Investing In Stocks The Complete Course!
Profitable investing requires you use a brokerage service that aligns with your investing goals, educational needs and learning style. Especially for new investors, selecting the best online stock broker that fits your needs can mean the difference between an exciting new income stream and frustrating disappointment.
While there’s no sure-fire way to guarantee investment returns, there is a way to set yourself up for success by selecting the online brokerage that best suits your needs. In this guide, we’ll break down everything you should look for in your ideal brokerage, from the obvious (like whether or not the platform allows you to trade the securities you’re interested in) to the not-so-obvious (like how easy it is to get support from an actual human when you need it).
Before you start clicking on brokerage ads, take a moment to hone in on what's most important to you in a trading platform. The answer will be slightly different depending on your investment goals and where you are in the investment learning curve.
If you’re just starting out, you may prioritize features like basic educational resources, comprehensive glossaries, easy access to support staff, and the ability to place practice trades before you start playing with real money.
If you have some investment experience already under your belt, but you're looking to get serious, you may want more high-level education and opinion-based resources authored by professional investors and analysts, as well as a good selection of
What Kind of Trades Do You Want to Execute?
Are you going to be the type of investor that knows what they want to do and just needs a platform that makes it easy and quick to execute trades, or do you want a broker with a broader range of resources to help you identify opportunities? What kind of securities are you focused on? Stocks,mutual funds, ETFs? If you are more advanced, do you also want to trade options, futures, and fixed-income securities? What about margin trading? Do you need access to conditional orders, extended-hours trading, and automated trading options?
What Are Your Investing Goals?
Why are you choosing to invest? Are you trying to supplement your regular income to improve your current standard of living? Is there a specific event or expense you want to fund? Do you intend for this to eventually become your primary income source? Are you trying to build up retirement savings and, if so, do you already have a retirement account or will you want to open a new one with your chosen brokerage?
There are no wrong answers to these questions. Be honest with yourself about how much time, energy, and effort you're willing and able to put into your investments. Your answers may change over time, and that’s ok. Don’t try to anticipate all your needs and goals for the rest of your life. Just start with where you are right now.