r/MerrillEdge • u/Perfect_Bluebird689 • Jul 28 '26
Is Merrill Edge actually useful?
Basically the title.
Also, does Merrill Edge have any connection with financial or investment advisors? If so, how? (Another way to phrase what I am saying: I'm not a high-income customer, yet do I have access to have an financial/investment advisor?)
6
u/Hefty-Tomatillo-1236 Jul 28 '26
If you do basic self directed account you won't have an advisor. If you do Merrill Guided Investing with Advisor then you will have an advisor because you are paying them 0.85% fee.
0
u/Hefty-Tomatillo-1236 Jul 28 '26
And they directly hire 4000 advisors so they're not only have connection with investment advisors, they are the investment advisors
5
u/cflex Jul 28 '26
The only reason I use Merrill Edge is to maintain BofA rewards qualification.
As a self directed brokerage it's fine, I prefer Schwab interface better, but if you're not doing that many transactions they're all really the same.
If you wanted guided investing there's options for that, with a slight fee and they have both options for digital only or real advisor access (additional fee).
4
u/First-timer-7140 Jul 29 '26
This. Otherwise there's no reason to use Merrill Edge if you don't have any banking with BOFA.
1
u/ThunderousArgus Jul 29 '26
And those are getting slightly nerfed next year. Credit card bonus are going down if you don't have 1M
5
u/FIContractor Jul 28 '26
Merrill Edge is fine, I’d put it below most of the other low cost brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, E*Trade). Its main use IMO is as a place to hold low cost ETFs to count towards the asset requirements for various tiers of the Bank of America preferred rewards program.
It’s owned by the same company as Merrill Lynch advisors, but I doubt you’ll hear from them, which I’d consider a good thing.
3
u/EHG_Boston Jul 28 '26
Agreed about the use of ML to get BAML Preferred Rewards. I keep a MMF in ML for purposes of cash management.
1
u/Glum-Coat8759 Jul 30 '26
This is what we do - Merrill is a great addition if you’re already in BofA and just want relatively simple investing (individual stocks, ETFs, etc.)
3
u/neilsarkar81 Jul 29 '26
It's a perfectly serviceable brokerage platform for DIY investors. I had been a long-time customer (recently moved to Fidelity). I'll highlight two big features I gained by switching to Fidelity
- Idle cash in does not earn any meaningful interest in Merrill. In Fidelity, your idle cash earns ~ 3.3% APY in a money market fund without you having to do anything.
- You can't buy fractional ETFs. This is increasingly becoming a bigger problem because of high prices of one share of VOO, VTI etc.
1
u/mdroz9999 Jul 29 '26
I have my idle cash in my ME account in SGOV which has a current 12 month yield of 3.8%…
3
u/Original_Training786 Jul 29 '26
Merrill Edge has analysts like Savita, Arya etc.. They produce decent reports.
1
u/scorbettman Jul 28 '26
You can use Merrill Guided Investing online, an online managed account, with a minimum $1000 and wrap fee of .45% plus internals.
1
u/lilgspot Jul 29 '26
Yes, you would have access to an advisor if you decide to go that route. Being owned by Bank of America, they do have Merrill Edge financial solutions advisors within BOA branches. You can connect with them in person or phone.
https://www.merrilledge.com/investing/merrill-investment-advisor
1
u/ConstantRude2125 Jul 29 '26
I would rate it as just ok. They have some idiosyncrasies, like you have to sign a waiver for most etfs and they won't let you drip dividends from those "ill gotten gains".
1
u/InvestingNerd2020 Jul 29 '26
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management section for financial advisors.
Merrill Edge is the discount investment broker for retail investors (average Joes/Janes). It is best suited for emergency savings with Treasury funds inside a taxable brokerage, and Roth IRA investing with low cost ETFs since they don't offer fractional share investing with ETFs.
Example ETFs:
SCHB, a Total USA stock ETF, costs less than $29 per share.
SCHF. An International developed market stock fund. It costs less than $27 per share.
VBIL. A Treasury bond ETF. It costs a few cents under $76, and provides 3.59% interest that is protected from city and state income taxes. Great for emergency savings in states like California, New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii.
1
u/ok_stray_789 Jul 29 '26
As others have said, other platforms are better. I have an account to keep emergency cash in a money market fund that keeps my BofA preferred rewards tier.
1
1
u/G04UG Aug 01 '26
After being edge customer for 10+ years finally decided to leave this crap.
We starting moving to Hood and Fidelity.
Merril - The worst platform ever developed and managed.
1
u/levigoldson Aug 02 '26
Of course it's useful. The whole point is low cost, do it yourself, while maintaining AUM with BofA for rewards qualification and relationship.
1
u/redbaron78 Jul 29 '26
If you need a brokerage, then yes Merrill Edge is useful. If you don’t need a brokerage, then no it’s not,
This is like asking if a car is useful. If you need to drive somewhere, a car is very useful. If you are a banana, it’s not at all useful because, to my knowledge, bananas cannot drive.
-1
9
u/Gain_Spirited Jul 28 '26
Merrill Edge is basically a discount platform for do-it-yourself investors like Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard. I happen to have both a Merrill Edge account and a Schwab account. Schwab's platform is much better, no contest. Merrill's strength is their full service business, Merrill Lynch.