And thus, you decided not to be satisfied with earning passive income through having your money deposited in a simple checking account. Welcome to the club! At least, it looks scary from the beginning, isn’t it? Well, at least the terminology is from the times of the golden era of suspenders. 😅
The most important thing is choosing a broker. He or she will perform the duties of a bouncer of the exclusive club called Stock Market. Without their permission, you cannot get inside to buy shares of Apple or Tesla. The broker will manage your funds and place the order once you hit the button.
The first thing you will have to decide is whether you will pay fees or not. In the old days, the brokers charged you ten dollars for each transaction of buying just one stock, and this fact was considered as theft. Nowadays, however, platforms such as Fidelity or Charles Schwab offer free transactions of common stocks and ETFs.
If you come across the website asking for fees for buying even one share of Microsoft, you have to run away from it. Not because you wish to save your money, but because you wish to earn everything. 🤑
The second thing is the user interface. You have to choose an application that won’t look like the cockpit of the spaceship. The Robinhood application has gained popularity owing to its exceptional simplicity. It is colorful and intuitive to navigate.
However, the so-called beta version of Fidelity app can compete with it in terms of simplicity. That means that the best way is to find an application with the user-friendly interface.
Then you will have to consider the universe of the possible investment opportunities. It should include the ETFs such as VOO and VTI. They provide the possibility to own a small part of a hundred of various companies.
However, if you wish to explore the crypto in the future, you have to choose the broker that will support it. The platform such as Coinbase is perfect for the crypto, but awful for the stocks. On the other hand, Schwab is excellent for stocks and awful for crypto. Using the all-in-one broker will prevent you from using five different applications.
It seems crazy, but the customer service is important for you. There is always a possibility that someday you will need help in filling your tax form or transferring your money. And at that moment, you will be thankful for talking to a human being.
And in that case again, the platforms such as Fidelity and Schwab will be the leaders in providing excellent customer service. Newer applications-brokers will be trying to hide behind the chatbots and email tickets. I assure you that the opportunity to talk to a human will be priceless for you. 🤯
Finally, do not think too much about your decision. After all, it is not marriage, right? You will always be able to change the broker if you dislike the interface.
Just open an account in one of the platforms, deposit some money and buy one share of the ETF. The hardest thing is clicking the button. However, once you do that, you will become an investor. Good luck!