Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

This device is too small

If you're on a Galaxy Fold, consider unfolding your phone or viewing it in full screen to best optimize your experience.

Skip to main content
Advertiser Disclosure Many of the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which The Motley Fool receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear) and may influence which products we write about, but our product ratings are not influenced by compensation. We do not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace.
    |    Accessibility Options

Merrill Edge Review: Ol' Faithful Delivers for Long-Term Investors

Review Updated
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Author: Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Writer, Analyst

Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. He writes personal finance and investment advice for Motley Fool Money and its parent company The Motley Fool, with more than 4,500 published articles and a 2017 SABEW Best in Business award. Matt writes a weekly investment column for the Motley Fool ("Ask a Fool") that is syndicated in USA Today, and his work with Motley Fool Money has also been syndicated to MSN and Yahoo! Finance. He has been regularly featured on Fox Business and many other major outlets. He’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Nova Southeastern University, and holds a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.

See Full Bio

| 2 others [ + ]
Cole Tretheway
Reviewer: Cole Tretheway
Cole Tretheway
Cole Tretheway

Cole Tretheway is a full-time personal finance writer whose articles have been featured on Motley Fool Money and The Motley Fool. He has a degree in English with a Certificate in Professional and Technical Communication from California Polytechnic University, SLO.

See Full Bio

Eric McWhinnie
Fact Checked: Eric McWhinnie
Eric McWhinnie
Eric McWhinnie

Eric McWhinnie has been writing and editing digital content since 2010. He specializes in personal finance and investing. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

See Full Bio

Many or all of the products here are from our partners that compensate us. It’s how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures that our product ratings are not influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is a top brokerage that offers lucrative perks such as $0 commissions, quality third-party research, and premium customer service. Read our Merrill Edge® Self-Directed review to learn more about the benefits offered and determine if this is the right broker for you.

Ratings Methodology
Merrill Edge® Self-Directed

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed

Our Rating:

Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Bottom Line

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed sports low overall fees, strong research offerings, and fantastic customer support. It's a solid option for all investors, and especially attractive for Bank of America customers.

Fees:

$0 for online stock and ETF trades

Account Minimum:

$0

Alternatives to Consider

We recommend comparing brokerage options to ensure the account you're selecting is the best fit for you. To make your search easier, here's a short list of our best trading platforms of 2024.

Broker Best For Commissions Learn More
Logo for Public
Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.
4.0/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Easy fractional investing in stocks and bonds. $0 commissions, 1%-2% crypto markups
Learn More for Public

On Public's Secure Website.

Logo for J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing
Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.
4.0/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Low mutual fund fees. $0 per trade
Learn More for J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing

On J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing's Secure Website.

Logo for E*TRADE
Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Long-Term Investors, Stocks and Options Traders Commission-free; other fees apply
Learn More for E*TRADE

On E*TRADE's Secure Website.

Full Merrill Edge review

This stock broker is a good fit for: Investors wanting to combine their investing and banking needs under one roof.

Pros

  • $0 stock and ETF commissions
  • Diverse account types offered
  • Investment vehicles offered
  • National branch access
  • Preferred Rewards program

Cons

  • Trading platform can be beat
  • Margin rates are higher than other brokers
Check it out

Merrill Edge sometimes offers bonuses and promotions for new customers. Check out our Merrill Edge promos page to find out what's on offer now.

We tried it: Our team's experience

Here at Motley Fool Money, we pride ourselves as real users of most of the products across our site. Personal finance writer Dana George uses Merrill Edge herself. Here's her take on this broker:

It took me years to sign up for my first Solo 401(k), a retirement plan designed specifically for self-employed individuals. Despite dragging my feet for a while, it did give me time to investigate my brokerage options, and I'm happy to say that after several years of investing with Merrill Edge, I still have quite a crush on this brokerage. Here's what I like most about my account with Merrill Edge.

Finding investments

I enjoy researching investments, and one of my favorite things about the broker is how easy Merrill Edge makes it. The brokerage provides all the research I could hope for in one place, from an assessment of today's market to investment trends and portfolio strategies. If I can't find the information I'm looking for, it may be because it doesn't exist.

By the time I manually enter my weekly contribution, I'm confident in what I'm doing.

Merrill Edge portfolio performance screenshot

Monitoring portfolio performance

This is the first Solo 401(k) I've opened, and while Merrill Edge made it easy for me to understand how it worked and how to get started, I've had a slightly more challenging time navigating the website of Ascensus, the third-party administrator used by Merrill Edge. I log into the Ascensus site to contribute or check on my portfolio. It's not that there's any information lacking, but there's so much that it's taken me time to learn to access what I need quickly.

That said, once I pull up the correct report, everything is right there. I suspect the time it's taken to learn my way around is more a case of user error than poor design.

