You’re ready to invest your money but you don’t know where to start. Weather it be CD’s or Stocks, there are a lot of online companies out there that offer these types of services. Today we are going to focus solely on brokerage firms.

What you find with most online brokerage firms is that they offer the same type of services. What makes them different is a lot of things such as fees, customer service, etc. When it comes down to choosing the right brokerage firm, you’re going to want to ask yourself the following questions –

How much money am I investing?

Are you going to start off investing $500 or $50,000? This is going to make a big difference when applying to a brokerage company. When you have more money to invest, you will find that you will be able to save more fee wise, etc. Most brokerage firms will also require a first time deposit, which can range anywhere from $1 and beyond.

What am I looking for?

As we mentioned above, you will notice that most brokerage firms offer the same type of investments but some do vary. Some brokerage firms will cater to the “diehard’ or the “day trader” If you’re looking to solely invest in IPO’s, you may find that some companies don’t offer this. Make sure you write down what exactly you want to invest in and make sure this company offers it.

When am I trading?

Are you going to be trading fifty times a day? Or will you be trading only once every few months. The more frequently you trade, you may find the lesser your fees will be. This isn’t the case for all places but make sure you keep your eye out for it.

Ask questions

If you’re becoming familiar with the investing and brokerage field, you may have a million questions. This is okay! All brokerage firms will usually have a toll-free number located on their web page. It’s important that you relate yourself with an online brokerage that offers human support. You will not want to stick with a brokerage firm that only offers support via e-mail.

Once you figure out what brokerage firm you want to apply to, it doesn’t hurt to ask around or look for online reviews on this programs. Once you get your account approved, it’s always helpful to play around with the interface just so you can get a feel for the software.

The interface area is usually where you will do most of your trading. It may seem confusing at first but most online brokerage firms make it easy for the user to trade.

If you’re having trouble finding some of the best online brokerage firms, we have compiled a list of firms that we recommend –

Zecco.com - This is a fairly new company that offers $0 stock trades. This isn’t an introductory offer AND there’s no catch, we promise you.

Firstrade.com - Firstrade is by far one of our favorites. They offer very competitive rates and offer great customer support.

E*Trade.com – E*Trade is one of the leaders in the field offering just about every piece of investment

TDAmeritrade.com – Formerly known as Ameritrade. They are very comparable to E*Trade.