As savvy investors we know a good deal when we see one and that’s why I’m really impressed that TD Ameritrade has decided to put their money where their mouth is by offering a fantastic deal. Now when you join TD Ameritrade you trade free for 60 days + Get up to $600 but only if you click here or click the banner below.

So far this offer is the best broker promotion that we have going, just edging out the ETrade Promotion of up to $500 back.

Those of you who stuck around to this point might be interested in some details on how the $600 back works. First it’s tiered so the more you deposit the more you get back (as I’m sure you already assumed). So here’s a little about how it works (if you want more info please visit the TD Ameritrade page for full details).

The Basic Promotion Summary

• Valid for new accounts opened before 2/29/2012 only
• The 60 days worth of trades are always included as long as you deposit $2,000 or more
• Deposit $25,000 to $99,999 get $100 back
• Deposit $100,000 to $249,999 get $300 back
• Deposit $250,000 or more get $600 back

I mentioned that this is for new accounts only, though there is a mention in the fine print that the offer is only valid for new individual, joint or IRA accounts, so if you have one of these accounts and are planning to open up a second you may want to check with them to see if you qualify on the new account. I’m not sure if it that would be valid or not though so again, check with them first (can’t hurt to try though right?)

If you think you qualify for any of these offers you get 60 days to fund the account to the levels mentioned in the summary above. So if you want the full $600 back promotion you need to make sure your $250k is deposited within 60 days or you may lose it (figuratively and literally). You’ll still get your 60 days of free trades though (once you fund your account that is).

My wife and I love the Entertainment Book which is a book full of coupons that saves us a lot of money at local restaurants, movies, and other attractions. The book is available in most areas of the country and I really like how it’s localized so you can support local businesses and save money at the same time.

With the Entertainment Book you can save literally THOUSANDS of dollars if you use most of the coupons, and these days, in this economy, who doesn’t want to save thousands of dollars?

The book is also great for finding new places to go and new restaurants to eat at. One of the reasons my family likes it is because we sometimes find new restaurants we otherwise wouldn’t have considered, but since we found a really great deal there we give it a shot. I can’t tell you the number of places we have found like this and have been very pleasantly surprised.

The book normally costs around $25 but now you can get it for close to 20% off if you order now, plus get it shipped to your house for free. If you want your copy of the Entertainment Book now is the time because all 2012 Entertainment Books are Only $20.12, plus Free Shipping! This Week Only!.

Current ETRADE Promotion Codes:

Special Offer: Trade Free for 60 Days at E*TRADE and get up to $500

ETRADE is one of the oldest and most respected online brokers on the web today, with everything from outstanding tools and resources to hysterical baby commercials, ETRADE does it all well. Don’t take my word for it though, ETRADE was recently given five stars by both Kiplingers and and SmartMoney. Whether stocks, options, ETFs or mutual funds are your game, and whether you are a pro trader or just starting out… ETRADE is a great site for you.

The following post is another piece in our Online Stock Broker Reviews series designed to help you find the broker that meets all of your investing needs

After 20 years of being one of the leading online stock brokers, ETrade is one of the most recognizable investment brokers in the country. Whether it’s their name recognition or their cute commercials with the talking babies, ETrade has a great reputation from both critics and customers.

Account Setup

Signing up for an online investing account at ETrade is simple and easy. All you need to do is open an account by clicking here and fill out the form for the type of account you want.

Once your account is opened you just need to fund your account either via wire, ACH or by check. If you have an account elsewhere that you would like to transfer in you can also do that instead.

ETrade requires a minimum balance of $500 in cash or securities for your account, which is a fairly low amount but some brand new investors may prefer a no minimum balance account elsewhere.

Fees & Commissions

ETrade charges the following fees and commissions for online trades:

Stocks & ETFs: $9.99 per trade ($7.99 per trade if you place 150+ trades per qtr)

Simple Options: $0.75 per contract plus $9.99

Mutual Funds: No load, no transaction fee funds: $0, Transaction-fee funds: $19.99

Bonds & Treasuries: US Treasury Auction: $0, Online Secondary Trades: $1 per bond (min $10, max $250)

Futures: $2.99 per contract, per side + fees

Types of Accounts

Trading & Investing
- General Investing
- Employee Stock Plans
- Business
- Corporate/LLC
- Trust & Estate
- Investment Club
- Managed Investment Account
- Unified Managed Account

