When you are ready to start investing your money, choosing the right brokerage account is the key to reaching your financial goals and building the right foundation.
A brokerage account is an investment account that will allow you to buy and sell various investments like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, index funds, or ETFs.
Individual brokerage account: This is the standard account that most people use, where you open a brokerage account in one name and are the only account owner attached to that account.Joint brokerage account: If you open a joint brokerage account, this means you will be opening a shared account with two or more individuals.
Utilizing a brokerage account is a great way to help you accumulate wealth, save for a large purchase in the future, and invest for retirement outside of your 401k or IRA.When you open a brokerage account, you have more financial options for your money than, say, a savings account at your bank.
They offer a wide range of low-cost index funds and ETFs, and this year dropped their trade commission fee to better compete with some new fintech companies (like Robinhood).
Vanguard is a personal favorite of mine and is also a pioneer in index fund investing.Also founded in the 1970s, it was developed by John C. Bogle, who is also touted as the father of index funds.
Fidelity has slightly fewer index fund options compared to Vanguard and Schwab, it seems, but that’s not always a huge deal. Especially if you are building a simple three-fund portfolio.