[YMMV] Webull: Up To 3.5% IRA Match (4.5% With Referral)

Update 5/21/24: Available again.

According to the comments you need to have received a push notification about this to be eligible.

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Webull is offering an IRA match of up to 4.5%. Broken down as follows:
    • 3.5% over a five year period (1/5 every year)
    • Additional 1% when you complete a referral or receive a referral

The Fine Print

  • Full terms here
  • Offer Eligibility: This promotional offer (the “Offer”) is open only to individuals who have (i) a brokerage account (a “Webull Brokerage Account”) with Webull Financial LLC (“Webull”), and (ii) a self-directed Traditional or Roth IRA account with Webull (each an “IRA Account”; and each such individual, an “Eligible Customer”).
  • Deposit Bonus Requirements: To receive a Deposit Bonus (as defined below), an Eligible Customer, excluding any Referred Customer (as defined below) must, during the Offer Period, (i) complete one or more Qualifying Deposits to their IRA Account, and (ii) maintain an IRA Account balance equal to or greater than the aggregate amount of all Qualifying Deposits (excluding trading losses) until payment of the final installment of any Deposit Bonus that they are entitled to receive (such final payment date, the “Final Bonus Payment Date”).
  • “Qualifying Deposit” means a deposit or transfer by an Eligible Customer to their IRA Account of any amount of funds or assets held by the Eligible Customer at an institution other than Webull or any of its affiliates that settles during the Offer Period. For the avoidance of doubt, if an Eligible Customer withdraws or transfers assets from their Webull Brokerage Account or from any other account that the Eligible Customer holds with Webull or any of its affiliates and deposits or transfers all or any portion of such assets to their IRA Account during the Offer Period, such deposit or transfer will not be deemed a “Qualifying Deposit”.
  • Referring Customer Bonus Requirements: To receive a Referring Customer Bonus (as defined below), an Eligible Customer must, during the Offer Period, (i) satisfy the Deposit Bonus Requirements specified above, and (ii) complete at least one Successful Referral. “Successful Referral” means a referral by an existing Eligible Customer (the “Referring Customer”) of a new customer (the “Referred Customer”) who (i) has not previously applied for or opened for an IRA Account; (ii) during the Offer Period, applies to open an IRA Account using the Referring Customer’s unique referral link and is approved, and makes a single initial Qualifying Deposit of any amount equal to or greater than $5,000.
  • Referred Customer Bonus Requirements: To receive a Referred Customer Bonus (as defined below), an Eligible Customer must, during the Offer Period, (i) apply to open an IRA Account using a Referring Customer’s unique referral link and be approved in connection with a Successful Referral, (ii) make an initial Qualifying Deposit of any amount, and (iii) maintain an IRA Account balance equal to or greater than the amount of their initial Qualifying Deposit (excluding trading losses) until the Final Bonus Payment Date.
  • Deposit Bonus: An Eligible Customer, excluding any Referred Customer, who satisfies the Deposit Bonus Requirements is eligible to receive a “Deposit Bonus” consisting of a cash payment to their Webull Brokerage Account of an amount equal to 3.5% of the aggregate amount of all of the Eligible Customer’s Qualifying Deposits during the Offer Period. Deposit Bonuses will be paid in installments in the amounts and on the dates indicated below.

Our Verdict

This bonus is annoying in that you need to tie up your funds for five years to get the full bonus. We have seen a lot of IRA offers lately, so personally I wouldn’t go for this deal as you’d be locking yourself out of those deals. Others might prefer a set and forget approach. Please do not share referrals in the comments below.
    William Charles
  • On May 21, 2024, 13:00
Tags: webull

View Comments (122)

  • Based on the terms and conditions, it looks like you only need to keep your balance there for a year. For the second year, you only need to keep $0.01 in the account.