Active Trading
- Power E*TRADE
- Futures Trading

Global Trading
- Global Trading

Retirement
- Rollover IRA
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- IRA for Minors
- Complete IRA
- Beneficiary IRA

Small Business Retirement Plans
- SEP IRA
- SIMPLE IRA
- Individual 401(k)
- Money Purchase
- Profit Sharing
- Investment-Only Non Custodial

Educational
- Custodial
- Coverdell

Banking
- Complete Savings
- Money Market
- Max-Rate Checking
- E*TRADE Checking

Investments Available

At ETrade you can invest in the following:

• Stocks
• ETF’s
• Options
• Mutual Funds
• Bonds
• Treasuries
• CD’s

Customer Service

ETrade features 24/7 customer support, which I am a big fan of. Although the markets are only open for limited hours throughout the week there are a lot of scenarios where you will need assistance and it’s nice to know ETrade is there.

Unlike many other discount online brokers, ETrade also has physical branch locations so if you live near one you can stop in for assistance. If you don’t live near a local branch, ETRade’s customer service can be reached either by phone, via online chat (which I have personally used and can recommend) or via email.

For the first time since 2004 Apple missed their earnings estimate bringing in $7.05 per share against expectations of $7.39 per share… a huge miss for such an enormous company notorious for blowing away estimates in the past.

The earnings miss comes just weeks after founder and CEO Steve Jobs death, and also shortly after one of their largest competitors, Google, crushed their earnings estimate.

Apple shipped just 17.1 million iPhones against 22 million units which was expected by the street… the news ironically coming shortly after iPhone 4S set a record for one day phone sales. IPad sales on the other hand exceeded expectations by around 10% with 11.1 million units against an expected 10.0 million units.

Shortly after the announcement shares of Apple (ticker: AAPL) dropped about 6.5% to the mid $390’s before bouncing back to the low $400 range.

Analysts are split on whether the drop in the stock represents a buying opportunity or the beginning of a decline in the most profitable company in the world.

Apple will host an earnings conference call at 5:00 on Tuesday (10/17) to explain what happened.

Many children who are now grown adults are wondering if it is a good idea to take out a life insurance policy for either one or both parents. In the case of their passing, the coverage could be left to the children and the grandchildren.

The two main concerns and emotional responses that come up are of a financial and moral nature. From a financial aspect, some parents might only be in their sixties and still have an abundant life ahead of them. The person taking out the insurance policy would have to be willing to pay it for the next 25 years or more.

From a moral standpoint, children might feel as if they are pushing their parents into the grave, so-to-speak, or that the action of taking out a policy is selfish and self-serving. In addition, if the parents or parent are surviving on a low income budget, it could be that the money would be better spent caring for them during their living years, taking care of issues like healthcare and long term living assistance.

Regardless, you must find some solid ground between financial and moral balance that gives you the peace necessary to feel like you are making the correct decisions.

This is definitely an issue that takes careful consideration, and at the end of the day be sure to follow your heart as well as your head. Consider this: Is your parent (or are your parents) in full agreement with the plan? Maybe the parent had always hoped to have this kind of plan, but due to financial constraints could not bring it into fruition.

If the parent welcomes help for this sort of thing and it has even been on his or her mind, it might be a good decision.

As for the feeling that one is “gambling on their parents’ death,” ask yourself if the sole motivation for considering such a plan is indeed for your own monetary gain. If this is the case then there are definitely opposing forces at work. If your mind is preoccupied with wanting a claim, how can it be focused on loving the life that is?

If there is a case where the parent is in declining health but is still able to acquire a life insurance policy, then the situation looks pretty lucrative financially, but who would want to capitalize and speculate on the death of any person, let alone their own flesh and blood?

As a result, it’s no surprise that many people would feel a little shady taking out a policy under those circumstances, but sometimes it is necessary to pay for expenses that will pop up after death. In addition, keep in mind that if a policy is being taken out on a person who still has a great 25 years ahead of them, financially this is often not a wise investment.

At best, the idea of putting the money that would go towards a life insurance policy into savings instead, especially for a parent who is not so well-off financially, is a plan that is both financially and morally rewarding. This money could provide comfort to a parent (or parents) whose finances have gotten out of hand, while saving this money in advance can also help you be prepared to rise to the occasion and help out if necessary with very little financial strife. In addition, if the money never has to be used, it could always be invested differently in the event of the parent (or parents) passing.

