I have been with Etrade for years. I have tried a dew other online and bank brokerages. None have even come close to being as good as Etrade. I have found Etrade to be an innovative financial services company. They offer a full suite of easy-to-use online services. It is easy to manage my Brokerage, Individual Retirement Accounts, Children's Trust accounts at Etrade. Instead of dealing with a multitude of companies to manage all of my accounts. Etrade offers them all in one easy service. Online trades are low cost and the research that is available is top notch. My eight and twelve year old boys help manage their trusts thru Etrade. Access to my Etrade accounts are available twenty four hours each day three hundred sixty five days a year via online and customer support. Online chat is available as is secure e-mail. Customer service is always friendly and knowledgeable about Etrade's products.

jamesphewitt

USA

I like the trade options in etrade, what I don't like is they lure you in with low commission rate of $7.99 and then bump it up twice to $12.99 and other hidden fees. It also makes me loose consumer confidence when etrade stock is earning is roughly $1.20 a share and near the point of bankruptcy.  So if the company goes down will my account and money be safe?  I had to ask twice to even get an answer.  For the most part they like to dodge questions.

bowler21

Fremont, CA

I opened up a **Complete Savings Account** with **Etrade Financial** earlier this year.  After doing some online research looking at interest rates, customer service, and account holder feedback, Etrade Financial repeatedly came out on top. The **Etrade Financial Complete Savings Account** is currently earning a **3.30%** Annual Percentage Yield (APY).  This is much higher than any of my local banks, and is also higher than other online banks.  Some of the benefits of the **Etrade Financial Complete Savings Account** are: Only a $1 minimum deposit to open an account. No minimum balance required and no account fees. Easy online account access and transferring is easy with their Quick Transfer option. My experience with **Etrade Financial** has been great.  The only "work" that I had to do was to sign and return a form that was mailed to my home shortly after opening up my account.   **Etrade Financial** does not send out excessive emails.  In fact, I don't believe that I've received any emails since I opened my account.  That could be a negative for some people who like to receive account reminders, but I enjoy keeping my inbox clean.  Earned interest is posted on the last day of the month, so it's easy for me to keep tabs on my account without needing an email reminder. In addition to savings accounts, **Etrade Financial** also offers several other products and services including checking, CD's and money market accounts, brokerage accounts (stock, bonds, mutual funds), IRA's, education savings plans, and a VISA credit card.    I highly recommend the **Etrade Financial Complete Savings Account** to anyone who is comfortable with online banking and who is looking to find a good interest rate.     

mindyvol

Undisclosed

In early June, I began an online brokerage account with this company. Of course, before opening, I researched several other online brokerage companies, such as Scottrade, TD Ameritrade and Fidelity. I definitely believe that choosing Etrade was the right decision for me. Although Scottrade charges lower commission, Etrade has the better tools and products to help you become a better investor. These include an Investor Resource center, an online advisor, countless videos and seminars, and access to all kinds of information about every type of security. It is definitely worth it to choose this company, and I highly recommend it to all types of investors, whether you are new, have intermediate experience, or are advanced in the financial world. 

