Jason FinanceRSU Transfer Cost Calculator
Vested RSUs sit in your employer’s stock plan account. Many people move them to their own brokerage account before selling, then wire the U.S. dollars back to Taiwan. This tool adds up a year of costs: the stock plan’s transfer-out fee, the broker’s outgoing wire fee, intermediary bank fees, the Taiwanese bank’s incoming remittance fee and the selling commission, with Firstrade and IBKR side by side.
It is a cost estimate based on published fees and the assumptions you enter. It does not recommend any broker or bank and is not investment or tax advice. The fees are the official prices the site’s posts checked in October 2026; fee schedules change, so check the broker’s and bank’s current notices before you transfer or withdraw.
Costs for one year
Firstrade
Lower cost with these inputsTotal for one year
NT$3,063
0.32% of the amount wired back each year
- One-time transfer cost
- US$0
- Cost per withdrawal to Taiwan
- NT$1,532
- Broker wire US$25 + intermediary US$15 + Taiwan incoming fee NT$242
- Commission per sell order
- US$0 (about NT$0)
- US$0 a year
No fee for incoming transfers; US$25 per international wire; online stock and ETF trades US$0 (the SEC fee on sales is not included).
IBKR
Lower cost with these inputsTotal for one year
NT$1,516
0.16% of the amount wired back each year
- One-time transfer cost
- US$0
- Cost per withdrawal to Taiwan
- NT$726
- Broker wire US$0 + intermediary US$15 + Taiwan incoming fee NT$242
- Commission per sell order
- US$1 (about NT$32)
- US$2 a year
The transfer-in page lists no fee; the first two withdrawals each calendar month are free, then US$10 per USD wire; IBKR Pro Fixed US$0.005 per share, minimum US$1, maximum 1% of trade value per order.
With these inputs, IBKR costs about NT$1,548 less a year than Firstrade.
US$15,000 per withdrawal (about NT$483,675)
IBKR: with withdrawals spread across the months, none goes beyond two a month, so wire fees are US$0.
This is a cost comparison, not a recommendation of either broker. The two also differ in interest on idle cash, product range and customer service, and fees are only one part of the picture. The tool does not know what your accounts will actually be charged, and the intermediary bank fee is an assumption. Check the broker’s and bank’s fee pages before you transfer or withdraw.
Firstrade’s new-account bonus
If you don’t have a Firstrade account yet: transferred-in shares count as transferred-in assets. Firstrade’s refer-a-friend program gives new clients an account-opening bonus: open a new account through a referral link and fund it with cash or transferred-in assets within 30 days of approval, with a net deposit of at least US$10,000. The bonus depends on the amount:
- US$10,000 to 29,999: US$100
- US$30,000 to 99,999: US$400
- US$100,000 to 499,999: US$700
- US$500,000 or more: US$1,000
If the shares you transfer in within 30 days of opening are worth about the US$30,000 you wire back each year, they would fall in the US$400 tier.
- Paid after a year: it is credited only after the net deposit stays at US$10,000 or more for one year, and withdrawals during that year may reduce it or cancel it.
- Residents of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, Israel and Poland cannot take part; tax-advantaged accounts and entity accounts are also excluded.
Firstrade refer-a-friend page and terms, checked 28 October 2026. The bonus is not included in the cost totals above.
Open a Firstrade account through the referral link
Firstrade may pay Jason Finance a referral reward.
How to read the results
The one-time transfer cost is what you pay to move the shares from the stock plan account to the broker, counted in this year’s total. Both Firstrade and IBKR count as US$0 for incoming transfers, so this line is the same for both: only the stock plan’s transfer-out fee.
Cost per withdrawal = broker wire fee + intermediary bank fee + Taiwanese bank’s incoming fee. Firstrade charges US$25 every time; IBKR gives the first two withdrawals each calendar month free, so with few withdrawals a year only the intermediary and Taiwan-side fees remain.
Commission: Firstrade online trades are US$0; IBKR charges per share, with a minimum of US$1 and a maximum of 1% of trade value per order. With a small number of shares per order, it is usually the US$1 minimum.
The total as a share of the amount wired back shows the effect of fixed fees: the larger and fewer the withdrawals, the lower the share.
Methodology and fee sources
- Incoming transfers: Firstrade charges no fee; IBKR’s transfer-in page lists no fee and only says IBKR has no custody fee (checked 28 October 2026). Both count as US$0.
- Stock plan transfer-out fee: the Morgan Stanley US$0 is the author’s own experience; E*TRADE stock plan fees are shown after logging in; a Schwab brokerage account charges US$0 for a partial transfer and US$50 for a full transfer (Schwab’s April 2026 pricing guide, checked 28 October 2026).