Photo Credit: roblisameehan

ShareBuilder offers automatic investment plans that are inexpensive to purchase. For investors who do not believe in timing the market, or who simply don’t have time to follow it and prefer to dollar-cost-average their investments with monthly, biweekly, weekly or daily set amounts, ShareBuilder’s investment strategy is the ideal way to go. The downside of automatic investment plans is that investors have no say as to the price at which they are purchasing the investments.

At $9.99, ShareBuilder is a comparatively high cost real-time commission for stocks and ETFs. As with E*Trade there are no account maintenance fees or inactivity fees and there are no surcharges on either extended hours orders or large-sized orders. There is also a $0.007 charge for each share of penny stock trades.

In contrast, E*Trade has a reputation for being one of the best online brokerage firms and offers efficient trading tools, independent research, banking services and good customer service. E*Trade commissions are identical to its competitor at $9.99 per stock or ETF trade. However with E*Trade, stocks and ETFs are $9.99 when you have 0-149 trades within the quarter and $7.99 for more than 150 trades per quarter. As for options, there is a fee of $9.99, plus seventy five cents for each contract if there are 0-149 trades in each quarter. Anything over 150 trades per quarter will cost $7.99 and seventy cents for each contract. Mutual fund transactions are $19.99 and future contracts are $2.99 per contract plus additional fees. The minimum amount of money required to open an ETrade account is $1,000.

At ShareBuilder the basic plan is $4 per investment. The standard plan costs $12 a month and for this amount you get 6 automatic investments, after which each additional investment is $2. There is also an advantage plan that costs $20 a month and offers 20 automatic investments with each additional investment costing just $1. Real-time stock and ETF trades are $9.99. When it comes to options there are two choices; the Early Exercise and the Automatic Express. The first costs $30 per early exercise and there is no trade commission, while the second is $20 per automatic exercise and also has no trade commission. ShareBuilder has 70 free funds from premier, no-load mutual fund families. Unlike E*Trade, which charges $1000 to open an account, there is no minimum amount required to open an account with ShareBuilder.

For investors who are just starting out, brokers that offer a more vibrant online community than either E*Trade or ShareBuilder may allow users to ask important questions and learn about different investment ideas from more experienced traders. In addition, beginners should look for a virtual trading environment that allows investors to simulate trades without actually risking any money.

ShareBuilder is generally best recommended as the go-to place for automatic investment plans. On the other hand, E*Trade is considered to be a decent choice for IRA accounts and for “buy-and-hold” investing. When it comes to other needs, be sure to also check out other online brokerage companies that allow customers to pay considerably lower commissions, thereby potentially saving thousands of dollars throughout the years in unnecessary investment costs.

One of my favorite things about writing for a personal finance and investing blog is talking with the other personal finance bloggers on twitter, and reading their great articles and I wanted to find a way to share some of my favorites with my readers.

So what I decided to do is a new weekly segment called “Around The Personal Finance Neighborhood” where I highlight some of my favorite posts and give everyone some great weekend reading.

Without further ado…

My Favorite Personal Finance Posts Of The Week

Andrea from SoOverDebt.com gave away a $25 gift card as part of her 100th post celebration. If you missed out you can get in on the action for her next give away.

Jason from FrugalDad.com talks about How To Manage Financial Stress, whether you’re dealing with the volatility of the stock market this (or any) week, stressed about credit card debt, or just worried that your dollar is worth less and less these days.

Miranda from PTMoney.com talks about “Frugal Fatigue caused by trying to save too much, and not rewarding yourself for doing so.

Miranda from FreeFromBroke.com gave 5 smart money moves for college freshman. Teach the young adults in your home about money before the credit card companies do!

Darwin from DarwinsMoney.com reminded you that you should not be losing sleep over this stock market crash. Easier said than done, but I agree with him 100%.

Lastly in my favorite article from the week, John from ChristianPF.com asked What If… check it out for yourself, I know you’ll like it too.

Other Site Happenings

Also, for anyone who is interested… I’ve joined the Yakizie Challenge. If you’re looking for other great personal finance bloggers to read I highly recommend checking them out!

