Sunday, June 22, 2008

Free Nuvi with TD Ameritrade deposit


TD Ameritrade sent me an “exclusive” offer for a Garmin nuvi 660 navigation system in exchange for a deposit of $50,000 into my TD Ameritrade account. For another $50,000, I can get an additional $200 Shell gift card.

Those are some pretty nice gifts – sure beats the old toaster or steak knives that Savings and Loans once offered for opening a new account. The nuvi can be purchased for $399 or less with a little shopping around.

The fine print on the offer indicates that the account must maintain the balance for a year.

Account must remain open with minimum funding required for participation in the offer for 12 months, or TD AMERITRADE may charge the account for the cost of the product(s).

I wonder how many investors will take them up on this offer? I don’t hear too much talk about people wanting to invest in the market, right now. Most seem to be in damage control mode. They are frustrated with losing money and are moving into safer, non-stock related investments. Moving 50 grand into a trading account is the last thing on their mind.




1 comment:

  1. I'd say it could be a good deal for those who were already planning to put that money into play in the market.

    The deal isn't so great if they count your net equity as "minimum funding", which means if your stocks decline and your net equity falls below the minimum, they would consider you in breach of the agreement.

    For those who would consider just keeping the money in the cash account for a year without buying any stocks, it's a horrible deal. TD Ameritrade is only paying 0.10% for accounts under $100K. Considering your cash could be stashed at a high interest MMA paying around 3.75%, a $50K account would be losing over $150/mo in potential interest income.

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