This recent shakeup on Wall Street has been getting many new investors interested in the stock market. Every day, people who usually wouldn’t want to get involved in investments are now interested in buying stock and holding on to it for at least a little while. There are many other types of investments too. If you have been getting involved or are thinking about it, what are the best online discount brokers for beginners?
You’ve probably heard a few controversial brokers and know to stay away from them. Here are a few to at least consider – although it’s still important to choose carefully.
Charles Schwab App
The banking giant offers an app to help traders stay on top of the markets and monitor opportunities. You can place trades from anywhere – right onto your phone. With trillions of dollars behind its name, Charles Schwab is a financially stable corporation. There are $0 commission fees to worry about – at least for stock and ETFs.
If you prefer web trading over a computer, there is the StreetSmart Edge advanced desktop platform.
One of the cons is that there are no automatic cash sweeps.
Public
This company has an SPIC-insured app, which means that they protect each customer’s securities investments up to $500,000. Cash amounts are covered up to $250,000. Public is one of the best online discount brokers for beginners who are concerned about privacy. They secure accounts by 128-bit encryption. Every bit of data is safe with Transport Layer Security.
A couple of cons is that the investment types are limited. There are no mutual funds or bonds, and the only account types are traditional taxable brokerages.
Fidelity
With Fidelity, there are $0 trading commissions and a selection of over 3,400 mutual funds and index funds with $0.00 transaction fees. There is strong customer service with this trading platform. Fidelity is a good choice for various investors, including active traders, retirement investors, beginners looking for low-fees and commission-free stock, anybody who wants access to premium research, and more.
For options trades, there is no base commission and $0.65 per contract.
A couple of pitfalls for this app is that it’s not the best for tradable securities and charges a higher-than-average price for broker-assisted trades.
Zacks Trade
As you start to get the hang of trading, you might want to turn to something better suited for moderate to advanced users. There are a lot of positive things to be said about Zacks Trade.
Or, if you’re outright confident and even a bit daring, it can be considered among the best online discount brokers for beginners. Unlike some of the others mentioned on this list, it’s an overall robust trading platform. It does not charge extra money for broker-assisted trades. There are a few different versions of Zacks Trade available, including a desktop version and smartphone app.