Guides › Switching Financial Advisors
Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: you open an account at the receiving firm and sign the transfer form there; the new firm pulls the account through ACATS. Stash Investments LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A does not name a dollar exit fee of its own; instead it states clients “may be charged incidental fees for certain services provided by Stash’s clearing firm and qualified custodian (Apex Clearing)… such as sending Client funds or Client securities to another firm via an ACAT,” and points to Stash’s own Advisory Agreement for the exact figure rather than stating one in the brochure itself. Stash’s brokerage business runs through its affiliate, Stash Capital LLC, as introducing broker, with Apex Clearing Corporation as the actual custodian. Apex’s own published Miscellaneous Services Pricing Term Sheet lists “Outgoing ACAT Transfers (Non-Retirement) $75.00 per account” and a separate $125.00 IRA Closing Fee. Stash’s own help-center page confirming the exact pass-through figure is currently offline, so this is Apex’s own published rate for the service, not an independently confirmed Stash-specific number. By comparison, Schwab’s own July 2026 pricing guide lists $50.00 per account for a full transfer out on a standard RIA account.
The published numbers
From Stash Investments LLC’s own Form ADV Part 2A, Item 5, “Incidental Fees”: “Clients may be charged incidental fees for certain services provided by Stash’s clearing firm and qualified custodian (Apex Clearing) in connection with Client Securities Accounts such as sending Client funds or Client securities to another firm via an ACAT… These fees may change from time to time and can be reviewed in the applicable Advisory Agreement.” The same brochure names its brokerage structure (Item 12): “Stash clients… are required to utilize the brokerage services of Stash’s affiliate, Stash Capital… Stash Capital acts as an introducing broker dealer… to effect securities transactions in Client Securities Accounts held at Apex Clearing.” From Apex Fintech Brokerage Services’ own Miscellaneous Services Pricing Term Sheet: “Outgoing ACAT Transfers (Non-Retirement) $75.00 per account” and “IRA Closing Fee (incl. Outgoing ACAT Transfer) $125 per account.” Stash’s own help-center page on this exact topic returned a dead link this session, so these Apex-published figures are the best available primary-source numbers for what a departing Stash client is billed, not an independently reconfirmed Stash-specific pass-through rate.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| Stash’s own exit charge | No stated dollar figure; the brochure defers to Apex Clearing’s own incidental-fee schedule (Form ADV) |
| Outgoing ACAT transfer, non-retirement, at Apex Clearing | $75.00 per account (Apex Fintech Brokerage Services’ own pricing term sheet) |
| IRA closing fee, includes outgoing ACAT transfer, at Apex Clearing | $125.00 per account (Apex Fintech Brokerage Services’ own pricing term sheet) |
| For comparison, full transfer-out at Schwab | $50.00 per account (Schwab’s own July 2026 pricing guide; not Stash’s own custodian) |
Compare your next step
Just comparing fees? Keep reading the fee guide.Optional next step
Explore an adviser match
Compare the services and the full fee before deciding whether to hire anyone.
- No fee to request a match
- No obligation to hire
Expect questions about your situation, your name, email and phone, and phone verification by text. A match is not guaranteed.
The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide is paid when you submit the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
Opens here. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
How our partner relationships workCompare an adviser match before you decide
Ask about the full fee, what it covers and how the adviser is paid. A match is an introduction, not a recommendation from Clear Money Guide.
- Free matching service
- No obligation to hire
The matching service is run by WiserAdvisor, an independent advisor-matching company. It opens on their site, asks for your ZIP code and a few questions, and matches you with 2 to 3 vetted advisors. It is free to you. WiserAdvisor states the service is built for portfolios of $250,000 and above. By submitting, you consent to emails, phone calls and text messages from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisors, so expect to be contacted. Advisers pay for the introduction. Clear Money Guide is paid when you complete the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. There is no obligation to hire anyone.
Continue to WiserAdvisorOpens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionThe sequence
1. Pull a current statement for every account, showing the exact registration, account numbers and complete holdings list. 2. Check the holdings for anything that will not move. Ask the receiving firm directly: “Can you hold every position on this statement?” Anything they cannot hold has to be sold, and in a taxable account that is a realised gain in the year you switch: the categories that commonly do not transfer. 3. Open the receiving account and sign the transfer form there. Under FINRA Rule 11870 the delivering firm then has one business day to validate and three business days after validation to complete. 4. Send a dated termination letter for the record: the generator writes it, and confirm in writing that billing has stopped.
Two things to get right
Cost basis. Under IRC §6045A the delivering broker must furnish a transfer statement carrying basis for covered securities within 15 days of the transfer. Keep your final statements anyway, and check the first statement at the new firm for positions showing a missing or zero basis. Retirement accounts move as a direct transfer, trustee to trustee, not as a distribution to you. Why that distinction matters. Whether a transfer fee is worth paying at all is a question of what you are moving to: our benchmark of published adviser fee schedules puts the weighted median annual cost near $2,000 to $2,500 on $250,000: the benchmark. The general mechanics: switching financial advisors.
Want to know what Stash charges before you decide whether to leave? See the dollar breakdown from Stash’s own fee disclosure.
Sources
- Stash Investments LLC, “Form ADV Part 2A”: https://cdn.stash.com/disclosures/Form_ADV_Part_2A.pdf
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Stash Investments LLC firm summary (CRD 226550): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/226550
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Stash Investments LLC Form CRS: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/crs/crs_226550.pdf
- Apex Fintech Brokerage Services, “Miscellaneous Services Pricing Term Sheet”: https://library.apexfintechsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AFBS-Misc-Services-Fees.pdf
- Charles Schwab, “Pricing Guide for Clients of Independent Investment Advisors” (July 2026): https://disclosures.schwab.com/SchwabDashboard/61256/REG23060SI.pdf
Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, drawing on Stash’s own Form ADV/wrap-fee brochure/fee schedule plus each named custodian’s own published fee schedule, with sources linked inline; any figure we could not independently confirm this session on a firm-owned or custodian-owned document is named as an honest gap above rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.
Weighing whether to move ahead? Read the full Stash review.
What does it take to open an account? See Stash’s minimum investment, straight from its own Form ADV Part 2A brochure.
Before you decide to leave Stash, check whether it owes you a fiduciary duty in the first place.
Leaving a different firm? See the exit guides for all 189 firms, with the four steps every exit shares.