Fixed-Income Investing
Investment Choices Overview > Fixed Income & Bonds

Generating income from your portfolio with fixed-income investments

Fixed-income securities, including bonds, may be a good choice for investors seeking to build a balanced portfolio.1 In addition to helping offset risk, they may offer the opportunity to generate income from a variety of investment choices, including U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, agency bonds and CDs.
May be a good move for...
  • Building a balanced portfolio
  • Generating retirement income
  • Helping reduce portfolio volatility
  • Pursuing long-term and short-term goals
  • New and experienced investors
 
Tab One

Streamline your investing

At Merrill, you'll have the ability to invest in a range of fixed-income investments. You may also consider working with a Merrill Financial Solutions Advisor to select a Merrill Edge Select® Portfolio aligned to your investment goals. Investors also have access to banking solutions, including CDs offered by Bank of America.
 
Why Merrill?
 
Start your search for fixed-income investments that may be right for you with Merrill Edge Select® Funds Footnote 2—
pre-screened by the professionals at Merrill.
 
Invest with advice when you need it
Invest with a licensed Merrill Financial Advisor, who can help you pursue your financial goals and plan for what matters most to you.
Tab Two

Find the investments that may be right for you

Whether you're seeking a steady stream of income or want to lessen risk in your portfolio, Merrill offers direct access to a broad array of fixed-income securities as well as fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Merrill offers the tools, research and guidance to help you find the investments that may be right for your portfolio.
 

Search for fixed-income investments your way

Take advantage of our powerful fixed income screening tools and search for municipal, treasuries and corporate bonds based on ratings, potential yields and maturity dates. Or choose your own fixed income search criteria popup.
 

Simplify your search for fixed-income investments

Simplify your search for fixed-income investments with Merrill Edge Select® Funds — evaluated and categorized by Merrill investment professionals.
 

Make informed investment decisions

Access independent ratings and research reports from CFRA (powered by data from S&P Global) and Moody's. And, get up-to-the-minute news from Dow Jones, FactSet financial data and analytics, PR Newswire and Business Wire.
 

Compare bonds at a glance

View rating, bond type, industry sector, issuer, issue date, settlement date, minimum order, yield and more.
 

Invest with confidence

Set up customizable alerts based on price, volume, ratings, news and more. And uncover hidden concentrations in your portfolio with Portfolio X-Ray® by Morningstar. Footnote 3
 

Become a smarter investor

Invest with advice when you need it
Invest with a licensed Merrill Financial Advisor, who can help you pursue your financial goals and plan for what matters most to you.
Tab Three

Getting started is as easy as 1-2-3

1
Open your account
Apply online and open your account in minutes. Here's what you'll need to open an account popup.

If you need help, give us a call at 888.637.3343 — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 
2
Fund your account
Fund your account instantly in real time from your eligible linked Bank of America bank account Footnote 4, and also by linking to an account at another financial institution. Or, transfer funds to your account by check, by wire transfer, or by transferring or rolling over an existing account.Footnote 5 Learn how to fund your account popup.
 
3
Start investing
Invest with advice when you need it
Invest with a licensed Merrill Financial Advisor, who can help you pursue your financial goals and plan for what matters most to you.
Tab Four

Simple flat-rate pricing

Our transparent, easy-to-understand fee structure means no unexpected charges—and no surprises. Keeping it simple makes it easy for you to keep your costs in check. See fee details on our Pricing page.
Type(s) Online trades Representative
Assisted Trades
New issuesFootnote 1, including
Brokered CDs		 $0Footnote 2 $0Footnote 2
Treasuries, including AuctionFootnote 3
and Secondary		 $0 $29.95 per trade service charge
Other Secondary Trades: Corporate Bonds,
Municipal BondsFootnote 4, and Government Agencies		 $1 per bond ($10 min,
$250 max)		 $1 per bond ($10 min, $250 max)
+ $29.95 per trade service charge
  1. Agency, Corporate, and Municipal new issue trades are not available online at this time.
  2. The selling commission is included in the offering price.
  3. Treasury auction trades are not available online at this time.
  4. Municipal pricing could include additional mark-up or mark-down if Merrill or its affiliate is acting as the market maker on the trade.
Invest with advice when you need it
Invest with a licensed Merrill Financial Advisor, who can help you pursue your financial goals and plan for what matters most to you.
Ready to get started?
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Investing in fixed-income securities may involve certain risks, including the credit quality of individual issuers, possible prepayments, market or economic developments and yields and share price fluctuations due to changes in interest rates. When interest rates go up, bond prices typically drop, and vice versa.

Footnote 1 Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

Footnote 2 Merrill Edge Select® Funds meet a proprietary screening process developed by the Chief Investment Office (CIO) of Merrill. The listing contains no-load funds with no transaction fees and load-waived funds that are open for new and subsequent purchases. Available funds have a minimum initial investment of no more than $3,000. Each fund must have $100 million or greater ($500 million for Large Cap funds) in assets under management across all share classes offered by the fund. Note that index funds are not included in Merrill Edge Select® Funds. To learn more about the Merrill Edge Select® Funds methodology go to our Merrill Edge Select Funds page.

Footnote 3 The data and investment information in Portfolio X-Ray® is provided by Morningstar. Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers access to Portfolio X-Ray as a courtesy to its clients. It is for information purposes only, and Merrill Edge® Self-Directed does not control or validate it. Morningstar's securities classifications may differ from those used by other sources, including Merrill Edge® Self-Directed. Please note: If you have questions, refer to your statement, which is the official record of your account.

Footnote 
Certain banking and brokerage accounts may be ineligible for real-time money movement, including but not limited to transfers to/from bank IRAs (CD, Money Market), 529s, Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking™, Credit Cards and transfers from IRAs, Loans (HELOC, LOC, Mortgage) and accounts held in the military bank. Accounts eligible for real-time transfers will be displayed online in the to/from drop down menu on the transfer screen.
Footnote 
You have choices about what to do with your employer-sponsored retirement plan accounts. Depending on your financial circumstances, needs and goals, you may choose to roll over to an IRA or convert to a Roth IRA, roll over an employer-sponsored plan from your old job to your new employer, take a distribution, or leave the account where it is. Each choice may offer different investment options and services, fees and expenses, withdrawal options, required minimum distributions, tax treatment, and different types of protection from creditors and legal judgments. These are complex choices and should be considered with care. Visit our Rollover IRA page or call a Merrill rollover specialist at 888.637.3343 for more information about your choices.
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