coreypray

Tonawanda, NY

  If you want to invest, conduct your own research, and execute your own trades, the first step you must take is to select a broker. The internet continues to offer more and more brokerage services and many banks, mutual funds, and other companies have expanded to include brokerage service. One online company that started out as an online broker and has now expanded to offer more is **Etrade.com**. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of this service: **Online Brokerage Commentary:** Etrade is a full- service brokerage company offering online trades, investment research, and full customer service support that includes live assistance with trading, when needed. This financial provider has expanded its offerings over the years and now offers banking services such as checking and savings accounts, mortgages, retirement services, and more. With Etrade, investors have most any tool they need in order to make smart investment decisions. This online brokerage service has a good investment search function that will help you find the right stock or other investment to match your objectives. Research capabilities are probably the single most important aspect of any online brokerage service and Etrade is very good at helping you zero- in on the right investment. The site also has several innovative tools to help you realize your financial goals. For example, using the retirement tools, one can enter their present age, years to retirement, income, and other information and receive an investment plan that spells out what needs to be done in order to have a secure retirement. Pricing is another important quality of any online brokerage service and Etrade is very competitive in this area. Ordinary market trades are usually offered at less than ten dollars per trade and it is common to receive special offers that reduce the cost per trade to zero for the first several months of activity. Even if you don't get a zero- trade offer at first, the rate will increase slightly after you get past the introductory period, but the per- trade fee will still be relatively low: less than $15 regardless of the size of the investment. If you need assistance from an actual broker, the cost per trade will increase significantly, to more than $50. This is why, unless you have a large amount of money to trade and really need the assistance, you should avoid broker- assisted trades and do it yourself.   Education is another positive aspect of Etrade. This service wants to help you learn more about investing and it offers some good, free material to help you learn more about investing and trading. Curious investors can watch videos that educate on investing, lookup seminars coming to their area, or take part in online tutorials. **Bottom- Line Viewpoint:** Etrade is a solid online brokerage service with a good deal to offer for a fair price. Novice investors might feel a little lost, but there are plenty of tools to guide you along and teach you the ins and outs of investing. For self- directed trading, the cost is low and the service is very good, making Etrade one of the better online brokerage services available.

Bryan-Carey

Houston, TX

With brokers who charge insane commission charges, E*trade is a great alternative for taking investment decisions into your own hands. With flat $10 trades, it is a better alternative than a big bank, but is also great for the moderate investor. By moderate I include those who trade often and a multitude of security types.  Bond, options, and global traders will find E*trade's platform easy and simple to use. One of the best features is the Quick Transfer, which easily transfers funds from one account to another in a matter of seconds. It is easiest between E*trade brokerage account and E*trade savings accounts, but also works smoothly with any other checking or savings accounts. The only formidable downside is the global trading platform. With this you can trade currencies and international stocks. You must keep this account well funded or the fees will start to hit you. For best results, I would suggest you keep a $10,000 minimum in this type account if you want to avoid these fees. Also with any global strategies, make sure you are aware of the time differences between countries.  E*trade offers many products ranging from Roth IRA's to 401(k)'s and individual brokerage accounts. Brokers can be available to you for a fee or if you have over a certain amount in your accounts. For these reasons, beginners would be great with a Sharebuilder account, but moderate traders would feel at home with E*trade.

martinezmic

Pawleys Island, SC

I was hoping to find a way to reverse 5 (FIVE) years of inactivity fees which they started charging me once I turned off paper statements. If I had been getting a paper statement I would have done whatever it took to stop these exorbitant fees. I only had 2 stocks with $2000 in the account and actually forgot about them until I wanted to transfer them to another brokerage account. They have been stealing all of my cash dividends which I have been paying taxes on for five years and STILL charging me $40 a quarter for an Inactivity Fee! Now before I can transfer these stocks I have to pay over $800 in Inactivity Fees and $60 to transfer and close the account.  

aquanut

San Antonio, TX

I have been using Etrade for two years now. I pay $12.95 trade commissions because I don't do a lot of trading. I initially transfered an account from TD Ameritrade in response to a promotion offering free trades. The free trades were only good for the first 30 days and since it took longer than that to complete the account transfer, I never had any funds for trading until AFTER the 30 day promotion ended! The first year, my Etrade account was free except for paying my trade commissions. Because of the stock market crash, I was not doing much investing. In the second year, Etrade begins charging a $40 account service fee if you do not complete any trades. I got caught with fee in my sixth quarter after opening my account because I was never aware of it. To avoid the fee, one can set up bill pay and pay two bills using brokerage funds. Etrade will then issue you a book of checks and an ATM card when you set up billpay. The best account feature i've found is the ability to link your Etrade brokerage account to any external checking or savings account and move money back and forth via ACH transfer. Be careful though, because over the two years, I linked about 15 accounts and reached what they called a LIFETIME LIMIT. Now, if I open a new account, which I do whenever I buy CDs from various banks, I can no longer link the new account to my Etrade account. Another nice feature is the free RSA security device I was issued for my account. It is a small gadget that fits on my keychain that generates random numbers every few seconds. When I log into my Etrade account, my password requires the currently generated number as a suffix. That way it makes it impossible to hack as long as I always have my RSA device in my possession. Pretty cool!

Valereaux

Huntsville, TX