Looking at your First Brokerage Account

If you’re anything like me when you opened up your first brokerage account, you were probably confused on what was out there that would make the most for your money when it came to investing.  Learn about investing was one thing but the next question was, ‘Where do I do the investing?”.  There are a ton of places online and in house that can help you invest but the first things you’re going to have to ask yourself are a few questions.  The reason I’m writing this today is to help you better understand how brokerage firms work and how you can get the most for your investing portfolio.

What are the costs?

The first thing you’re going to want to do are look at the costs of your firm.  How much are they going to charge you for trading, etc.  Since all the prices are going to vary, make sure you look at the firm’s price list.  The best thing to do is to simply print out or save the price list from each firm and compare.  If you only intend on using the firm for stocks, then compare the stock prices.  You’ll find that some places are cheaper in some areas.

The selection of stocks, mutual funds, etc.

Some firms only allow you to trade in certain markets.  If you’re going to be a heavy investor, make sure you find out how many mutual funds they offer and what markets you can trade on.  Services such as E*Trade allow to trade on more than six global markets.  If you’re going to be an aggressive day trader in the future, this will be very important to you.

The customer service

Just like a store you shop in, you don’t want to deal with a place that doesn’t care about their customers.  The best way to see if the firm you’re looking at has great customer service is by checking the reviews online or asking around to friends and family.  You’ll usually get a great idea of how good the customer service is just by reading reviews online.  Another great way to find out also is by calling the number on their website.  This alone will sometimes give you a great idea on how good the company will treat you.

These are the top three things that you should be aware of when you’re looking for your first brokerage firm.  Remember, a brokerage firm is just like a bank.  If you’re unhappy with the service, you can simply run away to another one.  Make sure that you do your research and know what you’re doing with investing before you open an account.  The more knowledge you have, the better off you’ll be.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment