ShareBuilder is an online brokerage that provides investors a simple, flexible and affordable way to meet long-term investing goals. With ShareBuilder, investors can choose to invest in stocks and exchange-traded funds with no inactivity fees or minimum balance requirements.
ShareBuilder allows investors to choose the pricing program that is right for them. Pricing programs combine the pricing structure for the ShareBuilder account and access to online tools to give greater investing flexibility. There are three pricing programs to choose from, each offering different features to help you meet your investing goals. To review features and benefits of each pricing program, and to see a complete list of the costs associated with a ShareBuilder account, please see our pricing and rates.
ShareBuilder offers two different investing methods: the Automatic Investment Plan and real-time trades.
ShareBuilder Automatic Investment Plan
A set of instructions for automatic investments on a monthly or weekly basis. The investment is dollar-based, allowing you to choose the amount that you would like to invest. For more information on the Automatic Investment Plan, see the automatic investing overview page.
Real-time Trades
Orders subject to the ongoing market. Trades may be placed as either market or limit orders. For more information on real-time trades, see the trading overview page.
You can fund your ShareBuilder account through an electronic funds deposit, payroll deposit, or by check or wire.
All changes to your ShareBuilder account, including, but not limited to edits to your Automatic Investment Plan, changes to open orders, changing pricing programs, and account profile updates must be made completely online by the account owner. It is not possible to make changes to your account by email, fax, phone, or through written notice as ShareBuilder is a strictly online, customer-driven product.
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ShareBuilder offers six different account types:
Click on the name of the account type you are interested in for additional information.
ShareBuilder Automatic Investment Plan A set of instructions for automatic investments on a monthly or weekly basis. The investment is dollar-based, allowing you to choose the amount that you would like to invest. For more information on the Automatic Investment Plan, see the automatic investing overview page.
Real-time Trades Orders subject to the ongoing market. Trades may be placed as either market or limit orders. For more information on real-time trades, see the trading overview page.
Automatic investing allows a user to set up a recurring set of investment instructions with the objective of building wealth over the long term using dollar cost averaging. ShareBuilder is proud to offer you the Automatic Investment Plan to help you meet this objective. Here's how it works:
Note: Dollar cost averaging won't ensure a profit or protect against loss. Investment experience will vary with stock selection and changing market conditions. You should consider your financial ability to continue investing in periods of declining markets.
Once you have followed these three steps and saved your Automatic Investment Plan, ShareBuilder will automatically process your scheduled instructions, including transferring funds (if using this option), creating open orders and executing your trades. If you need to make an adjustment to your investments or schedule, go right ahead – you can edit your plan as often as you like.
Note: Changes to your plan must be entered prior to 5:00pm (ET) on the business day before a scheduled investment to be applicable for that week. Any changes entered after this deadline will be applicable to future weeks only.
Commissions for your Automatic Investment Plan are determined by the pricing program you are enrolled in. If you have any trade credits, these will be used first, with the remaining commissions being deducted from the investment amount set for each security.
To ensure your plan is successfully processed, you must have enough funds in your Money Market Cash Balance to cover the plan’s total investment. The deadline for funding your total investment is 5:00pm on the business day before your scheduled investment date. If you do not have sufficient funds in this account at 5:00pm, your order will not be created.
If the required funds are not available in your Money Market Cash Balance at 5:00pm on the business day before your scheduled investment date, your plan can still be successfully processed, but you will need to submit an electronic funds deposit request for additional funds. This request must be completed before 5:00pm on the business day before your scheduled investment date. After the request has been made, your orders will be created overnight and will be in place before the next trading day.
Important: please note that all times shown above are Eastern Standard time (ET).
There are 4 ways to deposit money into your ShareBuilder account:
Funds deposited are held in the money market cash balance and can be used to place real-time trades or to fund your Automatic Investment Plan. Alternately, you can automatically fund your Automatic Investment Plan with a transfer from your checking or savings account, or use Express Funding to place a real-time trade immediately.
Unfortunately, ShareBuilder does not accept cash deposits. Such deposits are returned upon receipt.
Note: Uninvested funds deposited in the money market cash balance earn dividends.
Securities products are offered by ShareBuilder Securities Corporation, a registered broker-dealer and Member FINRA/SIPC. ShareBuilder Securities Corporation is a subsidiary of ING Bank, fsb. Brokerage Financial Statement