Photo Credit: PhilipsPhotos

Zecco and TradeKing both have attractive features that can be appreciated on a variety of different levels. As far as pricing goes, Zecco originally offered $0 stock trade commissions, but has recently shifted from their free offer to a pay commission model which invalidates the very essence of their name “Zero Cost Commissions.” Still if you can keep $25,000 in your account at all times you are entitled to 10 free trades each month. It also offers ten free trades if you make at least 25 trades every month. Otherwise, each trade will cost you $4.50.

TradeKing on the other hand charges $4.95 per trade, this being half the amount of some other discount brokers. It is true that this is forty five cents more expensive than Zecco, but TradeKing has other features that, depending on your needs, might easily make up for this. TradeKing will also pay up to $150 in transfer fees if you are transitioning from another broker, whereas Zecco doesn’t offer anything. TradeKing charges $4.95 for option trades and sixty-five cents for each contract, which is a bit more expensive than Zecco, which charges $4.50 per trade and 50 cents for each contract.

The entire concept of creating a community for investors to discuss their stocks and investments originated with TradeKing, so it isn’t surprising that they outshine Zecco in this aspect. While Zecco does offer their own version of a community, the tools and interaction do not compare to those of TradeKing’s.

Zecco has also had some poor customer service reviews. In the beginning when they offered zero cost trading this might have been understandable, but now that their prices have gone up this might be more of a concern for some new clients. On the other hand, TradeKing is well-known for amazing customer service. In both 2006 and 2007 TradeKing was ranked number one on Smart Money’s Broker Survey for having unparalleled customer service, inexpensive trade commissions and quick execution.

Zecco also charges a $50 yearly fee for a tool called GainsKeeper, which allows you to track realized and unrealized gains in addition to helping maximize your tax strategy along the way. Along the same lines TradeKing offers Maxit Tax Manager, which provides the same service at no charge. While Zecco offers a multitude of other premium features, many of them require a subscription but can be found for free at TradeKing.

When it comes to account minimums, TradeKing and Zecco are very comparable-both have a $0 minimum account balance for cash accounts and require at least $2000 for margin accounts. There are no inactivity fees for either broker.

Zecco’s new pricing strategy has really helped to level the playing field, so there is no longer a great advantage to trading with Zecco because their trade commissions are no longer free. In the end, it appears that TradeKing offers almost everything that Zecco does without charging extra for the services. At TradeKing you will also find a robust trading platform, an excellent community and some of the best training resources available to investors on the web.

Permanent life insurance plans accrue money that is set aside into a savings account. The money can then be used as an asset to obtain a loan. These types of loans do not actually have to be paid back, but can be if so desired. In the case that the loan is not repaid, the amount is deducted from the policy, which in turn reduces the death benefits. Obtaining a loan against your life insurance policy is distinctly different than withdrawing funds from an account, and insurance companies may even charge interest on it. Loans obtained against policies can still cause the dividend earned on the account to be affected.

In many cases it is possible to borrow as much as the cash value of your policy. These loans come with interest rates that vary widely and there may be unexpected fees accompanying the borrowing process. Some policies are more ideal for borrowing than others.

In paying back the loan, if your payments are not high enough to cover the owed interest, it will then be attached to the loan and go on accruing at a high rate. Should the cash value of an account go over its amount, the policy will lapse at some point. To avoid this, devise a schedule for paying the loan back, so that you can keep the policy and still have the death benefits go to your beneficiaries. In many cases the amount of the loan’s interest is exceeded by the interest on the residual money that is in the savings account. One can allocate these dividends to the loan interest as an effective way to balance things out.

When choosing a policy, you will need to determine the correct amount of life insurance that is right for you. Although insurance companies offer a spectrum of estimates as to what size policy a person will need, the best thing to do is calculate your own individual requirements and buffer the estimate to take into account any uncertainties that may occur.

First, figure out how much your dependents will need by looking at their cost of living. Keep in mind that they will need to pay your medical and funeral costs, balance outstanding debts, obtain new benefits if offered by your employer, and in general keep up with their standard of living. Know that expenses are ongoing and will increase in magnitude as time goes on, affecting your calculations. It is better to take the time to do a thorough calculation than to overpay or underpay.

After determining the amount, you will then need to decide if you want term or cash value life insurance. Generally, term life insurance is the ideal option for the majority of people. These plans are cheaper and less complicated to choose because across the board insurers offer very similar deals. Simply look for the one with the highest quality and the best price. Conduct research to make sure that your insurer delivers on their claims.