Believe it or not, a very important step in increasing your financial success is by choosing an appropriate internet stock broker.
You may be asking yourself, "Well Gerbec, what makes an internet stock broker appropriate?" Three things: cost to trade, in depth analysis of your portfolio, and in depth analysis of the stock market in general. Allow me to hit on each one of these individually now.
The first, the cost to trade a stock. I'm sure most of you have been searching the web and have come across ads where the brokerage company states, "Only $4 a trade!". I'm sorry, but, unfortunately this is not as straight up as it originally appears. Sure, you can pay only $4 a trade, but, you can only trade for $4 if you commit to a trading schedule. What does that mean? For instance, allow me to use the stock brokerage company I used to trade through: Sharebuilders.
Now, don't get me wrong, Sharebuilders is not a bad internet stock brokerage company. The company is great for beginner's because it has a glossary of terms and a few e-documents that explain things like options and puts. They also appeal to beginners because of their advertisement which states you can trade for only $4. You can trade for only $4, but, you have to commit to a trading schedule. Also, you only can get that deal if you commit to buying X dollars of such and such a stock every single week of the month. Basically, you will be paying $16 a month, instead of the $15.95 that it usually cost to trade on sharebuilders.
So, my first advertise is, shop around, call the 800 number, and ask what it really cost to place a live trade. I would much rather save my money for a month, and buy all the stocks at one time with an additional fee of $15.95, then have a computer buy it for me automatically every single week for $4.
Second, in depth analysis of your portfolio. What exactly does this mean? Well, your portfolio is the name we give to every single stock, mutual fund, ETF, money market fund, bond fund, bond, etc. that you own. Depending on each investor's own goals they should invest accordingly. For instance, say I have $25,000 that I'm investing for my child for when he goes to college. I don't need to touch this money for about 18 years and I also want to increase this money greatly because the cost of attending a university for four years by then will be close to $300,000. Therefore, I would invest my money in large company's hoping for long term, aggressive growth. On the other hand, if I needed the money in a a year or two, it would be much wiser just to open a CD account and also put money in a general money market fund. Believe it or not, there are internet brokerage accounts that will analyze your portfolio according to your goals and how long until you need your money.
Third, in depth analysis of the market. Now, they may or may not give you individual analysis of stocks, but, you don't need that. That's what I'm for! But, some company's make you pay for in depth reports in sectors. these reports range from $10.00-$400.00! Make sure to look for a company that does give out these reports for FREE!
Now, if you stock around for this long, you're in for a treat. I'm going to give you my choice for, hands down, the best stock investment firm in the nation. Ask any financial adviser and they would certainly agree. Charles Schwab.
Charles Schwab allows you to trade for only $15.00. Now, this may not be the cheapest deal out there, but, believe me, its worth it! Why? Well, because they are the ONLY website I have seen that will analyze your stock portfolio, tell you how your portfolio looks against what it should look like with your goals. Make 5 star recommendations on how to fix your portfolio. They offer those reports I talked about for FREE (also the only website I've seen that offers that). And, the best part, no minimum deposit. No annual fees. And a general cash fund that receives 5.25% APY.
Charles Schwab has received A+'s all around and is my internet stock brokering site.
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This article belongs to and is owned by Jayson Gerbec. Feel free to place it else where, but, be sure to give myself, Jayson Gerbec, credit for the article and include a link to my website, http://www.freewebs.com/gerbeconwallstreet