BMO InvestorLine now offers commission-free stock and ETF trading
Competition is good and dare I say great for DIY investors like you and me!
BMO InvestorLine now offers commission-free trading on stocks and Exchange Traded Funds.
(As part of my ongoing partnership with BMO, I break down what this means for DIY investors and how we can all benefit.)
BMO InvestorLine is an enabler for DIY investors
According to Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) research, DIY investing is on the rise. As a passionate DIY investor for the better part of 20 years now, I welcome that.
Overall, investors are starting younger and accepting some higher levels of investor risk behaviour than previous generations. A higher risk tolerance in equities can be great for long-term wealth-building, given risk and reward are so tightly linked.
You can read this report here from CSA on some forms of hybrid investing that are growing. That includes leveraging many types of lower-cost platforms – that’s wise to keep more of your hard-earned money working for you.
In my world, our hybrid investing approach implies I don’t invest in just low-cost ETFs. We have and continue to own a mix of Canadian dividend paying stocks for income and growth, and then Canadian-listed ETFs for extra diversification.
So far, so good with our hybrid investing approach since after a couple of decades of working and paying off our mortgage a few years ago, well, we retired in our early 50s sooner than most.
Based on our path, we can’t imagine not following our hybrid investing approach in stocks and ETFs – so much so that we believe many Canadians can benefit from this format to realize their financial independence dreams as well.
But there are big barriers that many DIY investors face, including younger DIY investors faced with wage stagnation and higher inflation, so fees and the cost of any financial advice really matters – things they must pay attention to.
Here are a few big ones!!!
- You need a savings plan. Younger savers or even more experienced savers know all types of costs can add up – so finding savings including when investing is very important to keep more of your money always working for you.
- You need to overcome the enemy in the mirror. Long-term savings habits for investing purposes, is of course at the heart of wealth-building plan so that means your behaviour with money is key – leveraging free, informative and comprehensive sites and tools can be an enabler to that. (Hopefully yours truly here at My Own Advisor has been an enabler to you over the years too!)
- You need to watch out for fee-grabbing monsters within the financial industry. I’ve mentioned on this site many, many times: “fees are forever”. Money paid to others is money you cannot grow for yourself, it’s money that you never see again, and on top of that, money paid might not deliver the value you wanted.
So, fees always matter when it comes to advice, transaction fees, and brokerage platforms.
I mean, don’t take my word for it – feel free to read more what William Bernstein (a best-selling financial author who was a practicing neurologist) wrote about investing to a younger generation of investors.
I link to a FREE ebook for the younger investor in your household they can download and skim right here:
This makes the recent news from BMO InvestorLine all the more welcome for all DIY investors.
BMO InvestorLine now offers commission-free stock and ETF trading
Image Source: BMO
BMO InvestorLine now offers commission-free trading on all stocks and ETFs right here.
This not a promotion – it’s permanent. 😊
What’s the catch?
None.
I talked with my BMO partners, and this means unlimited commission-free trading on all stocks and ETFs.
No limits. No end date. No kidding.
All terms and conditions and fine print can be found here.
As an established DIY investor, this is great news to increase the aforementioned competition in the brokerage space and provide more flexibility and more value to every BMO InvestorLine client.
Simply put, less fees and less transaction costs will help DIY investors build more wealth by removing some of the big barriers I referenced above, while providing an intelligent platform to help you execute on your long-term portfolio strategy.
What’s included in the new BMO InvestorLine pricing?
- Unlimited $0 commission trades on stocks and ETFs plus options contract fees reduced from $1.25 to $0.90 per contract
- $0 options assignment fees
- $0 options exercise fees
- All brokerage account administration fees eliminated*
*Additional fees, account fees, or other charges may still apply depending on the transaction, account, or service but far and away a huge step in the discount brokerage direction.
What features does BMO InvestorLine offer DIY investors?
Well, for one, they have an easy-to-use online trading platform lets you invest in stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and more. They also provide research and tools so you can make every trade with confidence.
And finally, beyond the commission free trading, BMO InvestorLine has advanced tools and capabilities like screeners and strategy builders. So, you can benchmark, customize and track your wealth-building performance with these analysis tools.
In closing, if you haven’t already considered the impact that all brokerage costs and fees might have on your long-term investing plan, I hope this post has helped. I know when it comes to our early retirement journey, having a plan, executing on that plan through low-cost investing and various analysis tools, and remaining wary of about the true cost of advice were massive factors in our successful journey.
This site (and now YouTube channel) continues to exist to help pay it forward when any good news is available to support younger and the emerging, growing class of DIY investors.
With this news from BMO InvestorLine, coupled with their existing platform, resources and tools, it’s nice to see BMO InvestorLine giving DIY investors improved, lower-cost ways to invest and grow their money.
Keep the good DIY investor news coming…
You can choose how you want to invest with BMO InvestorLine and take the next step toward your financial goals right here.
Thanks for reading and leave me a comment about this post or any other investing subject. I read every comment.
Mark
Notes and disclosure: For more information about BMO solution please visit: bmo.com.
BMO is a registered trademark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence. BMO InvestorLine Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Montreal. BMO InvestorLine is a Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and Member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization.
My Own Advisor / MyOwnAdvisor.ca is sponsored by BMO InvestorLine. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
