Two weeks ago I spent about 3 hours online trying to navigate Wells Fargo’s impossibly confusing website and after reading dozens of documents and webpages finally completed application for the WellsTrade account and PMA linked Checking & Savings accounts.

But for Wellstrade that is not enough – had to wait for them to send me a bunch more documents in the mail – which I finally received yesterday- another 2 hours of reading & document signing.

Finally having my account number and password to go online – I can see checking and savings – but no Wellstrade account! After calling Wells Fargo they were able to get my brokerage account on screen…

but it just says “brokerage” – no indication if it is correctly the “wellstrade IRA” type of account I was trying to sign up for. The brokerage screen did have a link to ‘retirement planning” so followed that – then it asks me to sign on (which is strange since I was signed on already)- but my logon (which just worked an hour ago) no longer works! The logon screen gave me a number to call with difficulties logging on so I called that number…

After speaking with the Wells Fargo rep for a few minutes we determined that he was in the wrong department to help me with a wellstrade IRA, so transferred me to another department….

After speaking with another Wells Fargo rep for a few minutes she indicated that she had nothing to do with wellstrade IRA and transferred be to another number…..

That number led me to a computerized set of options – none of which had anything to do with my problem – and no option to actually speak with a real person…..

No now I am done. i can’t take it anymore. I will now attempt to close the brokerage, savings and checking account I just opened and hope closing the accounts is not as painful as trying to set them up in the first place!

To get the free trades, you need the PMA. If you want the free trades, I suggest to open the PMA. My linking was automatic, but to be very certain, I believe you can open the PMA on the phone and specifically tell the CSR that the two should be linked together.

I haven’t made any trades yet. But, I was exploring the Wells Fargo website today and noticed that you can sign up for their Portfolio Tracker for free. It appears that under this system, the default is HIFO instead of FIFO. I need some time to find out more and hopefully can write a post about it over the weekend.

Have you been able to sell tax lots? From another website, I’ve heard that you can specify tax lots by calling an agent after you sell. But I’ve called Wells Fargo regarding this and one CSR says that it will cost $25 to trade tax lots with a broker, and another CSR says tax lot trading is not available.

Thanks!

As far as I know, your understanding is correct. You can read the details on the free-trade offer from

Free trade offer

In the fine print number 1, it states:

Discounted flat rate commissions as follows: PMA Package – No charge for the first 100 trades per year regardless of PMA balances, $5.95 thereafter. Free trades can be applied to commissions for online and automated trading of stocks (excluding Penny Stocks) and exchange traded-funds or to transaction fees on applicable no-load funds. Discounts and fee waivers based on having a Wells Fargo Investments WellsTrade account linked to your PMA account.

What it is saying is that you can get free trades with PMA. But if you do not have $25k, then you need to pay a monthly fee ($25 in this case).

For your case, I think you will have 4 accounts:

1. Rollover IRA
2. CD savings
3. Checking (compulsory requirement for the PMA)
4. Taxable brokerage

As soon as you open the PMA, you are eligible for free trades. In fact, you will get 100 free trades in the rollover IRA and another 100 in the taxable brokerage.

The $25k is needed only to waive fees with the above accounts. If you do not have $25k, you still get free trades, but you will have to pay the $25 monthly fee for the PMA account.

According to the account disclosures, the fee for the PMA is charged if at the end of the month when the statement is printed, there is less than $25k in total.

I am not sure which sequence is the best for you since it might take some time for a rollover IRA to process and you could potentially be charged the $25 fee if the IRA rollover did not come in on time. However, I believe you should be able to get the fee waived for the first month if you call them and explain any delay in the IRA rollover.

For my case, the accounts are linked automatically. I didn’t do anything special.

Don’t forget to click from the $25 gift certificate link when applying for the PMA!

Whats the order in which I should open a account? Rollover IRA first or open PMA account first
or open wells trade account? How should I link those accounts to PMA? Thanks.