I'm not sure about liquidation, but I have read about several situations where the fund family bought the distressed short term debt at par and ate the small loss, leaving the fund at $1.00. Fund companies, with the exeption mentioned above, have always decided the relatively low cost of keeping the buck is worth avoiding the very bad PR.

If you want even more safety than a normal MMF, you can buy funds that invest exclusively in U.S. goverment obligations. The yields are ususally slightly lower for these.

1. I got United miles and used the same MP # on both accounts. I do not believe this offer (an individual and joint account) is valid for SPG points.
2. Yes. I was the primary person for the joint account.

Difference between UAL and SPG offers?
 

Thanks MoCheex. What is the difference between the UAL and SPG offers that makes one OK for individual and joint account and the other not?

I think the difference is that United has targeted people that already have accounts to open additional accounts whereas SPG has only offered it to 1st time customers. If you really want the SPG points, open an account in the name of someone that lives at your address (SO or otherwise) and then transfer the SPG points into your SPG account. That is what I did for more SPG points.

Is there a cost to transfer *wood points between accounts?

No, not if you live in the same household (e.g., have the same address).

HI all - I am so ready to open the ameritrade account -- couple of items to confirm please:

1. if i do the $10k opening - can i put in $8k cash and transfer $2k in stocks?
2. if the value of $10k goes below due to dip in stocks, then I am not penalized?
3. if I put in the 10k but do not want to buy stocks, can I buy MM funds or just leave it sit there?

Thanks!
Allen

1. Yes
2. Yes, no problem if your account goes below $10K as long as at least 10K was originally put it.
3. Yes, both of these can be done. There is actually a MM fund that you can sign up for right off the bat. If you have unused $$$ in your account, it will automatically sweep to this MM fund daily. I think the MM fund currently pays ~3% interest.

just one last confirmation because im a wacko - when i call ameritrade - both times they said that the $10k must remain for 9 months or pay the worth of the points... are you saying you dont need the 10k?

thanks

Unless something has changed recently, Ameritrade does not offer the traditional sweep mechanism that most brokerages provide to their customers. My cash never earned interest, and when I called to find out what could be done, they referred me to some product whose application was not readily available on their website.

I decided to transfer all unused cash out of Ameritrade until it was needed for future purchases.

You DO need the $10K initial deposit (stock transfers, cash, whatever) in your account. IF your account balance dips below $10K because of your poor stock picking skills, you still get all the SPG points. IF your account balance dips below $10K because you withdraw money from your Ameritrade account, then you might not get the 2nd half of the SPG points according to the T&Cs of the promo.

This is the product that I was referring to. It is available to sign up for when you initially sign up for your account. Otherwise, like you say, it is impossible to find information for it on the Ameritrade website. However if you call them up you can get an application for it faxed to you. I have done both of the above for my various Ameritrade accounts since I can not sit idely (sp?) by while my cash earns 0.1% interest when it should be making at least 3%.

Although I'm currently not a big fan of TD Waterhouse, perhaps Ameritrade will address the sweep mechanism "problem" when they merge with TDW in the future.

You CAN sweep with Ameritrade. Call and ask about it. They call it a Total Asset Plan (TAP) which is confusing but ALL you are doing is selecting a MM fund. Pick the Prime. It's somewhere between 2 and 3% now. Much better than .1%. No fees involved.

I called into Ameritrade about a month ago, and they mentioned this service. They said I had to print off the form from their website, sign it, and mail it in to get it started. I went to their website, and this form is nowhere to be found. I concluded that it was less aggravation to move my cash to an internet bank and earn a higher rate of interest.

By the way, I checked the copy of my original application, and there is no mention of this service. Bottom line -- it shouldn't be this hard to set up a cash sweep for a brokerage account! The service should be automatic, and the only decision should be what investment vehicle you want to use to park your cash (e.g., taxable mm, tax-free mm, etc.).