Buying Stock

Thread Starter

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
I interested investing in a Stock, I've never wanted to purchase stock until now. Should I use a broker or should I purchase another way that is safe.

Why to do one way vs. the other would help your personal experiences would also be helpful.


Thanks,

kv
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
The old adage about putting all your eggs in one basket comes to mind. I'm an Engineer, not an Accountant so I take my money to my Investment Counselor who puts it into Mutual Funds and Annuities. Sure he takes a small cut but it's like buying insurance for my money.
 

Thread Starter

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
This particular Stock is something I have a lot of research on, I work for the Company now, they don't offer a DSPP to purchase for me within the company, it's an early opportunity to get in before it goes up to quickly. I didn't know a Thread was started that shows why @wayneh uses Charles Schwab.

kv
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
It is extremely difficult to buy stock without a broker -- perhaps impossible without a seat on an exchange. Depending on how much you want to buy, set-up an account with a discount broker, fund it, then buy the stock. "Discount" brokers are very prevalent today, even Fidelity offers that service.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
The market goes up and the market goes down. With a well managed mutual fund, you protect yourself a bit from that. For mutual funds, you can set your level of risk exposure. Low, medium, high. And the possibility of gains or losses is proportionate. I'm in @ medium and getting ~8% annual return. If I depended solely on that for my income it would be at low risk for ~5%. For a younger man, the higher risk category can pay better in the long run with periodic gains and losses. As long as the bottom doesn't fall out of the market. It's all a game of risks and rewards and how much risk you can accept. Annuities are more stable with no loss guaranteed but less yield typically.
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
Now that most brokers have reduced online commission fees to ZERO. There is no reason why you cannot be your own financial manager. In retirement that has become my full time avocation. I do not like sharing with any of the other kids on the block.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
This particular Stock is something I have a lot of research on, I work for the Company now, they don't offer a DSPP to purchase for me within the company, it's an early opportunity to get in before it goes up to quickly.
If the stock is traded on the NY or NASDAQ exchange, you can open an online account and buy the stock yourself. Most offer $0 trades, possibly with a minimum balance. My Merrill Edge account waives trade fees because of my balance. But I'm not a trader these days.
 

Thread Starter

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
Now that most brokers have reduced online commission fees to ZERO. There is no reason why you cannot be your own financial manager. In retirement that has become my full time avocation. I do not like sharing with any of the other kids on the block.
Begins to make me wonder where the money is at? Are they on commission or on a base to earn commissions. I don't need to have someone riding my cloud from here to eternity.

You have a good point, we need to define their in strategy, once in then they change price points or commissions. It's sort of like a parasite if we don't have time to monitor their growth, they change the game at will in time, betting on our ignorance or complacencies.

kv
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
$0 commissions mean you can put on a position in bite sized chunks without the friction of a commission. @1892/share is Amazon still a bargain? How about GE @ 11.66/share?
There is no price point where commissions for online trades will reappear. The money is now in "wealth management", a euphemism for people to stupid or too lazy to manage their own money. If you're that rich you deserve to be taken for every nickel you have; or conversely to be satisfied with the ho-hum return of a passively managed index fund.
 
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wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Should I use a broker or should I purchase another way that is safe.
You'll want to establish a brokerage account with any reputable firm. There are a ton of options and any of them will probably be just fine. It's not hard to switch later, so I wouldn't sweat the decision too much. That said, I feel very comfortable recommending Schwab.

I got established with Schwab in the early '80s and have always preferred them to others I have tried through the decades. Schwab opened a niche in the market of using technology to make things easier for clients. Back in the day it was telephone service, but they also jumped on the internet with conviction while many dragged their feet. Here in 2020, everybody is pretty well modernized but I'd bet Schwab is still ahead of most in making sure their services are efficient and automated.

I just love the breadth of services available from a big player like Schwab, and the 24/7 access to almost everything online. The only time I have to deal with paperwork and snail-mail with Schwab is when it's something required by government regulations. I just don't feel as comfortable with Fidellity, Merrill Lynch, or the few others I've experienced. They just don't feel as slick, it feels like there are obstacles. You can find cheaper trading fees than Schwab, different funds to select from, more local offices, and so on, but I've never found any brokerage that provides a better, all-around experience.

Note that my perspective has always been that I wanted the broker to stay out of my way. I don't want their advice, I just want easy control of my accounts without having to interact with an in-between. Schwab seems to have designed their service around people like me. I'm sure you can get all the hand-holding and "wealth management" you want from Schwab if you ask for it, but I have almost never taken advantage of any of that.
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,813
I have managed my own investments for over two decades now, originally with Scottrade, which was bought by TD Ameritrade, and will soon be bought by Schwab.

When my father-in-law died four years ago, we inherited a managed account at Merrill Lynch. We thought it might be wise to have some of our money professionally managed. The jerk lost money in the last three years, which is exceedingly difficult to do. My self managed accounts were up more than 60% over that time. We finally dumped them.

Bob
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
When my father-in-law died four years ago, we inherited a managed account at Merrill Lynch. We thought it might be wise to have some of our money professionally managed. The jerk lost money in the last three years, which is exceedingly difficult to do. My self managed accounts were up more than 60% over that time. We finally dumped them.
I had a very similar experience with Merrill Lynch. I was managing my mother's finances for her during her last few years. She had used ML and so I had to deal with the "adviser" and his team. Hated it. Their practices bordered on elder-abuse, in my opinion. Maybe not overtly criminal, but not in the best interest of the client.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
I have managed my own investments for over two decades now, originally with Scottrade, which was bought by TD Ameritrade, and will soon be bought by Schwab.
My experience was similar. This time, I plan to get a signup bonus in the move from TD Ameritrade to Schwab.

My larger stock account is with Merrill Edge. There was more benefit to go back to Merrill than to leave it at TDA ($900 signup bonus and my balance gives me more perks, including free trades).
 

ronsimpson

Joined Oct 7, 2019
2,989
I use Etrade. I think all these places have good tools to help.

For my wife, we have the stock in a high end brokerage house. For smart people they don't really do good. I found ETFs are better. With ETFs you don't get a stock but a stock fund run by computers not people. You can get Energy, or Banking or Manufacturing or any sector you think will do good. The computers then collect that type of stock, not from one company. The over head is zero. Brokerage houses charge too much.
 

Thread Starter

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
I use Etrade. I think all these places have good tools to help.

For my wife, we have the stock in a high end brokerage house. For smart people they don't really do good. I found ETFs are better. With ETFs you don't get a stock but a stock fund run by computers not people. You can get Energy, or Banking or Manufacturing or any sector you think will do good. The computers then collect that type of stock, not from one company. The over head is zero. Brokerage houses charge too much.
For those of us who don't know what an ETF is could you explain a bit more, I'm just unsure what it is and why it would be so good. It's ran by computers but, the acronym kind of throws me.


kv
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
It's like the traditional mutual fund, in that it's a basket of securities and more diverse than a single stock, but it is traded on the exchange as if it's a stock. The traditional mutual fund determines is price (NAV, net asset value) every night while the market is closed. The price is based on the closing price of all the underlying securities and does not change during the following day.
 
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