COVID-19 Resource Hub: Fast answers to your most common questions

With ongoing market volatility, we're getting more questions from clients, and that leads to longer wait times on the phone. To help you skip the line, below are answers to clients' frequently asked questions. Know that we're always here for you – by phone, on Schwab.com, and on our mobile app.

Self-Service

Common tasks that you can easily complete online.

How do I deposit a check?

Save time depositing checks through the Schwab mobile app directly into your Schwab Bank or Schwab Brokerage and IRA accounts. Find out how.
Where can I go for tax questions?

See common tax questions below or visit our Tax Center to get information about your 1099, cost basis reporting and more.
How do I transfer funds?

Whether you want to move funds among your accounts at Schwab or from external accounts, our step-by-step process will walk you through it.
Where do I go to open an account?

Visit our "Open an Account" page and follow the instructions. Not sure what account best fits your needs? Here's help.
How do I login or change my password?

If you need to change your password or login ID, login and visit the Security Center. If you're locked out of your account, we can help you log in.
Can I link my non-Schwab account information?

Yes, go to your Account Summary page, find the 'External' section on your summary and follow instructions to 'add a non-Schwab account.'

Tax FAQs

2019 Tax Year Information

What is the latest on tax year 2019 deadlines?

The IRS has announced extensions to federal tax filing and payment deadlines to help individuals and businesses better manage the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. For more details, read our tax deadline article. Here's what you need to know:

Federal tax return filings and payments are now due on July 15. The deadline for filing federal income tax returns (or tax return extensions) for the 2019 tax year has been extended by 90 days and must now be filed by July 15. Estimated tax payments for 2020 that are usually due on April 15 have also been delayed until July 15.
Many tax payment dates haven't changed. The IRS has released additional guidance about other deadlines, including estimated tax payments for June 15 and beyond, as well as other tax filings. Many of the other tax deadlines have not changed. We recommend checking this IRS FAQ page to ensure you’re up to date on the latest information about which deadlines been delayed.
State tax returns and payments may or may not change. Be sure to check with your local and state taxing authority to make sure you do't miss any deadlines.
The deadline for IRA contributions has also been extended. Contributions to IRA accounts that would have normally been due on April 15, have been moved to July 15. For more details on IRA contributions rules, see IRS Publication 590-A.
As of today, the required minimum distribution (RMD) deadline has not changed. If you turned 70 1/2 in 2019, you must still take your first RMD by April 1 to avoid penalties. Because the guidelines continue to evolve, check with the IRS for the latest information.

Where can I go for regular updates on the tax changes?

It’s a good idea to check the IRS's Coronavirus Tax Relief and the IRS FAQ page regularly for updates. You can also contact your tax professional for more guidance.

I received a corrected Form 1099 Composite. What does this mean?

If we receive updated information after we've produced your original form, we're required by the IRS to send you a corrected Form 1099 within 30 days of being made aware of the change. The most likely reason is that one or more of the issuers of a security in your account reported a reallocation of certain income, such as dividends or capital gains, after we produced your most recent tax form.

On your corrected 1099, you will find the revision(s) clearly labeled as "Corrected."

How do I download my 1099 data from Schwab into tax prep software?

You can download your Schwab 1099 data directly into Turbo Tax^® or H&R Block^® tax preparation software. If you're having difficulty downloading your 1099 data into your tax preparation software, please log in to the Security Center and select "Enable Access" under OFX. For more information regarding downloading your 1099 data, please visit our Tax Center.

Asset Protection FAQs

Asset Protection

How does Schwab protect your assets?

Your assets are yours. The SEC's Customer Protection Rule (Rule 15c3-3) safeguards customer assets at brokerage firms by preventing firms from using customer assets to finance their own proprietary businesses. At Schwab, clients' fully paid securities are segregated so that they are not available to the firm. Client cash deposits invested at the broker-dealer are maintained in Special Reserve Accounts For The Exclusive Benefit Of Our Customers, as required by the SEC's Customer Protection Rule.

Is Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. an SIPC-member brokerage firm? And does it maintain excess SIPC protection?

Yes and Yes. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) was created to protect against the loss of customer assets at brokerage firms. SIPC offers protection of up to $500,000, including a $250,000 limit for cash, if a brokerage firm fails and covers most types of securities, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. SIPC does not protect against losses caused by a decline in market value. For more information about SIPC, visit www.sipc.org. In addition to SIPC, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. customers receive an extra level of coverage. Schwab maintains "excess SIPC" insurance protection for securities and cash up to an aggregate claim amount of $600 million. This coverage helps ensure customer claims will be covered in the event of a brokerage firm failure and funds covered by SIPC protections are exhausted.

Are my assets at Charles Schwab–affiliated banks protected by the FDIC?

