How to Pick the Best Discount Broker

Finding the best discount broker for you is not as hard as you'd think. Make a list of potential discount brokers and research the following areas of each broker. This will make comparing brokers much easier.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. 

   Low Commissions
   
   Of course you want to pay low commissions on your trades, but don't always just go for the broker with the lowest commission. The brokers with the lowest commissions often come with strings attatched, like websites that are hard to use.

2. 

   Customer Service
   
   This is an especially important area to research. With a discount broker you will not have a financial adviser to consult with, so when you do have a question or concern you want the person on the other end of the phone to be able to help you.

3. 

   Investment Advice
   
   Discount brokers such as E Trade offer advice through questionnaires and phone consults. These tools can be helpful, but are still not as good as having a adviser you can talk to.

4. 

   Research and Web Based Tools
   
   A lot of discount brokers will have web based tools for keeping track of your portfolio, researching stocks and mutual funds, news feeds, and market analysis. This is another especially important area to research because if the tools are hard to use, you're in for a frustrating experience.

5. 

   Mutual Fund Selection
   
   Check out the lines of mutual funds the different brokers carry. Mutual funds are a great way to diversify. Yes, you can always buy mutual funds with a different account, but it's nice to keep things somewhat consolidated.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider how much you will be investing.
• Take how frequently you make trades into consideration.

Resources

• E TRADE
• Scottrade
• TD AMERITRADE

[jerryfriend15]

on 3/3/2009 sweet info! i used to just ask my brother for advice but i guess he doesn't know nearly as much as you!!!