I don't really see anyone talking much about IRA matching from certain brokerages. Is it worth switching to WeBull or Robinhood just for the match? Besides the vesting period what's the catch? What am I missing?
WeBull offers 3.5% with their premium subscription ($40/annual or $3.99/mo) which drops the effective rate of the match down to 2.97% and 2.86% respectively.
Robinhood offer 3% with their Robinhood Gold subscription which is $5/mo.
(I'm currently w/ BOA for relationship banking purposes, but considering opening a Fidelity account.)
Using WeBull or Robinhood just for the IRA match?
byu/OUsooners5252 ininvesting
Posted by OUsooners5252
4 Comments
I’d treat IRA match as a marketing rebate, not free money, and run it like any other fee/benefit decision:
Net value: subtract subscription costs, bid/ask spreads, and any higher fund/ETF expense ratios you might end up using. A 3% match can get eaten by ongoing costs over time.
Vesting/eligibility: read the fine print on clawbacks, required holding periods, transfer-out restrictions, and what counts as an eligible contribution.
Operational risk: smaller platforms can have more outages, slower support, or policy changes; the match terms can change.
Simplicity: if you’re already considering a low-cost custodian, convenience and long-term costs may dominate a one-time match.
How long do you expect to keep the IRA at the new broker before transferring again (if ever)?
I use RH, the catch is the 5 year vesting period and it customer acquisition costs. RH will make $50/year from me paying for the annual plan and they’re hoping I trade actively which I don’t. I imagine that at some point they will stop offering or reduce the match and they’re hoping that I still use Gold.
The value of the IRA match at RH is somewhat predicated on what you do with RH Gold, overall. If that is ALL you plan on utilizing, it’s going to be a negligible benefit that ties up your money and puts you on a worse platform.
If, however, you are also looking at options like the RH Gold credit card as a go-to for frequent use, it’s hard to beat the universal 3% cash back.
RH is $50/yr ($4.17/mo) and you get $1k margin interest-free.