TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is a large online broker that originated from the merger of Ameritrade Holding Corporation and TD Waterhouse USA.

Boglehead-style investing at TD Ameritrade
The building blocks of Boglehead-style investing are low-expense-ratio index mutual funds and/or ETFs. Vanguard fans would suggest that Vanguard has the best and most complete lineup of such funds, and that the most convenient place to hold Vanguard mutual funds is directly at Vanguard. Thus, the Bogleheads forum and Wiki tends to be Vanguard-oriented. But, investing according to the Boglehead philosophy certainly does not require you to invest at Vanguard nor use Vanguard products. Here are some notes on how to do it at TD Ameritrade.

The information below is up-to-date as of March 24, 2012. Writers have striven for accuracy, but investors should verify information before taking action.

Tools for Boglehead-style investing

 * TD Ameritrade has over 100 commission-free ETFs for buy-and-hold investors, including dozens of choices from iShares and Vanguard. Users must sign up their account for the Commission-Free ETF program. Not all Vanguard ETFs are available commission-free, but the selection is reasonable. In order to avoid the $19.99 short-term ETF trading fee, no shares may be sold for at least 30 days once a customer purchases a commission-free ETF. Please see ETFs vs Mutual Funds for details on ETF pros and cons.
 * Some investors may wish to tilt their portfolio to increase Value stocks. These investors may consider using the following:
 * Large Value: Vanguard Value ETF (VTV)
 * Mid Value: Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (VOE)
 * Small Value: Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF (VBR)
 * Corresponding Growth ETFs are also available.


 * Some users may have employer-sponsored TD Ameritrade accounts which prohibit using ETFs. The lowest expense ratio NTF (No Transaction Fee) mutual funds at TD Ameritrade for various asset classes are as follows:
 * Total US Stock Market Fund: T. Rowe Price Total Equity Market Index Fund (POMIX; 0.40%).
 * S&P 500 large-cap US Equities fund: SSgA S&P 500 Index Fund Institutional Class (SVPSX; 0.18%).
 * Extended Stock Market mid and small-cap US Equities fund: T. Rowe Price Extended Equity Market Index Fund (PEXMX; 0.42%).
 * Developed International Stock Index: T. Rowe Price International Equity Index Fund (PIEQX; 0.50%). Note: this index excludes Canada, Emerging Markets, and Small Cap equities.
 * Total Bond Market Index: T. Rowe Price U.S. Bond Enhanced Index Fund (PBDIX; 0.30%).
 * TIPS Fund: American Century Investments Inflation Adjusted Bond Fund Investor Class (ACITX; 0.48%).

TD Ameritrade tips, links, and general orientation
Whereas the default account at Vanguard is a mutual fund account, in which you can only buy Vanguard mutual funds (all other products require a separate Vanguard Brokerage Service account), the default account at TD Ameritrade is a brokerage account. You can buy mutual funds from various fund families, ETFs, individual stocks, bonds, and brokered CDs all within the same TD Ameritrade account. As of March 2012:


 * TD Ameritrade's online brokerage handbook has all the nitty-gritty details and fees and commissions and how TD Ameritrade does business online.


 * TD Ameritrade's full fee schedule is here.