Comments on: Helping my Brother Choose an Online Broker

By: Asset Aggregation May be As Important as Asset Allocation | My Journey to Millions

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:19:27 +0000

[...] Many of the same benefits for becoming a loyal customer in the consumer arena apply to the world of finance. Just as the grocery store was hungry for my purchases, so are financial institutions hungry for your investments. [...]

By: Monevator

Monevator — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:59:44 +0000

You guys are so lucky in the US — all your options look cheap compared to us here in the UK, and we’re not exactly an expensive country.

$5 a trade? I’d trade all day!

We pay tax when we buy shares too. (0.5%. Eek!)

By: MoneyCone

MoneyCone — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:03:19 +0000

I’ve used Fidelity, OptionsHouse, Scottrade and Sharebuilder. OptionsHouse is fast, lots of webinars if you like that sort of thing, site look and feel isn’t the best. But their rates are great, plus they offer free cost basis tracking (most people underestimate how important this is come tax time).

Fidelity has top notch customer service, site’s excellent and provides commission free trades on 25 of Blackrock’s ETFs. (They are the largest ETF company). The 25 shares are well thought out and not lame ones!

Scottrade.. I like them. Doesn’t excell in anything in particular, but overall a good online broker with least amount of hidden fees.

Sharebuilder is ok. Very minimalistic in features.

I wrote reviews of some these brokers.

Also, Schwab too provides commission-free trades on their etfs.

By: Matt @ Dividend Monk

Matt @ Dividend Monk — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:38:13 +0000

I am fully in agreement that Sharebuilder is a greater broker for buy and hold investors.

By: Daddy Paul

Daddy Paul — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:39:05 +0000

I think you asked the right questions on selecting on online broker. If asked the question what online broker should I use the answer is none unless you are going to buy ETFâ€™s or sell covered calls.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:38:58 +0000

Interesting I didn’t know about the fidelity option.

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:13:52 +0000

Cool, I was just throwing it out there as an option.

If he’s going ETFs – try Fidelity. They let you trade 25 of the most common for FREE. Can’t beat that.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:02:41 +0000

I doubt he has the knowledge nor the desire to use this account to pick 4 or 5 horses to bet on. In the end I think the account is going to be used as a learning experience, first with ETFs (and general market knowledge) and move on from there.

The Tradeking is an affiliate link (The one with the *). The Sharebuilder link is NOT an affiliate link as I don’t have a relationship with them other than as a customer.

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:37:26 +0000

Why use a broker at all? If he knows what stocks he wants, a lot of S&P 500 let you buy directly with low or no commission, plus free reinvestment. Google – Mellon Investor Services or Computershare. The downside is you get multiple 1099s each year – one for each stock.

Are those affiliate links?