New To Investing Thread

[Emo EMAW]

With Scottrade, its $7 per trade, and the only fees are the fees charged by the funds themselves. There is no cost to having a brokerage account.

i use scottrade currently.  no complaints, it's just too limited for some things i want to invest in the future.

Is the interface still complete crap?  Maybe that was First Trade.  One of those with two t's in the middle.  My brokerage account is with e*trade and it's lke $10 per trade, no other fees.  Kinda high but I don't trade a lot unless things are really volatile, more investing. 

[steve dave]

I have an IRA and some index funds with a vanguard account and a trading account with tdameritrade. $10 a trade as well. their HQ is right down the street from my office which is probably the reason I use them which is admittedly not a good reason.

[Emo EMAW]

Better then "I use e*trade because it was started by an EMAW and the baby commercials are cute."  (Which is my reason.)

[hemmy]

E trade was a complete bitch trying to get my account activated so I just gave up and used scottrade because there is a scottrade office like 2 blocks from where I live, lol.

[sys]

Is the interface still complete crap?

honestly, it isn't likely that i'd notice any difference between a complete crap interface and one that's completely badass.  it's been easy for me to do whatever i've wanted to do that that is possible to do with their accounts, if that gives you any info on their interface quality.

if you're thinking of switching your whole account, i'd prolly just go bonus hunting.  i haven't looked at competing bonuses, but fidelity will give you decent cash or miles.

[WonderMeal]

Sys, I'm no herpetologist, but I think you should try Schwab.

If there's two things WonderMeal defends wholeheartedly, it's the KSU Cats Purple University and the choice to use Schwab for all banking/investments.

Especially if you're new to investing (which I know Sys is not), Schwab's customer service is superb at taking you from pud to stud.

[sys]

thanks, wonder.  i've seen a lot of positive opinion re. schwab, and i imagine they are a little less handholdey on options than scottrade.  but, they offer significantly less ability to trade in foreign markets than fidelity or ib, and that's probably the main reason i'd open another account.

[WonderMeal]

TTHOTUC, Ben ji, et al-

This post on the Washington Post's Wonkblog is pretty much all you need. All the financial advice you'll ever need on a note card!

Full article below the pic.

Think managing your finances has to be complicated? Wonkblog contributor (and UC Chicago social scientist) Harold Pollack doesn't. After a talk with personal finance expert Helaine Olen, Pollack managed to write down pretty much everything you need to know on a 4x6 index card. And it would probably fit on a 3x5 index card if you really crammed (that last point, for instance, is probably not strictly necessary for managing your money). He explains:

The card came out of an RBC chat I had with Helaine Olen regarding what I view as the financial industry’s basic dilemma: The best investment advice fits on an index card. A commenter, Alex M, asked for the actual index card. Although I was originally speaking in metaphor, I grabbed a pen and one of my daughter's note cards, scribbled this out in maybe three minutes, snapped a picture with my iPhone, and the rest was history. (Here's the picture and post.)

Pollack's right. Follow these principles and you'll be in much, much, much better shape than most Americans — or most anyone. And all it will cost you is $2.20 for a pack of index cards — and you'll have 99 of them left over.
It's really hard to be poor (see Pollack's amazing interview on how being poor changes the way people think for more on that). But the lesson here is that once you have an income that you can live off of and save a little bit besides, managing your finances shouldn't be all that hard. The people making it complicated are often trying to make money off of you.

[steve dave]

I can destroy that guy's card by using one half of one line of a card

put $50k in the bank er' month

[ksucrcoop]

TTHOTUC, Ben ji, et al-

This post on the Washington Post's Wonkblog is pretty much all you need. All the financial advice you'll ever need on a note card!

Full article below the pic.

Think managing your finances has to be complicated? Wonkblog contributor (and UC Chicago social scientist) Harold Pollack doesn't. After a talk with personal finance expert Helaine Olen, Pollack managed to write down pretty much everything you need to know on a 4x6 index card. And it would probably fit on a 3x5 index card if you really crammed (that last point, for instance, is probably not strictly necessary for managing your money). He explains:

The card came out of an RBC chat I had with Helaine Olen regarding what I view as the financial industry’s basic dilemma: The best investment advice fits on an index card. A commenter, Alex M, asked for the actual index card. Although I was originally speaking in metaphor, I grabbed a pen and one of my daughter's note cards, scribbled this out in maybe three minutes, snapped a picture with my iPhone, and the rest was history. (Here's the picture and post.)

Pollack's right. Follow these principles and you'll be in much, much, much better shape than most Americans — or most anyone. And all it will cost you is $2.20 for a pack of index cards — and you'll have 99 of them left over.
It's really hard to be poor (see Pollack's amazing interview on how being poor changes the way people think for more on that). But the lesson here is that once you have an income that you can live off of and save a little bit besides, managing your finances shouldn't be all that hard. The people making it complicated are often trying to make money off of you.

most mutual fund are crap. some arent, but you can balance risk just as good as a mutual fund on your own - without the fees associated and without paying taxes each yr on any gains.

[EllRobersonisInnocent]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

[steve dave]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

[EllRobersonisInnocent]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

I'm talking like every cent to my name plus a loan from my grandma.

[slobber]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

I'm talking like every cent to my name plus a loan from my grandma.

Grandmother hater outed.

[yoga-like_abana]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

I'm talking like every cent to my name plus a loan from my grandma.

#doit #surething

[Johnny Wichita]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

I'm talking like every cent to my name plus a loan from my grandma.

Short it for the first month, then buy as much as you can. 

[Johnny Wichita]

Also, real estate

[Rams]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

I'm talking like every cent to my name plus a loan from my grandma.

Short it for the first month, then buy as much as you can.

yes because it's guaranteed to follow the same trajectory as facebook.

[yoga-like_abana]

I might go all-in on Twitter's IPO

oh, good plan dumbass.

yes because it's guaranteed to follow the same trajectory as facebook.

I'm talking like every cent to my name plus a loan from my grandma.

Short it for the first month, then buy as much as you can.

in theory thats a great idea. in reality you are both dumbasses

[EMAWmeister]

Are most financial advisors not held to a fiduciary standard? 

[Johnny Wichita]

in theory thats a great idea. in reality you are both dumbasses

lol

[yoga-like_abana]

Are most financial advisors not held to a fiduciary standard? 

people tend to look out for there best interest.

[mocat]

New to investing? Just put $50,000 into your bank account every month!

 

[EMAWmeister]

Are most financial advisors not held to a fiduciary standard? 

people tend to look out for there best interest.

Seems to me like the best interest of an advisor would be to do what is best for the client, thus keeping the client's business.

[Rams]

Are most financial advisors not held to a fiduciary standard? 

they aren't.  and it's something that needs to change.