Charles Schwab Promotions: Starter Kit & $1,000 Referral Bonus

Are you looking for a Charles Schwab account bonus?

If so, you’re in the right place – we the details on two bonuses that are available from Charles Schwab and the right one for you will depend on your financial situation.

If you are looking to open a new account but are NOT transferring in a large sum (over $25,000) from another brokerage or bank, then you’ll want the first offer – the Schwab Starter Kit.

If you are looking to move from another brokerage, then the second transfer bonus will be the better fit for you.

Table of Contents
  1. Charles Schwab $101 Starter Kit
  2. Charles Schwab Investor Reward – Up to $2,500
  3. Charles Schwab Refer a Friend – up to $1,000
  4. How does this compare?

Charles Schwab $101 Starter Kit

If you’re looking to get a bonus for opening a Charles Schwab account and have at least $50, then this offer is the one for you.

Charles Schwab Logo

To get this, open an account on the promotional page (linked below) and then fund it with at least $50 within the first 30 days. You will then receive a “Schwab Starter Kit” that includes $101 in stock split up between the top five stocks (“slices”) in the S&P 500.

The stocks are “Schwab Stock Slices,” which are simply fractional shares of stock, and you get them on the next trading day.

The slices you get will be the five largest companies, by market capitalization, in the S&P 500 when you open the account. The image we used above is from May 22nd, 2023 – it includes Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, Apple, and Alphabet (Google).

👉 See the Starter Kit offer at Charles Schwab

(No expiration shown)

Charles Schwab Investor Reward – Up to $2,500

This reward is available to existing and new accounts, you just need to enroll and, within 45 days, deposit at least $50,000. The bonus is based on your deposit amount:

Make a qualifying net deposit of cash
or securities into an eligible account:
Bonus:
$50,000 – $99,999$200
$100,000 – $249,999$300
$250,000 – $499,999$600
$500,000 – $999,999$1,200
$1,000,000+$2,500

If you are an existing client, you’ll have to call 800-503-3307 to enroll.

👉 Learn more about this bonus

Charles Schwab Refer a Friend – up to $1,000

If you have some cash to deposit, or are transferring from another brokerage account, you’ll want the referral bonus instead of the stock slices above.

The Charles Schwab Referral bonus is up to $1,000.

To get this, open a new account with a referral link (here) and transfer into your account at least $25,000 within 45 days.

The bonus is based on how much you deposit:

  • Fund with $25,000 – $49,999 – $100
  • Fund with $50,000 – $99,999 – $300
  • Fund with $100,000 – $499,999 – $500
  • Fund with $500,000 or more – $1,000

The bonus award will be transferred into your account about a week after the 45 day period ends. Two clients in the same home can get this award as long as they open individual accounts.

(Charles Schwab does not, at this time, reimburse account transfer fees)

👉 Open a new account with this Refer a Friend link

How does this compare?

If you want a Charles Schwab account, these are the best bonuses we know of. Charles Schwab is a respected brokerage and one that has earned his sterling reputation.

If you are looking for bonuses and brokerage agnostic, it’s comparable to others but there are higher dollar bonuses for new brokerage accounts.

TastyTrade has a bonus of up to $5,000 with the following schedule:

Deposit AmountCash Bonus
$2,000 – $4,999$50
$5,000 – $24,999$100
$25,000 – $99,999$500
$100,000 – $249,999$2,000
$250,000 – $499,999$3,000
$500,000 – $999,999$4,000
$1,000,000 – $4,999,999$5,000

Yieldstreet, while not a traditional brokerage, also offers a bonus of up to $500 when you deposit:

  • Get $50 when you deposit $1,000 – $4,999.99
  • Get $250 when you deposit $5,000 – $9,999.99
  • Get $500 when you deposit $10,000+

Charles Schwab has a pretty solid bonus on a great product and service, but there are higher ones out there.

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About Jim Wang

Jim Wang is a forty-something father of four who is a frequent contributor to Forbes and Vanguard's Blog. He has also been fortunate to have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.

Jim has a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Information Technology - Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. His approach to personal finance is that of an engineer, breaking down complex subjects into bite-sized easily understood concepts that you can use in your daily life.

One of his favorite tools (here's my treasure chest of tools,, everything I use) is Personal Capital, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you're on track to retire when you want. It's free.

He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn't want a second job, it's diversified small investments in a few commercial properties and farms in Illinois, Louisiana, and California through AcreTrader.

Recently, he's invested in a few pieces of art on Masterworks too.

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Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank or financial institution. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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