Brokerage accounts
What is covered
The amount of online and in person banks that offer credit cards, savings accounts, and every other option is unthinkable. Trust me, as I spent hours looking at different options for my first credit card, savings account, and bank. These reviews will go over some of the beginner friendly accounts I used and how they work. There are also some tips as to what I would do differently.
To start investing, you’ll first need a brokerage account, which you can set up in about 10-15 minutes. Once you’ve added all the necessary information, you can choose from the available stocks, mutual funds, index funds and exchange-traded funds to invest in. An online broker is one of the easiest ways to start investing. After opening and funding your account, you can buy stocks through the broker’s website in a matter of minutes.
Brokerage accounts
Choosing an online broker to create your first brokerage account is very important as this may be an account you keep until retirement or longer. The most important things to consider are minimum deposits, fees, and simplicity.
Below are 3 of the best account options I have found. These all have a $0 account minimum, no fees, are easy to learn and use, and have the structure to help you invest for the rest of your life.
All banks and accounts have their pros and cons. However, these 3 have better pros and fewer cons than other options I have seen.
NerdWallet Rating
Fees
Account Minimum
Learn More
5.0/5
$0
$0
Learn More on Fidelity's website
per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs
NerdWallet Rating
Fees
Account Minimum
Learn More
4.9/5
$0
$0
Learn More on Charles Schwab's website
per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs
NerdWallet Rating
Fees
Account Minimum
Learn More
4.1/5
$0
$0
Learn More on J.P.Morgan's website
per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs
Fidelity
- Commission-free stock, ETF and options trades
- Large selection of research providers
- Great customer service
- Expense-ratio-free index funds
- Top rated mobile app
- High interest rate on uninvested cash (Cash in the account but not invested into anything).
With the only downside being a higher-than-average Broker-assist trade fee. Which means when you request a trade, a broker has to actually execute it, and that middleman fee can be higher than normal.
Schwab
- Four trading platforms with no minimum or fees
- Great mobile app
- Extensive research tools
- Large fund selection
- Commission-free stock, options and ETF trades
Unlike Fidelity though, Schwab has a low interest rate on uninvested cash, which in my opinion is not a big problem because you should have uninvested cash in a stock or in a high yield savings account, not just sitting in a brokerage account.
J.P.Morgan
- An easy-to-use platform
- $0 commissions
- App connects all Chase accounts
There are a few more cons though, such as
- Limited tools and research
- Portfolio Builder tool requires $2,500 balance
- Low interest rate on uninvested cash
I personally use Schwab, and I like it because the website and app are very easy to use and transfer money from one account to another. One thing I love the most is Schwab's stock screener, which has hundreds of options you can sypher through to get to any stock that meets the requirements you set. It also has hours' worth of investing courses that I found helpful.