI and $100k in BND can you just move $100k of VTI leaving the rest behind?

If I understand your question right, this is what I did. I moved certain securities I had at Vanguard to Merrill Edge, leaving others behind, to meet the $100K requirement.

Merrill Edge did the work as part of the application, and it was done very quickly and efficiently.

So you said "Merrill Edge, I want you to take $100k of VTI from my Vanguard account."
Is that correct? You may have more VTI, but Merrill Edge only took $100k leaving the rest of VTI behind?

Yes, essentially. I did a partial in-kind transfer of some of my VTI out of Vanguard. (It was more than $100K though. I believe I got a bonus of $1,000 for transferring about $200K worth of VTI from Vanguard to Merrill Edge and holding it there for more than six months.) But it was definitely not all of my VTI. And if I recall correctly, I specified a whole number of shares of VTI, not a dollar figure for the in-kind transfer. Sometime after six months was up, I did another partial transfer, this time out of Merrill Edge into another brokerage (Schwab), leaving enough behind at Merrill Edge to meet the ongoing $100K minimum.

Thanks for the explanation.
Does it have to be ETFs? Can I use VTSAX instead of VTI for such transactions?

[dodecahedron]

Is it possible to just move a portion of one's assets? For example, lets say you have in your brokerage account:
$200k in VTI and $100k in BND can you just move $100k of VTI leaving the rest behind?

If I understand your question right, this is what I did. I moved certain securities I had at Vanguard to Merrill Edge, leaving others behind, to meet the $100K requirement.

Merrill Edge did the work as part of the application, and it was done very quickly and efficiently.

So you said "Merrill Edge, I want you to take $100k of VTI from my Vanguard account."
Is that correct? You may have more VTI, but Merrill Edge only took $100k leaving the rest of VTI behind?

Yes, essentially. I did a partial in-kind transfer of some of my VTI out of Vanguard. (It was more than $100K though. I believe I got a bonus of $1,000 for transferring about $200K worth of VTI from Vanguard to Merrill Edge and holding it there for more than six months.) But it was definitely not all of my VTI. And if I recall correctly, I specified a whole number of shares of VTI, not a dollar figure for the in-kind transfer. Sometime after six months was up, I did another partial transfer, this time out of Merrill Edge into another brokerage (Schwab), leaving enough behind at Merrill Edge to meet the ongoing $100K minimum.

Thanks for the explanation.
Does it have to be ETFs? Can I use VTSAX instead of VTI for such transactions?

I am not sure. I did not try transferring VTSAX to Merrill Edge. I did subsequently transfer VTSAX from Vanguard to Schwab (in-kind, with no difficulty.) It might have worked at Merrill Edge too.

[EnjoyIt]

If I understand your question right, this is what I did. I moved certain securities I had at Vanguard to Merrill Edge, leaving others behind, to meet the $100K requirement.

Merrill Edge did the work as part of the application, and it was done very quickly and efficiently.

So you said "Merrill Edge, I want you to take $100k of VTI from my Vanguard account."
Is that correct? You may have more VTI, but Merrill Edge only took $100k leaving the rest of VTI behind?

Yes, essentially. I did a partial in-kind transfer of some of my VTI out of Vanguard. (It was more than $100K though. I believe I got a bonus of $1,000 for transferring about $200K worth of VTI from Vanguard to Merrill Edge and holding it there for more than six months.) But it was definitely not all of my VTI. And if I recall correctly, I specified a whole number of shares of VTI, not a dollar figure for the in-kind transfer. Sometime after six months was up, I did another partial transfer, this time out of Merrill Edge into another brokerage (Schwab), leaving enough behind at Merrill Edge to meet the ongoing $100K minimum.

Thanks for the explanation.
Does it have to be ETFs? Can I use VTSAX instead of VTI for such transactions?

I am not sure. I did not try transferring VTSAX to Merrill Edge. I did subsequently transfer VTSAX from Vanguard to Schwab (in-kind, with no difficulty.) It might have worked at Merrill Edge too.

Good to know, thanks, I am thinking of getting involved with these brokerage bonuses.