- Firstrade withdrawals: US$25 per international wire (checked 17 October 2026).
- IBKR withdrawals: the first two each calendar month are free, then US$10 per USD wire (checked 17 October 2026). The tool assumes withdrawals are spread across the months, so up to 24 a year are free and each one beyond that costs US$10: max(0, withdrawals − 24) × US$10. If you withdraw more than twice in one month, the real cost is higher.
- Firstrade selling: online stock and ETF trades US$0 (checked 15 October 2026). IBKR selling: IBKR Pro Fixed, US$0.005 per share, minimum US$1, maximum 1% of trade value per order; trade value per order = amount per year ÷ sell orders.
- Intermediary bank fee: Wise puts it at about US$15 to 50 per intermediary bank per transfer; the default takes the low end, US$15, once per withdrawal.
- Taiwanese bank incoming fee: each bank’s official fee checked on 17 October 2026. For percentage fees, the amount per withdrawal (amount per year ÷ withdrawals) is converted to NT dollars first.
- U.S. dollar fees are converted at the rate you enter, by default 32.245 (Bank of Taiwan’s USD spot buying rate on 17 October 2026). Total = transfer-out fee + cost per withdrawal × withdrawals + commission per order × sell orders; share = total ÷ (amount per year × rate).
- Negative or empty inputs count as 0; withdrawals and orders are rounded down to whole numbers.
These fees come from the site’s posts:
- The Cost of Withdrawing from an Overseas Broker to Taiwan: Firstrade, IBKR and Schwab Wire Fees, Intermediary Banks and Taiwanese Bank Incoming Fees
- Firstrade vs IBKR vs Charles Schwab International for Non-U.S. Residents: Fees, Withdrawals, Interest
- Transferring RSU Shares: Moving Assets from a Morgan Stanley Stock Plan Account to Firstrade, My Experience with a GOOG RSU DTC Transfer (Updated July 2026)
What is not included
- The SEC fee on sales: Firstrade’s pricing page lists it for sales; the tool leaves it out.
- IBKR’s Tiered plan (from US$0.0035 per share plus exchange and regulatory fees); only the Fixed plan is modelled.
- Currency spread: if you convert to NT dollars after the money arrives, Bank of Taiwan’s rates on 17 October 2026 give about NT$750 less per US$10,000 than the mid-rate (about 0.23%). Keeping U.S. dollars avoids it, so it is not in the total.
- There may be more than one intermediary bank, and each may charge more than US$15.
- Taxes: tax on RSUs and on selling shares is a separate topic and is not calculated here.
- Firstrade’s wire fee rebate (up to US$25) and transfer fee rebate (up to US$250) for new accounts, and the new-account bonus, are not included in the totals.
FAQ
Does it cost anything to move Morgan Stanley stock plan shares to Firstrade?
The author’s transfers from a Morgan Stanley stock plan account to Firstrade by DTC were free, and Firstrade does not charge for incoming transfers. That was the author’s account and employer, not a published price; other companies’ plans may differ, so check in your account before you transfer.
How much does it cost to wire RSU sale proceeds to Taiwan?
There are three parts: the broker’s outgoing wire fee, intermediary bank fees and the Taiwanese bank’s incoming fee. With this tool’s defaults (US$15,000 per withdrawal, an assumed US$15 intermediary fee, received at Bank of Taiwan), Firstrade comes to about NT$1,532 per withdrawal and IBKR to about NT$726 when it is one of the two free withdrawals that month. Converting to NT dollars adds a currency spread.
Is it cheaper to withdraw from Firstrade or IBKR?
On the wire fee alone, IBKR gives the first two withdrawals each calendar month free, then US$10 per USD wire, while Firstrade charges US$25 per international wire. IBKR charges a commission on sales (minimum US$1 per order), while Firstrade online trades are US$0. Enter your own withdrawals, sell orders and amounts to see the difference for your inputs. Fees are only one part of choosing a broker.
Do E*TRADE or Schwab charge to transfer RSU shares out?
E*TRADE’s pricing page does not publish stock plan account fees; they are shown after you log in to the stock plan account. Schwab’s April 2026 pricing guide lists US$0 for a partial transfer out of a brokerage account and US$50 for a full transfer.
Do the results include currency conversion and taxes?
No. If you convert to NT dollars, Bank of Taiwan’s rates on 17 October 2026 give about NT$750 less per US$10,000 than the mid-rate, and tax on RSUs and share sales is a separate topic. Neither is in the total.