A lot of people want to trade stocks these days but aren’t sure where to start. You know you need a Brokerage Account but how exactly how can you go about getting one? Should you actually hire a broker or look into online investing platforms? Many services offer low cost Brokerage Accounts that don’t require a lot of money to start with and charge very cheap commission fees and little to no miscellaneous fees.

As with literally any type of service or product, don’t just automatically select the cheapest broker as it might not come with very much versatility. There are other factors that make an online brokerage platform worth paying for, such as access to a range of trading tools, investment types, resources, tutorials, and so forth. Some online brokers offer commission-free trades of EFTs, stocks, options, and even foreign currency exchange.

Any quality broker should also offer easy access to customer service and a way to quickly find an answer to any questions you might have. Since you’re not paying for an actual broker to provide you with full-services, it’s important to understand that low cost brokerage accounts are going to require that the investors do at least some research on their own. However, you should still get access to learning materials to help you do your research.

Low Cost Brokerage Accounts for Diversified Portfolio

One of the biggest rules in investing is to have a diversified portfolio. Therefore, your trading platform should give you plenty of options with stocks and EFTs. To help you with your decision-making, there should be a “ranking system” or “recommendations” section that takes into account factors such as account asset class factors, and other EFT specific factors. An “EFT Scanner” type of tool is a very advantageous tool to have, and is offered by some low cost brokerage accounts.

Since the less money you’ll have to pay in fees, the more you’ll have for trading, look for a platform that not only has very low trading fees, but offers plenty of versatility in the trades you can make. Some have fees for as low as $0.01 per share for stocks and EFTs that are greater than $1 per share. There should be transparency with these fees on the website. You should be able to easily find a full list of fees, disclosures, commissions, and other details on a pricing guide.

There are quite a few low cost brokerage accounts offered by several online companies. Consider looking into Zacks Trade deals for some of the best services and tools for investors who can’t afford or don’t want to hire a full-service broker.