04-30-2014, 10:08 AM
I got my Platinum Privileges brochure the other day, and it says they're discontinuing entry in the program in a bunch of states May 31, although people who have already signed up will not be affected. So I got in just in time (I'm in California). Anyone who is interested in this should do it now since it takes some time to get all your assets transferred over.
As a tip, although it says you will be automatically enrolled if you have enough funds to qualify, you should still call them and remind them to enroll you since Merrill's "automatic" enrollment seems to be a bit manual. But the benefits are real, I've executed almost 30 free trades this month. Small opportunistic purchases and rebalances, selective dividend reinvestments, small initial positions in expensive looking stocks, etc.
As a tip, although it says you will be automatically enrolled if you have enough funds to qualify, you should still call them and remind them to enroll you since Merrill's "automatic" enrollment seems to be a bit manual. But the benefits are real, I've executed almost 30 free trades this month. Small opportunistic purchases and rebalances, selective dividend reinvestments, small initial positions in expensive looking stocks, etc.