Post by bullygirl979 on Apr 19, 2019 6:54:22 GMT -5
I already contribute to my 401k and have Roth accounts. As soon as this kitchen reno is done, I will free up a lot of cash to invest. 99.99% of it will be invested through my financial advisor but I would like to use a very small amount to "play" in the stock market. What is newbie friendly investment site?
Post by bullygirl979 on Apr 19, 2019 9:38:15 GMT -5
raangoli, thanks! Stupidly, I didn't realize you could trade stocks on Vanguard. The only site I could come up with was Scot Trade but had no idea if it was a "good" one to use.
I think both Vanguard and Fidelity are recommended websites. Many people recommend Vanguard because their funds have low fees but I find that Fidelity has been getting competitive with their fees as well. I have read somewhere that Fidelity website is more friendlier than Vanguard. I don't think you will go wrong with either.
You can also try to read BogleHeads website. They have a friendly forum as well as many wiki pages. Very helpful and a do it yourself attitude. Good luck.
Post by dr.girlfriend on Apr 19, 2019 15:23:55 GMT -5
I keep some uninvested money in my Roth and use it to "gamble" every once in awhile and I've done pretty well -- for example, buying Toyota during the big recall, that kind of thing. I use TD Ameritrade and know nothing about placing orders and stuff and have still managed to do it, even though I have to look up the instructions every time, lol.
ETA: I can still buy Vanguard funds in TD Ameritrade but maybe not their special big-income (Admiral?) funds or whatever.
I keep some uninvested money in my Roth and use it to "gamble" every once in awhile and I've done pretty well -- for example, buying Toyota during the big recall, that kind of thing. I use TD Ameritrade and know nothing about placing orders and stuff and have still managed to do it, even though I have to look up the instructions every time, lol.
ETA: I can still buy Vanguard funds in TD Ameritrade but maybe not their special big-income (Admiral?) funds or whatever.
I am currently invested in Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral which has provided: *1 year return of 8.80%, but 5 year return of 10.33% and 10 year return of 16.05%. It's done fantastic and what I'm most heavily invested in right now (after maxing out retirement). Minimum investment is 3k, it's not too much. I was coming in this thread to suggest this fund. Good return, but to me less risky than dabbling in individual stocks.
I don't think it's clear when you say you want to play.
Do you want to trade individual stocks? You can do that with Vanguard but it's not their strength. In fact, it's kind of antithetical to their philosophy. I think there are several brokers you could use. One I haven't seen mentioned is ETrade. Mutual funds like the Total Stock Market Index are not individual stocks but intended to track the larger market.
I don't think it's clear when you say you want to play.
Do you want to trade individual stocks? You can do that with Vanguard but it's not their strength. In fact, it's kind of antithetical to their philosophy. I think there are several brokers you could use. One I haven't seen mentioned is ETrade. Mutual funds like the Total Stock Market Index are not individual stocks but intended to track the larger market.
Yes. I am already doing mutual funds so to me this would be something different and fun to try. Again, I don't want to invest much so trying not to get killed with fees or have it be so complicated that I don't want to do anything.
I don't think it's clear when you say you want to play.
Do you want to trade individual stocks? You can do that with Vanguard but it's not their strength. In fact, it's kind of antithetical to their philosophy. I think there are several brokers you could use. One I haven't seen mentioned is ETrade. Mutual funds like the Total Stock Market Index are not individual stocks but intended to track the larger market.
Yes. I am already doing mutual funds so to me this would be something different and fun to try. Again, I don't want to invest much so trying not to get killed with fees or have it be so complicated that I don't want to do anything.
Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, I think different brokers have different sweet spots. You should think about how often you envision making trades and how much you will be playing with and then try to figure out which will be cheapest for you, since trading costs can easily erode or even wipe out any gains.
I haven't really traded in individual stocks except via ESPP (work stock program) so unfortunately I can't provide specific recs. I do know that Vanguard brokerage fees depend on how much money you have invested with them total.