Contacting customer service

The thing I appreciate most about Merrill Edge may be the excellent customer service. I've probably called a dozen times and never been disappointed. Customer service representatives are easy to reach, easy to talk to, and will stay on the line until they're sure my question has been answered. I can't emphasize enough how much their patience has helped build my confidence.

Dana's final thoughts: Excellent customer service and extensive research material, but no fractional shares

I understand that no brokerage is suitable for everyone. However, I believe Merrill Edge might be a good fit for anyone who:

  • Would like to choose between self-directing their portfolio and paying a $20 or $25 monthly fee for professional management.
  • Places a high value on customer service.
  • Will make use of the deep library of research material offered by Merrill Edge.

However, if you're interested in purchasing fractional shares, Merrill Edge does not sell them, and you might be happier working with another brokerage.

Top perks

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is one of our favorite brokerages. It ranks among the best brokers we've seen in these categories:

No brokerage is perfect for everyone, but every brokerage tailors its offerings to a certain type of customer. Merrill Edge® Self-Directed stands out from the pack with several main features:

$0 trades

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed, like all of the best stock brokers, now offers commission-free trading for online stock, ETF, and options trades. Note, an options contract fee of $0.65 per contract does apply.

Fee-free debit card and bill pay

Being able to access your account balance at any Bank of America ATM without paying a debit or ATM fee is a major advantage for those who live near a Bank of America branch. Likewise, free bill pay makes it easy to pay bills straight from your account balance.

Account types

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers a wide array of taxable brokerage, retirement, small business, and children's investment accounts.

Investment vehicles

The best stock brokers give investors access to a deep bench of investment vehicles. Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is no different, and offers investment vehicles, including stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, CDs, and bonds.

National branch access

Many Bank of America financial centers (i.e., branches) have Merrill Edge® Self-Directed advisors available during normal banking hours to help you with your account. If being able to speak to someone in person is valuable to you, this can be a major selling point on its own.

Preferred Rewards program

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is owned by Bank of America, which has the gold standard for banking loyalty programs. Bank of America Preferred Rewards members can secure rate and fee discounts for most of the bank's products, plus bonus credit card rewards. We review further below the Preferred Rewards program in more detail.

TIP

Buying your first stocks: Do it the smart way

Once you’ve chosen one of our top-rated brokers, you need to make sure you’re buying the right stocks. We think there’s no better place to start than with Stock Advisor, the flagship stock-picking service of our company, The Motley Fool. You’ll get two new stock picks every month, plus 10 starter stocks and best buys now. The average stock pick inside Stock Advisor is up 819% — more than 4x that of the S&P 500! (as of 10/21/2024). Learn more and get started today with a special new member discount.

What could be improved

Trading platform

Merrill Edge MarketPro® is a quality trading platform, but it can be beat by other stock brokers.

Margin rates

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed's margin rates are competitive with similar full-featured stock brokers, which all are high compared to what other quality brokers offer.

Commission prices

This discount brokerage has joined the trend of $0 commissions on online stock trades, and no-transaction-fee funds make it an attractive bargain. Base commission prices are detailed in the table below.

Stocks and ETFs Options Mutual funds
$0 $0.65 per contract $0 - $19.95
Data source: Merrill Edge.

Investors who want to invest in mutual funds will find many no-transaction-fee (NTF) choices on par with other large brokerage firms. As for mutual funds, Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers thousands of no-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual funds, though many may carry upfront or back-end loads (fees that are a percentage of the amount invested.) That said, many funds that traditionally carry loads are load-waived on the Merrill Edge® Self-Directed platform.

Fees you should know about

Costs aren't just limited to commissions. We read through Merrill Edge® Self-Directed's fee disclosures and found a few notable fees worth discussing in more detail.

  • $39.95 early redemption fee for no-transaction-fee funds: Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers thousands of no-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual funds, but be aware that redeeming your investment within 90 days will result in a short-term redemption fee of $39.95. This is a common fee in the industry, as brokers discourage active trading of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, which are designed for long-term buy-and-hold investors.
  • $0 ATM charges: Visa debit cards are free with a Merrill Edge® Self-Directed account, and you can make transactions at any Bank of America ATM for free. Given that other brokers charge a fee just to have a debit card, as well as an ATM fee every time you use it, this is a valuable benefit of using Merrill Edge® Self-Directed.
  • Free checks and bill pay: Being a part of Bank of America has its advantages, as Merrill Edge® Self-Directed customers get free checkbooks and online bill pay, which may make it an ideal choice for retirees who are taking distributions from their retirement accounts to cover living expenses in retirement. These features and more make Merrill Edge® Self-Directed worth considering as a stock broker for IRAs.