    If an Eligible Customer fails to maintain a Net Qualifying Deposit Amount equal to or greater than $0.01 at all times during the period beginning on the First Deposit Bonus Payment Date and ending on the Final Deposit Bonus Payment Date, the Eligible Customer will not be entitled to receive any remaining Deposit Bonus installment payments.
    Example: Eligible Customer has an initial IRA Account balance of $5,000 prior to the Offer Period. During the Offer Period, the Eligible Customer makes a Qualifying Deposit of $12,000 to their IRA Account. One week after payment of the first installment of the Eligible Customer’s Deposit Bonus the Eligible Customer transfers $13,000 from their IRA Account to a retirement account with a different institution. Because the Eligible Customer failed to maintain a Net Qualifying Deposit Amount equal to or greater than $0.01 for the duration of the required period, the Eligible Customer is not entitled to receive any further Deposit Bonus payment installments.

    https://www.webull.com/offers-promotions/ira-transfer-promo

  • It seems inaccurate for the Verdict to say
    "I wouldn’t go for this deal as you’d be locking yourself out of those deals."

    There doesn't appear to be a contract with this deal so there is no lock-in. If a better deal comes along, you can transfer out your money and forfeit this deal to take advantage of the other one.

    The only potential "gotcha" is I'm not sure what happens to money they may have already paid you. They pay the 3.5% over 5 years so if you transfer out after 2 years, I don't know if you keep the 1.4% or not. It'd be worth clarifying with the company before pulling the trigger.

    If you keep each years payment, then it seems like a no brainer to take the deal and enjoy your .7%/year vested. And then you can transferr whenever you want if necessary and not be "locked out" of anything.

    If you must give back the .7%, then there is the possibility of losing some of your principal if there is a down market when you wish to transfer out. So in this scenario you may in some sense be "locked in" if you don't wish to eat the cost of giving .7%/year of initial deposit back when your total balance is less than when you started due to a down year.

  • Is this still valid? Looking for the best promo for new contributions (no rollovers) to Roth IRA

    I am OK to be locked for 5 years, I plan to buy something index ETF of SP500 and forget about it.

    Thanks!

    • Not the 4.5% referral deal, but the 3.5% match deal is live until 6/30. They will likely renew as they've been offering promos regularly to acquire new customers.

      • I see. Thanks.
        When it is active again, can it usually be used with the sign up bonus for free stocks?

  • There's now also a 1.25% match for taxable accounts. It requires lock-in for 2 years.

  • Deposit Bonus Distribution Dates and Amounts
    May 1, 2025  1/5 of total Deposit Bonus amount
    May 1, 2026  1/5 of total Deposit Bonus amount
    May 1, 2027  1/5 of total Deposit Bonus amount
    May 1, 2028  1/5 of total Deposit Bonus amount
    May 1, 2029  1/5 of total Deposit Bonus amount

    yeah, 5 years to stay tied down is terrible. Might be great for a ROTH or Traditional IRA that you don't plan on touching for years, but that's way too long for moving money into from Brokerage accts

  • Worth noting from Wikipedia:

    In 2024, 14 US states launched a probe into Webull related to its data privacy practices and potential ties with the Chinese Communist Party.[24]

      • They Apparently renewed the 3.5% offer, but slashed the referral portion, I got the offer showing on promotions again even tho I already did the bonus and was assured by costumer service I qualified, tho I’m not seeing the bonus pending or in transit(hoping this is normal since bonus is paid over 5 years so first payment would be in 2025), ifi don’t get the first payment in 2025, I got screenshots of cs telling me I qualified.

  • Is anyone transferring to Robinhood over Webull? It seems this deal is better.

    • The advantage of the Robinhood deal (no longer available) was that you get the whole bonus up front so you can invest the entire bonus right away. To me, that made up for the slightly lower rate.

      • It more than makes up for the lower rate. The payout structure means RH should win out over WB assuming average historic market returns, and thats even before taking taxes into consideration. At this point I would just wait until next year and see if RH brings back the 3% offer...in the meantime you can hit Wells, Merrill, or some other broker's IRA offers. Time it right and you could do two between now and next January.

        • Although we bull did run a really nice transfer bonus prior to the RH 3% where they offered a 3x multiplier (on the bonus). I was targeting that but missed the date. I'd keep an eye out for that one.

          • IIRC that one was much worse, capped at 18k for 1MM and still had a longer than typical lockup. I actually felt bad for those who partook and missed the 4.5%

      • Is also turns out that RH deposits into the retirement account and webull deposits only into the brokerage account. So there's a tax advantage as well.

  • Note that the transfer needs to be initiated and also settle by April 30 in order to earn the bonus. Depending on the speed of the transfer, it may already be too late to take advantage of this.

    • I just asked them and they said as long as the transfer is initiated today it's counted.

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