Q: What to expect?
Over labor day weekend 2023, your TD Ameritrade account will move to Charles Schwab. Your investments, fees, and services will remain the same. Your statements may look a little different, but ultimately this change will have minimal impact on your account.
Q: Will I receive a new account number?
Yes. All accounts transitioning from TD Ameritrade to Schwab will receive a new account number.
Q: Will my investments be out of the market for any period of time?
No. Investments will transfer like in kind from TD Ameritrade to Schwab.
Q: Blackout Period - Clients are not able to take distributions/make contributions; when does it start?
FSG highly recommends requesting any needed one-time distributions or contributions as early as possible. Previously scheduled distributions and contributions should be processed as normal, with the only blackout dates for money movement being over Labor Day weekend (Sept 2nd-4th). If a reoccurring distribution or contribution is scheduled during the blackout dates, they will then be initiated on September 5th.
We have been told that all recurring distributions and contributions set up with TD Ameritrade will be seamlessly transferred to Schwab.
Q: Blackout Period - Service requests
A few blackout periods have been set so that this merger can go as smoothly as possible for all. Starting Monday, August 14th, all nonessential service requests will be postponed until September 5th.
Q: Should I be looking out for anything in particular??
Your FSG Team, Charles Schwab, and TD Ameritrade will send out various communications, which we encourage you to read. However, there is nothing that you need to do at this time or be concerned about.
Q: What is FSG's opinion?
We have been working with Schwab for several years and have invested close to $50 million in client assets. Schwab has been a great partner, and although we believe competition is typically better for consumers, we have zero concerns about working with Schwab.
With any significant transitions like this, we anticipate that there will be some unforeseen issues; however, our entire team at FSG is prepared to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Q: How does the transition affect clients of FSG?
FSG will continue to serve our clients with qualified advice, transparency, and reliability, as we always have. We do not believe this transition will have a material impact on clients. Clients that currently have TD Ameritrade accounts will begin to receive Charles Schwab statements, but nearly everything else will be the same. Additionally, I would like to note that clients who started the year with TD Ameritrade will likely receive 1099 (tax forms) from both Schwab and TD Ameritrade in early 2024 for this tax year.
Q: How are Schwab and TD the same? How are they different?
Prior to the merger, Schwab and TD Ameritrade were competing businesses providing extremely similar products and services. Schwab is a larger corporation with a few additional products and services that TD Ameritrade did not. For example, Schwab, in addition to being an investment custodian, is also a bank and can provide certain banking services. Additionally, Schwab has their own line of mutual funds and ETFs, which TD Ameritrade did not. We have used some of Schwab’s ETFs in the past and will continue to do so if it is the best option.