Best Way to Acquire Stocks?

Question

I would like to purchase some stocks, but don't really know the best way to go about it. Has anyone had any good reliable experience with on-line buying or should I find a real life person to talk to about this? Don't really want to spend a lot on fees. I am not a big investor, just some companies catch my eye and would like to buy a few shares in certain companies?? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I do all my investing online. Most brokerage firms will have a minimum deposit to start and all will charge a small transaction fee.Check out a few of them and pick the one that best suits your needs. All of them are there to help and service people just like you. Try Ameritrade.com, Etrade.com, Fidelity.com, or troweprice.com

Answer 2

Depends on the amount of money you have to invest. If a small amount, I would recommend buying stocks from the company themsleves through a Dividend Reinvestment Program or DRIP.
You can also buy through online traders like Scottrade or Etrade which will charge a small trading fee like $7 a trade for any amount. Pick up a copy of Kiplinger's Personal Finance or Money magazines to read the ads on online traders and links to various company sites for DRIPs. These have easy to read and comprehend articles for novice investors. Then of course there is the mutual fund option- cheapest way is to invest directly through the fund company (T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Vangard, Janus), but tthese usually have a minimum investment of $500 to $1000 or so. They do the investing for a lot of people and in turn charge a small percentage fee (choose no loads first).
Do yourself a favor and consider using any excess cash that
you won't need until retirement or 59.5 years of age and get a Roth IRA where all profits are tax free when you withdraw it. Again, IRAs are discussed in detail in the Kiplinger's and Money magazines regularly.

Answer 3

your best bet is, if you have the time, going online and browsing the self investing options. you will need to pay some attention to your investment to make sure they are ok but it is typically cheaper than a broker who will charge you a percentage for each trade. Bank of America has self investment trades online for about 7.00 a trade. there are some other companies out there as well but you have to set up accounts and transfer the money from your bank before you can start and this can cost money off the get go. At a bank that offers these services you can setup an account with that bank to use as you like and then just make deposits there when you want to add it to it.

Answer 4

Broker

Answer 5

edward jones