The IBRK Lite plan enables affordable investing with no commissions and no account minimums on its stocks and ETFs. Its Pro plan is for the regular investor, with specific fees based on your investment activity. Research and education are impressive, with its Traders’ Academy offering free courses and several applications designed to help you make better investments.
Some trading platforms may be agnostic to a specific intermediary or broker, while other trading platforms are only available when working with a particular intermediary or broker. As a result, investors should also consider the reputation of the intermediary or broker before committing to a specific trading platform to execute trades and manage their accounts.
Dollar-cost average: This sounds complicated, but it’s not. Dollar-cost averaging means investing a set amount of money at regular intervals, such as once per week or month. That set amount buys more shares when the stock price goes down and fewer shares when it rises, but overall, it evens out the average price you pay. Some online brokerage firms let investors set up an automated investing schedule.