Yes. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency that is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Its purpose is to protect depositors' funds placed in banks and savings associations. Since the FDIC was established in 1933, no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds. The standard FDIC insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category, and includes accounts held singly or jointly. The same amount applies to trust-owned accounts. Go to www.fdic.gov to learn more about FDIC coverage.

What FDIC-insured products are available through Charles Schwab–affiliated banks?

All deposit accounts held at Charles Schwab Bank, SSB are FDIC-insured, including Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking^® accounts and Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Savings^® accounts.

What FDIC-insured products are available through my Schwab brokerage account?

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., acting as a deposit broker, can place deposits at FDIC-insured banks on your behalf. In such cases, the FDIC insurance available from the bank ""passes through"" to you. FDIC-insured deposits are available through your Schwab brokerage account in two ways:

Certificates of deposit. Schwab's CD marketplace, Schwab CD OneSource^®, enables you to purchase CDs from FDIC-insured banks across the country. CDs you purchase through Schwab are aggregated with other deposits you hold at each issuing institution and are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per bank.1 Through CD OneSource, you may purchase CDs from multiple banks for added FDIC coverage.
Bank Sweep. If the cash feature for your Schwab brokerage account is Bank Sweep, your cash balances are automatically swept to deposit accounts at Schwab-affiliated banks and are FDIC-insured, in aggregate, up to $250,000 per Affiliated Bank, per depositor, for each account ownership category.

Cash Solutions FAQs

Money Market Funds

Where can I learn more about Schwab money market funds in light of the current market and economic environment?: See our dedicated FAQs on Money Market Funds here.

Trading and Margin FAQs

Day Trading and Trade Settlement

What is a pattern day trader?

Generally, a pattern day trader is a client who has executed four or more day trades in a margin account within five business days. As a pattern day trader, you must maintain the $25,000 minimum equity for the previous trading day.

What if a pattern day trader drops below the $25,000 minimum?

If you drop below the required minimum of $25,000, you will be held to liquidating trades only for that entire day. You can satisfy the minimum by depositing additional funds and/or marginable securities.

What are stock settlement violations?

Stock settlement violations can occur when new trades are not properly covered by settled funds.
Although settlement violations generally occur in cash accounts, they can also occur in margin accounts, particularly when trading non-marginable securities.

You can read more about the main types of settlement violations and how to avoid them here.

Margin calls

How does margin work?: Margin is an extension of credit from a brokerage company using your own securities as collateral. Funds borrowed on margin may be used for any purpose, including the purchase of securities. Interest is charged on the borrowed funds for the period of time that the loan is outstanding. For more information, please review The Charles Schwab & Co. Guide to Margin.
What happens when I receive a margin call?: Schwab can liquidate securities to cover any margin deficiency and is not required to notify you before doing so. If you or Schwab liquidates securities to meet a margin call, your risks include unintended tax consequences from the sale of your securities, the possibility that Schwab might sell securities you preferred to hold, and a price received for a sale that you may be unhappy with. If a margin call is issued, you are required to promptly bring your account to the required maintenance level. It is Schwab's policy to attempt to contact you, when practicable, to notify you of a margin deficiency. However, Schwab can sell securities in your account, without prior notice, to cover any deficiency.

Automated Investing FAQs

Common questions about Schwab Intelligent Portfolios^®

How do I change my portfolio allocation to be more conservative?

If your goals are long term or haven’t changed, it's a good idea to stay the course. Shifting to a more conservative allocation after markets have declined can mean locking in short-term losses and could put you at risk of missing the early stages of a rebound, which is historically when some of the strongest gains have occurred.

However, if you still want to change your portfolio allocation, you can review and update your portfolio by retaking the questionnaire online. After log in, click the ""Profile"" tab and select ""Review Profile,"" then adjust your answers based on your new risk tolerance.

When does my account rebalance?

The primary purpose of rebalancing is to keep your portfolio's asset allocation consistent with your targeted level of risk as markets fluctuate over time. The recommended allocation for your portfolio is based on your goal, time horizon, and risk profile.

Schwab Intelligent Portfolios are monitored and automatically rebalanced as needed to keep the allocation consistent with the client’s risk profile as markets fluctuate over time. Portfolio allocations are not adjusted tactically based on short-term views about the markets. In a normal environment, rebalancing happens a few times per year; during more volatile times, don’t be surprised if this number increases."

I'm in a conservative model, why am I still losing money?

As with any investment, all Schwab Intelligent Portfolios contain some level of investment risk. While our most conservative models have lower risk, they, too, are susceptible during market volatility.

Why hasn't my transaction gone through yet?

Transactions (e.g. account closures) can take up to five business days to process. Processing times are also noted in the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Solutions Brokerage Agreement.

