Press Release

WESTLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Schwab today introduced the Schwab Starter Kit™, a new experience that will provide beginner investors with $101 to split across the top five stocks in the S&P 500, access to tailored educational content designed to be easily digestible for someone getting started, and curated easy-to-use investing tools and resources.

Over the past 18 months, millions of new investors have made their first-ever investments in the stock market. Schwab combined with TD Ameritrade has added more than one million new brokerage accounts for four consecutive quarters – bringing year-to-date new brokerage accounts to 6.0 million. As even more enter the market and take steps to reach their financial goals, Schwab Starter Kit is designed to give first-time investors a head start on their investing journey.

“Schwab has had a longstanding commitment to helping people take ownership of their financial future, so we couldn’t be more excited about this wave of new investors,” said Jonathan Craig, Managing Director and head of Investors Services at Schwab. “But we know that getting started as an investor can be overwhelming, and just making it easy to invest isn’t enough - it’s critical that we also give first-time investors the support they need to make informed decisions and succeed.”

A closer look inside Schwab Starter Kit

Schwab Starter Kit is specifically aimed at helping first-time investors, and each component addresses this group’s unique needs.

Ownership in widely recognized stocks: By opening an account and depositing as little as $50, new investors get a jump start with an additional $101 from Schwab to invest in fractional shares to split equally across the top five S&P 500 companies by market cap through Schwab Stock Slices™, giving them ownership of some of the most widely held and recognized stocks available.

Tailored education: Schwab Starter Kit’s education hub features essential step-by-step guides, short how-to videos and other bite-size content to help investors build their investing knowledge and confidence. All the content is curated from Schwab’s wide-ranging library with a focus on the most essential fundamentals for new investors, including understanding how to evaluate, buy and sell securities.

Valuable tools and resources: As investors begin their journey, Schwab Starter Kit will support them with access to select resources like an easy-to-use retirement calculator, worksheets to help budget and meeting savings goals, and trading tools to help them make more knowledgeable decisions.

“Most investors, including those getting started, know that investing isn’t a game,” said Craig. “They want to make decisions backed by education and professional resources, which are especially important as they navigate different life events and changes. Whether you have $50 or $50,000, it’s important to get the right start and partner with the firm that can meet your needs throughout your life.”

Schwab recently surveyed a group of investors who first began investing in the stock market during the past 18 months—a cohort Schwab calls “Generation Investor” (Gen I) – and found that 94 percent of these new investors want information and tools to do their own research, and 90 percent want education to improve their investing skills.

Helping new investors become lifelong investors

Schwab has been committed to democratizing investing since its founding, and while Schwab and the industry have made considerable strides in breaking down barriers to investing with innovations like $0 commissions¹, no account minimums, and robo advice, increased access and democratization need to be supplemented with the right set of products, resources, tools and live support.

Schwab Starter Kit is an extension of Schwab’s commitment to help all investors take ownership of their financial lives and grow to become lifelong investors.

A focus on newer and younger investors is not new to Schwab, although the need to support those just getting started has never been more critical given how many are starting out as investors today and the ever-changing nature of the markets. Since 2016, more than half of new Schwab retail households are age 40 and younger, and these younger households are driving 40 percent of Schwab’s net new assets.

For new investors ready to start their journey, learn more about the Schwab Starter Kit here.

¹ In October 2019, Schwab lowered its online listed equity and base option commissions to $0. Options trades will be subject to the standard $0.65 per contract fee.

About Charles Schwab

At Charles Schwab we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients’ goals with passion and integrity.

More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Disclosures

To be eligible to receive the $101 cash bonus, you must be an individual who does not have a Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”) account and who: (1) opens a Schwab One individual taxable retail brokerage account and (2) deposits at least $50 into that account within 30 days of enrolling in the offer (only outside assets new to Schwab qualify; assets transferred from affiliates other than Schwab Retirement Plan Services are excluded). When you open your brokerage account, you will instruct Schwab to use the $101 cash bonus to place orders for you in the future to buy fractional shares of each of the top 5 stocks by market capitalization in the S&P® 500 Index through Schwab Stock Slices™. The top 5 stocks will change from time-to-time. To see the top 5 stocks at any time, go to www.schwab.com/starterkit. Neither Schwab nor any Schwab employee is determining whether investing in these 5 stocks is appropriate for you and your situation. You should consider your own circumstances and needs prior to deciding to enroll in the offer and investing in these 5 stocks with the $101 cash bonus.

The “S&P 500® Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SPDJI”) and has been licensed for use by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“CS&Co”). Standard & Poor’s® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”). Schwab Stock Slices™ and Schwab Starter Kit™ are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500® Index.

Standard online $0 commission does not apply to over‐the‐counter (OTC) equities, transaction‐fee mutual funds, futures, fixed‐income investments, or trades placed directly on a foreign exchange or in the Canadian market. Options trades will be subject to the standard $0.65 per‐contract fee. Service charges apply for trades placed through a broker ($25) or by automated phone ($5). Exchange process, ADR, and Stock Borrow fees still apply. See the Charles Schwab Pricing Guide for Individual Investors for full fee and commission schedules.

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with 32.9 million active brokerage accounts, 2.2 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.6 million banking accounts, and $7.92 trillion in client assets as of November 30, 2021. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiaries, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc., and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc., (members SIPC, www.sipc.org), and their affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent, fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank, SSB (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com.

TD Ameritrade, Inc. and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. TD Ameritrade is a trademark jointly owned by TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Brokerage Products: Not FDIC Insured • No Bank Guarantee • May Lose Value

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