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I am hoping someone can steer me in the right direction regarding the best options for online brokers to use to purchase shares directly in the US market. Cost effectiveness and ease of settlement are important, as is security of money. Would also be interested in the same with regard to Europe.
I am aware that Direct Broking and ASB are an option
Thanks
Hi potsiea ,
I can recommend E-trade (I used them for 10 years for trading shares,since I moved to options trading I am no longer with them).Money can be easily deposited from NZ,they have good support team and their platform is easy to learn and to use.Also you can upload online your W8BEN documents.Cost per trade is from $5.99 to $9.99 (more you trade,less you pay).With E-trade account you can have access to all major markets (FTSE,DAX,nikkei....).You can get cash from your account by check or by VISA debit card.
Cheers ,
GAZDA
Hi, GAZDA
I'm with ASB now and brokerage plus service is 1.2% and $90 USD min. how can you open an us based etrade account from New Zealand? Can you give me a link
Hi,GAZDA
Just one more question,what kind of tax liability in US if you hold US share as foreigner? and do you have any tax liability to NZ IRD?
Hi nzakl ,
Go to etrade.com and I am pretty sure that they are going to give you all the info you need.To open any trading account in US you have to fill W8BEN form.This is going to be organized by the brokerage company.
The W-8BEN form (entitled Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding) is used to confirm that you are non American citizen and that you are not US taxpayer.
If you are bringing earned money in NZ it is the best thing to follow your accountant's advice.
Depositing money onto your US trading account from here in NZ is easy.Takes 3-5 days and costs few bucks.
Cheers ,
GAZDA
Hi,GAZDA
Thanks for your help and I tried etrade.com and they redirected me to singapore website as NZ resident. The commission is $19.99 per trade standard or $9.99 per trade if 30 more trades per quarter. Still much cheaper than ASB
Hi Nzaki,
bit late to this discussion, but if you are looking to trade US (or other foreign) stocks, you need to ditch the NZ based brokers. Not only do they charge crazy insane fees, but they also charge 'custody fees', which are fees charged because its so difficult to... um... keep ... er... your share purchases in a computer? Or something. Anyway, they're bloody expensive and you get... um... nothing in return.
I use optionsxpress.com.au, not ultra cheap (about $9.95 per share trade) but I like it for the options support. The paperwork looks daunting but really isn't. Definitely get out of the NZ rort though.
cheers
Greg
I'm also interested in signing up for E-Trade and was just wondering what was the best option for transferring NZD into the brokerage account with them.