What is the wash sale rule, and what does this mean for my account?

For taxable accounts, the wash sale rule is a sale, and then repurchase of the same security over a 30-day period which disallows the loss for tax deduction purposes. During times of market volatility, trading increases both for account rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting purposes. Because of this, when clients adjust their risk after a trading event has occurred, there could be certain securities within their portfolio that do not trade immediately in order to comply with this tax code. However, the trade instruction remains in the account and is executed as soon as possible.

How does tax-loss harvesting work?

Tax-loss harvesting can help offset capital gains and lower your taxable income by automatically selling an ETF that has fallen enough below the price you paid for it and replacing it with an alternate ETF in the same asset class to keep your portfolio's allocation consistent.

Periods of elevated market volatility highlight the potential benefit of tax-loss harvesting as the number of these trades have historically surged when markets turn turbulent. The goal of the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios algorithm is to maintain a portfolio that closely tracks the investor's strategic asset allocation and captures tax-deductible losses while generally preventing wash sales in your account. As it’s a complicated and time-consuming process, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has automated this process.

COVID-19 Impacts and Other FAQs

Schwab Bank COVID-19 Mortgage Payment Relief

Am I eligible for mortgage payment relief related to COVID-19?: If you are a Schwab client who currently has a mortgage or home equity line of credit (HELOC) through Charles Schwab Bank and Quicken Loans, you may be eligible for mortgage payment relief.
How does mortgage payment relief work if I’m impacted by COVID-19?: You can request payment relief in order to suspend your monthly mortgage payments for a period of time, up to 90 days. During this time, interest will continue to accrue on your loan.

The past due amount must be paid at the end of the 90 day period, or you can contact Quicken Loans to discuss a non-credit impacting loan modification.

There is no fee to make this request and this will not impact your credit rating.
Where can I learn more and get started?: To learn more, call Quicken Loans at 800-279-3005. Quicken Loans will be able to assist you and discuss options available to you based on your situation.

Schwab Branches

Are Schwab Branches closed to the public?

After careful consideration, we have made the decision to temporarily close our branches to public access and walk-in traffic until April 7, 2020 as a result of COVID-19. We are committed to balancing the health of our employees and representatives and the important need to be there for our clients during this difficult time, so branch teams will continue to support clients virtually from our branch locations, using appropriate social distancing with their colleagues.

Clients who have urgent business can contact the branch directly by phone and we will assist them. Clients can also engage with us through our website, online chat, and the Schwab mobile app.
We will communicate any updates or changes as quickly as possible.

Schwab's Response

What safety precautions is Schwab taking?

We continue to diligently monitor the current situation, while following the guidance of health authorities, including the CDC. We're focused on balancing a dual mandate to protect the health and safety of our employees and serve clients. Out of an abundance of caution we have activated our continuity planning groups to prepare for workplace safety and minimize any potential disruption to our operations or client service. Across all our locations, we have restricted travel, canceled Schwab events, and increased our efforts to thoroughly clean our facilities.

We have significantly expanded our remote access approach giving all employees who have the ability to work remotely to do so. For everyone working on-site, we are committed to continuing to provide a healthy environment, including following CDC guidelines, enhanced cleaning cycles, and enhanced social distancing.

We will continue to take preventive measures on an ongoing basis to maintain a clean and healthy environment for our employees.

Account Maintenance

I recently had a problem linking my external bank account to my Schwab account. Is that still a problem?: A problem was identified in early March that prevented some clients from linking their external bank account to their Schwab account. This issue has been resolved. Note that you should confirm your username and password for your bank account prior to initiating the external account linking process.
How do I send a wire?: Go to our Send Wire page, log in, and follow the instructions.
Need more help?: Use our dedicated Client FAQ page for additional questions around moving money or assets and your account.

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COVID-19 Resource Hub: Fast answers to your most common questions

Self-Service

Common tasks that you can easily complete online.

How do I deposit a check?

Where can I go for tax questions?

How do I transfer funds?

Where do I go to open an account?

How do I login or change my password?

Can I link my non-Schwab account information?

2019 Tax questions

2019 Tax Year Information

Asset Protection

Asset Protection

Money Market Funds

Money Market Funds

Day Trading and Trade Settlement

Day Trading and Trade Settlement

Margin calls

Margin calls

Common questions about Schwab Intelligent Portfolios®

Schwab Intelligent Portfolios

Schwab Bank COVID-19 Mortgage Payment Relief

Schwab Bank COVID-19 Mortgage Payment Relief

Schwab Branches

Schwab Branches

Schwab’s Response

Schwab's Response

Account Maintenance

Account Maintenance

Common questions about Schwab Intelligent Portfolios^®