Trading platform

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed, like many brokers, uses a trading platform that's accessed only by a web browser or its mobile app. Its highly rated mobile apps are available for any customer on an iOS, Android, or Windows device, so virtually any smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device has an app for making trades on the go. Best of all, the mobile app offers all the functionality you would expect of a desktop solution: streaming data, multi-leg (complex) options, and mutual fund trading. That said, Android customers' reviews hover around 3.5 out of 5 as of March 2024. Android users may dislike the in-app experience.

TIP

Compare the best IRA accounts

If you're interested in comparing IRA accounts, you're not alone! You can get the list of the best IRAs we've found (and compare them side-by-side) on these pages:

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed margin rates

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed margin rates change frequently, and the broker recommends contacting them for the latest rates.

When we did contact Merrill Edge® Self-Directed, the margin rates were higher than average for many full-featured brokers. The same has been the case in several other follow ups checking in about margin rates.

Accordingly, this brokerage may not be the best fit for investors who use margin as an integral part of their investment strategy. Merrill Edge® Self-Directed margin rates are on the higher end of the discount brokerage industry, even for clients who have large balances ($1 million or more).

Of course, margin rates are irrelevant if you don't plan to use margin to leverage your portfolio. Investors who use a cash account can simply forget that margin exists. Investors who use high amounts of margin for long periods to leverage their portfolio will likely want to look elsewhere, however, given the high cost of carrying a debit balance.

Customer service and support

One major advantage of using a brokerage that is tied to one of the nation's largest banks is its customer service and support. Clients can get help at thousands of Bank of America financial centers (branches), where there are Merrill Edge® Self-Directed advisors on staff to help you with anything related to your account. For convenience, you can also schedule a meeting with a local representative so as to get in and out as fast as possible, without waiting in line.

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed also offers help 24/7 over the phone. An online chat service is available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, and from 7:30 a.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET on Saturdays. (We used its online chat service to ask about its operating hours and received an answer within 30 seconds.)

Bank of America Preferred Rewards

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program is a big Merrill Edge investing perk, especially for people who are already Bank of America customers. 

Any customer with at least $20,000 in all of their Bank of America accounts and Merrill investment accounts combined is eligible. Preferred Rewards has four tiers, and larger balances mean larger perks. Here's a chart that shows some of the more valuable Preferred Rewards benefits that might interest Merrill Edge® Self-Directed brokerage clients:

Benefit Gold ($20,000 to $50,000) Platinum ($50,000 to $100,000) Platinum Honors ($100,000 or more) Diamond ($1,000,000 to $10,000,000)
Merrill Guided Investing program fee discount 0.05% 0.1% 0.15% 0.15%
Bank of America Advantage Savings Account interest boost 5% 10% 20% 20%
Credit Card Rewards Bonus 25% 50% 75% 75%
Auto Loan Interest Rate Discount 0.25% 0.35% 0.50% 0.5%
Mortgage Origination Fee Discount $200 $400 $600 0.250% interest rate reduction
Data source: Merrill Edge (as of March 2024).

In short, if you're a Merrill Edge® Self-Directed or Bank of America customer, especially one with a relatively large account balance, you could earn more interest and save money on other financial products.

Research offerings

Discount brokers are offering more research and other tools to help bridge the gap between barebones discount brokerages and traditional full-service brokerage firms. Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers a few noteworthy research capabilities to its clients:

  • Bank of America/Merrill Lynch equity research: One key advantage to this brokerage is that customers get access to BofA/Merrill Lynch equity research, which covers more than 1,300 stocks on U.S. markets.
  • Morningstar & Lipper: Merrill Edge® Self-Directed's online platform quickly shows fund data pulled from Morningstar and Lipper, showing a fund's Lipper rating in its category and a Morningstar rating and "style box" that helps users better understand the fund's investment strategy.
  • Stock Story: Merrill Edge customers can click to see a stock's "story," which explains what the company is, how it makes money, how the stock has performed, and what analysts are saying about the company. This feature also uses MSCI's ESG ratings, which quantify how a stock ranks for environmental, social, and governance factors.

This brokerage is right for you if:

Taking into consideration its pros and cons, we think a Merrill Edge account would be a good fit for you if the following statements apply to you:

  • You can make the most of the free stock and ETF trades. This is a valuable perk that helps keep more money in your pocket.
  • You trade options occasionally, but not heavily. Merrill Edge isn't the best stock broker for options, since the per-contract commission is slightly higher than what you'd be charged for the lowest cost brokers. That said, options trades are free and the per-contract fee is competitive.
  • You value customer support. Merrill Edge is one of the few discount brokers that has a large branch network in virtually every single major metropolitan area. If there's a Bank of America office near you, help is just a short drive away.

Compare Merrill Edge® Self-Directed to other brokerages

Wondering how Merrill Edge® Self-Directed stacks up to the competition? Check out our reviews:

Our brokerage rating methodology

At Motley Fool Money, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and account types; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and highly rated mobile apps. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.

See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology