Stock trading is a popular way for investors to make money. Before getting in the game, you need a stockbroker and a brokerage account. You can open one with most large investment firms, such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, TD Ameritrade or E*TRADE.

A brokerage account gives you access to buying stocks and other investments. Every firm has different requirements for opening an account. They may offer promotions that require you to deposit a certain amount of money into your new account before being able to trade.  You can learn this here.

Once you have deposited enough money, it’s time to buy your first shares of stock!… Read the rest

A quote that’s attributed to Albert Einstein goes something like this; “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Going by what Mr. Einstein says, it would be easy to assume that most investors are insane because of the fact that they’re constantly trying to predict when to enter and exit specific markets, pick outperforming stocks and are always on the lookout for the next “hot” fund manager to come along.

These are the same investors that rely on top mutual fund recommendations, listen to the advice of a broker who says that they have the skills to ‘beat the market’ and over-weigh their portfolio with asset classes that don’t make sense, including gold.… Read the rest

A 401(k) plan is, for many people in the United States, the very keystone of their retirement plan. Now more than ever, especially due to the fact that defined benefit plans are disappearing, many Americans have the responsibility of making their own decisions about their finances and, in most cases, doing so with very little professional assistance. These decisions are vitally important and can make or break a person’s retirement plans.

The bad news (worse news?) Is that a recent study has shown that the average 65-year-old has a 401(k) that equals about $25,000, barely enough to maintain a young, healthy person’s lifestyle let alone an older person who is leaving the workforce for good. … Read the rest

Hello and welcome back for Part 2 of our 2-part blog series on how to choose the best mutual fund. We hope that Part 1 was able to give you some valuable info and advice that you have already used in your efforts to choose mutual funds that are best for your financial lifestyle and, if you are ready for more, we are as well so let’s get started with Part 2. Enjoy.

When investing in mutual funds is always a good idea to do some type of qualitative analysis. Morningstar, a Chicago-based investment research firm that compiles and analyzes fund, stock and general market data, has a 5 tier scale that they use that gives their customers an idea about how a mutual fund is achieving.… Read the rest

If you want to invest in mutual funds but you don’t know where to begin you’re not alone. With nearly 8000 different types of mutual funds that can be purchased either from a mutual fund firm, through some type of financial advisor, directly by the consumer or at a brokerage firm, the choice can be quite difficult and daunting. When you include all of the different types of share classes the number of mutual funds actually rises to just over 22,600 different kinds. It’s for this reason that we put together a small blog about some of the best ways to choose mutual funds.… Read the rest