Choosing a Broker

Ready to put some real money in?

Well, you can go directly to a company and buy shares through them or you can pay a stockbroker to take care of all of that.

Most stockbrokers charge for their services when you trade
Here is a list of some common brokerage firms:

Scottrade
Zecco
OptionsXpress
Trade King

Companies like ShareBuilder and BuyandHold allow you to buy partial shares if you only have a little money to start with.

Right now you can get $50 account bonus from ING Direct Investing with Sharebuilder. Use promo code: 50LS12.

Make sure you pay attention to the ALL of the fees. Some brokers have fees to close the account and account minimums so watch the fine print when opening your account. After you open your account be diligent about depositing your 10% savings consistently even if you are not ready to purchase a stock yet. It’s all about getting in the habit.

Also your broker should be a registered member of FINRA and SIPC.

Meet Your New Broker: Quite Possibly the Best Value in Stock and Options Trading Get competitive stock trade pricing with no minimums to open or maintain an account. A comprehensive suite of trading tools to help you identify opportunities. Be faster. Find our top performing traders in the community and follow their trades play by play. Our prices are not introductory, nor are there any hidden fees after your account is established.

One of my favorite movies is Wall Street and Charlie Sheen’s character is a stockbroker that sells stock picks and aspires to be a financial success and a very wealthy stockbroker. The movie is brilliant and it can give you more of an idea of the stockbroker business.

Happy trading!