Merrill Edge Self-Directed Reviews

Summary of a Reddit post

They find Merrill Edge fine as a basic trading platform with easy transfers to a BofA account and one shared app for banking and investing. Their one complaint is the recent increase in the balance needed for the top rewards tier.

Summary of a Reddit post

They have used both Merrill and Schwab and say customer service is the big difference: the Bank of America card perks were nice, but Merrill support was not there when they had a problem.

Summary of a Reddit post

They keep assets at Merrill for the boosted credit card rewards, which they rate among the best, though they find the cash APY at Merrill mediocre and pay their bills through Fidelity instead.

Summary of a Reddit post

They have used a self-directed Merrill CMA and Roth IRA for years without problems. Their one real dislike is that fractional ETF purchases are not available.

Summary of a Reddit post

Opened mainly for Preferred Rewards and holds ETFs there; approval took about three business days even in-branch and the IRA rollover went fine. Fine for buy and hold but not for active trading.

Summary of a Reddit post

A former Merrill Edge user for the Preferred Rewards credit card boost. They say it is a good deal, but the platform blocks a surprisingly large number of mainstream ETFs, which can be very annoying.

Summary of a Reddit post

They switched from Vanguard to Merrill Edge for BoA Preferred Rewards and credit card boosts. An advisor told them to leave a small balance in the traditional IRA for a backdoor Roth, but conversion paperwork is now an e-doc.

Summary of a Reddit post

They keep long-term holdings at Merrill despite a very bad interface because the BofA credit card rewards beat most cards. Day trading and dividend investing stay at Fidelity, whose system they find much better.

Summary of a Reddit post

They keep a brokerage balance at Merrill mainly to reach a higher Bank of America rewards tier, finding the platform clunky and unfriendly but noting Merrill reimbursed their transfer fees when moving assets over.

Summary of a Reddit post

They use Merrill Edge for its money market funds for cash needed soon. They are not a fan of the trading menu and think Fidelity is the better platform overall.

Summary of a Reddit post

They describe Merrill Edge as fine and generally adequate for buy-and-hold investing, though using it is a bit of a chore. A brief, lukewarm owner opinion.

Summary of a Reddit post

They use both Merrill Edge and Schwab with contacts at each who handle the accounts without managing the money, and say they would not use Merrill Edge if they did not have that account manager.

Summary of a Reddit post

They hold their investments at Merrill and often hit its ETF restrictions, including being denied when trying to buy bitcoin ETFs. Since they avoid complex trades, they treat it as a minor annoyance.

Summary of a Reddit post

They hold a large ETF portfolio in a Merrill Edge brokerage account, but note it does not allow fractional shares, so leftover cash often cannot buy a full share of higher-priced Vanguard ETFs.

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They report that Merrill ran a credit check when they opened an account, and that they had to unfreeze their credit file because it initially held up the account opening.

Summary of a Reddit post

They are transferring their Merrill account to Fidelity because they do not use the Merrill perks or a BofA credit card. They report that positions and cost basis transfer over fully, so the move has no tax impact.

Summary of a Reddit post

They keep a balance at Merrill Edge for the credit card boost and moved Fidelity index funds in. Merrill accepted the transfer but will not let them buy more of those funds, including reinvested dividends, which they find annoying.