Originally Posted by
Andrew Mao
It seems like this deal is mainly attracting people who have no intention of investing at Fidelity and just want their money back as soon as possible. That's fine, but I have a question for those of you who are actually Fidelity customers:
Has anyone who has over $100k invested in their Fidelity account tried taking it out (capital gains, whatever) and re-depositing it back in for this promotion? Or better yet, just call them, threaten to do this, and get the miles without doing anything? That's what I'd like to do and I'd like to hear if anyone else has done that.
By the way, for all you deal-seekers out there: Fidelity is not some shady company trying to keep your money. They are a legit brokerage firm and they actually have great products. Moreover, investing your money for retirement (not earning 0.01% on your cash) is important. The Fidelity cash management account is a checking account with free checks and an ATM card that reimburses all ATM and forex fees. The Fidelity Amex is a card that gives you a straight 2% return on all your purchases. Both are free with no annual fee when you have a brokerage account. Tell me what bank or credit card company offers that in today's world?
I honestly have no idea why everyone is in such a rush to get their money out of Fidelity. I just sock it in there as soon as possible whenever I have extra cash on hand.
Threatening would NOT work if this is what you are thinking. If you dont have extra fund to spare, then do the move out more discretely and then let enough time passed before you try to sign up for the offer again.
I use the Cash Management ATM card aboard all the time. It is this one and the Schwab's for all our cash needs when travel internationally.
Fido is an OK company but it does not seem to value existing customers' loyalty unless you are a very active trader. Even that, you would still need to argue with them on trades from time to time.
BTW, invest for one's retirement does not necessarily mean to sock one's extra cash to Fido whenever one could... if mutual funds are your way of invest, there are other fund families perform better than Fido's. if equity being the vehicle, there are better discount brokerage firms than Fido. Fido simply is one of the oldest, most established back from the old days when discount brokerage first caught on. It has gained control for over 50% of this country's 401K management. However for those individuals who are actively managed their own investments, Fido definitely is NOT the best choice.