1. Setting Up a Brokerage Account
When it comes to investing, the knowledge you have about a particular stock or investment opportunity
translates directly into how much risk you have to deal with. The more knowledge you have and the
more you understand, the fewer mistakes you will make and the more you will earn.
This knowledge is very important to gain so that you can actively participate in investing in a wise
manner. For many people, their investments are responsible for covering their retirement and other
expenses.
Research
At first, it may seem like you are in way over
your head. However, as you read and perform
enough research you will be able to gain an
understanding of how things work. The first
thing you will want to research is the
definitions for various terms that are
associated with investment. A few of the
terms you will definitely need to become
familiar with include price to earnings ratio,
market cap, and return on equity.
At first many of these terms can seem quite
similar, but as you learn more you will begin to understand the differences. If you are planning on
building a diversified portfolio, you will need to begin by opening a brokerage account.
A brokerage account should include a variety of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and so forth. Even though
a broker will manage these accounts for you, you will need to have an understanding of how these
things work so that you will be able to make wise decisions.
Of course, you also need to know that you will be paying a commission to your broker. The minimum
payment can be as little as five or ten dollars.
Commission
However, the commission you pay is usually a percentage of what you earn. If you earn thousands of
dollars, then you could end up paying a commission of several hundred dollars.
The type of broker that you choose to have manage your accounts will also have an impact on the
amount of commission that you pay. There are two different types that you can choose from.
You can select either a discount or a traditional broker. The different types offer different kinds of
services.
2. As a result, they require different types and amounts of payments. Traditional brokers as similar to
professional money managers, in that they provide advice and recommend various investments to you.
Meanwhile, discount brokers work more with investors who feel like they know what they are doing and
want more control in what happens to their money. These brokers do not give as much advice or as
many recommendations about where you should put your money.
They offer other minor services and they charge much less for them. As a beginning investor, you may
really appreciate the advice that a traditional broker provides you.
However, as you become more experienced and knowledgeable, you may want to move to the cheaper
alternative of the discount broker. If you look around, some companies offer both types of services.
You may want to work
with these kinds of
companies so that you
can easily make the
transition from
traditional to discount.
This will allow you
more flexibility, fewer
fees, and simply an
easier transition.
A new brokerage
account will generally
cost somewhere
between 500 and 1000 dollars depending on the company and services that you choose to work with.
You can often fill out the application for a new account online or have the company mail you a copy of
the application which you can fill out and send back.
Most of the application processes are quite easy to fill out and do not take too much time. However, you
will want to read through the small print to make sure that you are really getting what you expect out of
the contract.
When you have completed the application and submitted it, you will be able to begin investing and
trying to gain some earnings. There will be sometimes when you will lose money, but there will also
hopefully be more times when you will gain money.
As you will probably want to continually add to your investment so that you will be able to earn more,
most companies allow you to set up an automatic monthly deposit. This way you do not have to worry
about going into your bank account each month and transferring the money manually.
Remember to diversify your investments. Reach out to stocks as well as properties. If you are
purchasing property you should probably check out property management services.
3. By adding a little every month, you will be able to build up an account over time that you will be able to
do many things with. This can be a great way to build up retirement.
Photo Credit: Travel Aficionado, Rafael Matsunaga
