I have been hearing from brokers and customer service representatives over at TD Ameritrade that their mutual fund order system on the website would be changing soon for the past few months. This morning I logged into my account and sure enough, they have finally made the changes. The change is minor and doesn’t affect many people, but if you own or purchase any funds that offer breakpoint discounts this will save you some hassle.
Previously if you wanted to purchase any fund with a load or fund that offered a breakpoint based on how much of that fund family you currently own you were not allowed to place a buy order through the website. You had to call a broker to place the trade. Then they ask you all of the required questions to see if you qualify for a breakpoint and it could take quite a few minutes from placing the phone call to finally having the order placed.
Now when you go to the mutual fund order screen it lists those questions right on the order screen and there is a check box that you check if they do not apply to you and the order can be placed right online. This is great news for me since I do hold one fund that has always triggered the breakpoint question and I had to go through the hassle of calling the order in. I don’t purchase it regularly enough to make it a systematic purchase, but often enough that it was a headache to call it in.
So, like I mentioned this probably will not affect too many people, but just a heads up if this has been something that has annoyed you in the past. I’m just glad that after hearing everyone say that a change was on the way it actually happened. Usually I take everything a customer service representative says with a large grain of salt.
Author: Jeremy Vohwinkle
My name is Jeremy Vohwinkle, and I’ve spent a number of years working in the finance industry providing financial advice to regular investors and those participating in employer-sponsored retirement plans.
