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written by reader Another NOOB, Broker recommendations?

By pete_h, October 25, 2013

Hi all,
I have been reading here and watching things, paper trading and trying to learn at this late stage in my life. I am 62 and retiring at the end of the year. I am a newcomer to active investing and am looking to get some cash flow out of my investments. Probably dividends and something to hold for a while.

I will have a couple of lump sums to invest and am looking for a brokerage account to put them in, rolled over from those lump sums. So any advise on Scott Trade vs Fidelity et al?

Thanks,
Pete Hanratty
Columbus, OH

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sassykind
sassykind
October 25, 2013 10:47 am

I know somewhat what Pete Hanratty feels as I have a somewhat similar problem re Brokers. Does Stock Gumshoe have a policy re recommending some. I have one problem common to some of your respondents who want to invest in Australia……..I want to find a broker in US/Canada so I can invest in a couple of companies that I really like the look of. The problems are twofold – I can’t afford a lot of cash to open an account and I don’t know what minimum investment either US Stock Exchanges or Brokers consider. Is there a minimum in terms of $amount or size of share bundle?

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Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe
October 25, 2013 11:50 am
Reply to  sassykind

We don’t endorse or recommend any specific brokers, but I personally use Interactive Brokers for some of my trading on international exchanges (easy and relatively cheap online trading in Hong Kong, London, Australia, Canada, several other major exchanges, but not as user-friendly an interface as etrade or TDAmeritrade or most of the other discount brokers, IB is really built and priced for active traders), and I also use Fidelity and TD Ameritrade for a lot of my accounts and find them to be perfectly fine.

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David Brown
Guest
October 25, 2013 2:00 pm

Scottrade is a discount broker that also has branches with educational seminars on site–I’m sure Columbus where you live (go Buckeyes!) has branches. I switched this year from a more conventional (full service/high commision) broker–Edward Jones to Scottrade and have been very happy with Scottrade. I can educate myself both with their very useful tools and I can get more education at the branch if I so choose. If you are looking at making some big decisions about some lump sums–open an account for free and take advantage of their educational tools before you leap. The other great thing about a discount brokerage is that if you change your mind and want to switch to a different investment–the fees are quite low and wont bite you nearly as much. If individual stocks make you too nervous Pete–look into ETFs over mutual funds. The basic premise which has proved to be statistically true is to avoid high management fees whenever possible. Fidelity is a great company, but remember, they have their own products to sell while Scottrade doesn’t have it’s own funds . Always beware of fees, hidden fees and hidden agendas.
Good luck Pete.

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