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Originally Posted by protour73
First of all............HAPPY NEW YEAR guys!! (and gals?)
OK Mr. Inspiration. Now it's 2014, I have a recent windfall sitting in the bank that fell in my lap, completely unexpected. Time to INVEST!!!
WHERE do I go? ETrade? Scott Trade? etc, How do I take the first step? I don't recall too much talk of taking the first step in this MASSIVE thread.
I don't have "a guy" to go to either, not sure I'd even trust a recommendation.
HELP!!
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The brokerage of choice really doesn't matter --- they all have low commission structures now. So as long as it's a discount broker -- the ones you named or Schwab... To me it's more a mater of convenience. The one you drive by on your way to work -- or to the store -- or is easiest to get to and has quick easy parking. Because you'll be making deposits once in awhile. But anymore - you can do that all with their "app" on your phone... deposit checks etc by just taking a picture of the front and back and hitting a couple buttons. I can't tell you the last time I actually went to my bank or broker.
So -- Happy New Year to you it sounds like!
Depending on what your investable amount looks like -- and that's a personal thing for you to know - not us.... will get you an appointment with an "advisor" that will help you get all set up in your account --- Discount brokerages DO NOT sell you anything - nor will they pick stocks for you or trade for you. That's a full service rip off house... er... I meant to say... that's for people that are afraid to think or take personal responsibility for their futures. LOL
The advisor is there to help you navigate their website - or do transfers etc. Remember - these are very low cost organizations -- so they don't have people sitting around trying to make a $500 commission off your buy or sell.
Then - once again - this depends on the amount your talking about --- I'd check with the advisor about what you qualify for as far as IRA's go. A ROTH IRA has certain limits on income level... and normal IRA's have rules too... and you NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEM before you open that type of an account. They're both RETIREMENT ONLY accounts... maybe you want that and maybe you don't. I personally have a whopping 25K in my retirement account... since I've never (for the last 25 years or so) needed one.
Once you understand the type of account --- or accounts ---- you want to open - then you need to decide what percentage of the dough you want to keep "liquid" for an emergency fund -- what you want to tie up until retirement - or maybe you just want a normal account where you can pull money from if you need it. PM me or preferably email me - if you have some personal questions and I'll be happy to answer them. What I WILL NOT do is to tell you to do this or do that -- and I won't tell you what to buy or when to sell. I'll help you to understand fishing --- I won't catch you a fish or hold your pole. (that didn't come out right did it!)
Then I'd tell you to go to page ONE of this thread -- and just digest it a little bit every day. In the end -- it will answer a lot of your questions and you'll get a lot of good information out of it that will serve you well over your lifetime. Not saying that because the thread is about half me posting --- but the questions you have are no different than most everyone else. They've been answered about 10 times each along the way.
The WORST thing you could do is to NOT get started --- so get started. It's fun as hell - rewarding - and it's like horsepower -- you'll always want more.