So my almost 11 year old had a stock buying/selling exercise in class. Now she wants to do it for real. All I've done though is contribute to my 401k so I don't even know how you buy A stock. Or a couple stocks. All my stocks are in mutual funds.

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I get a lot of emails about eleven year olds who cracked the stock market and can help me get rich. Want me to forward one to you?

Seriously, I'm with you. Haven't a clue.

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And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Western Massachusetts

I would suggest opening an online brokerage account for her. For now, it would have to be in your name.
Etrade and Scottrade I think are still the largest ones. I've been an Etrade customer for a long time now.
Put money in the account ( certain amount is required to open the account, but doesn't have to be invested, it can just sit as cash while you invest smaller amounts - at least, that's the way it was 15 years ago!).

Then you can buy stocks, or create "watch list" portfolio's of stocks you haven't actually put MONEY in yet.

You can also buy mutual funds, etc, using Etrade. I've got shares of a couple funds, as well as a few individual stocks.

By the way, I can suggest Hershey, Inc as a single stock for a young investor. No stock is 100% safe, but Hershey has an 80 year history of profitable quarters, and paying dividends. Right through the Great Depression, through WWII, through the boom years, through the recession of the 70's.... right up to today. It's not sexy, but it pays dividends (which can "paid" as a dividend reinvestment of more HSY stock, or as "cash" into your account), and it just creeps up fairly reliably. Plus, Chocolate!
I really want to go to the Hershey, Inc annual stockholders meeting some day... it's next to the Hershey Chocolate World musuem and park... Goodies!

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

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Paul F.
I really want to go to the Hershey, Inc annual stockholders meeting some day... it's next to the Hershey Chocolate World musuem and park... Goodies!

Taking the wife and kids to Hershey Park this weekend and staying at the Lodge. Looks to be a washout though... it's become sort of an annual thing. Kids love the free chocolate smelling lotion and soaps in the room!

Scottrade is now www.tdameritrade.com. I think it's 2-3000 or so to open an account. Transfer some money in and away you go. Check the fees in buying and selling. It might not be worth it to go hog wild buying 2 shares of this and 1 share of that. Fees can add up quickly.

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3d
Scottrade is now www.tdameritrade.com. I think it's 2-3000 or so to open an account. Transfer some money in and away you go. Check the fees in buying and selling. It might not be worth it to go hog wild buying 2 shares of this and 1 share of that. Fees can add up quickly.

That was it! I knew somebody merged with somebody... I just couldn't remember the other player (Ameritrade, then the TD folks).

I'd LOVE to explore some of the Hershey-built places in Hershey PA... I know the conference center, hospital, children's cancer center, park, theme park, museum, and a couple other things were all built by the Milton S. Hershey Foundation, which owns a controlling interest in HSY.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

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Eureka, CA

Hershey Park is fun, and their summer concerts are amazing if it doesn't rain.

I think there are some other online trading accounts with small minimums - I use TDAmeritrade however.

You can open a custodial investment account for her with Schwab for a $100 minimum. It will cost $4.95 for an online trade.

[www.schwab.com]

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Michael
You can open a custodial investment account for her with Schwab for a $100 minimum. It will cost $4.95 for an online trade.

[www.schwab.com]

Damn... that's a good deal! ETrade, back when I started, was significantly higher on a minimum balance.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

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Eureka, CA

I just bought a custom stock for a Ruger 10/22 I am building.

[www.rimfirecentral.com]

Just got an e-mail with tracking number. IT'S ON THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2018 05:45PM by Racer X.

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Michael
You can open a custodial investment account for her with Schwab for a $100 minimum. It will cost $4.95 for an online trade.

[www.schwab.com]

That sounds good to me.

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Robinhood. but tdameritrade has free investor training that is pretty good.

RobinHood is precisely what you want. It is targeted to what your son is wanting to do because it is designed for millenials, is easy to use and (essentially) charges no fees for trading. The app is available for iOS and Android. I mainly use it on my iPad.

I use it for day trading (I think there is a significant balance required for instant settlement) which is probably what your son will want to do. I often trade the same company multiple times a day, often when the swing in stock price is only tenths of a percent (I'm retired and have plenty of free time many days so it is a bit like playing a first person shooter except with more on the line). Not wise for the long or short term but a fun way to learn (while occasionally being burned). But if you set him up with $100 he won't break you but will still have enough to trade and learn. The first link is a step by step tutorial. It looks more complicated to use the app than it actually is.

[www.businessinsider.com]

[medium.com]

[support.robinhood.com]-

[support.robinhood.com]

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

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Racer X
I just bought a custom stock for a Ruger 10/22 I am building.

What?

I thought we were talking about soup?

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Racer X
I just bought a custom stock for a Ruger 10/22 I am building.

[www.rimfirecentral.com]

Quote
Speedy
RobinHood is precisely what you want. It is targeted to what your son is wanting to do because it is designed for millenials, is easy to use and (essentially) charges no fees for trading. The app is available for iOS and Android. I mainly use it on my iPad.

I use it for day trading (I think there is a significant balance required for instant settlement) which is probably what your son will want to do. I often trade the same company multiple times a day, often when the swing in stock price is only tenths of a percent (I'm retired and have plenty of free time many days so it is a bit like playing a first person shooter except with more on the line). Not wise for the long or short term but a fun way to learn (while occasionally being burned). But if you set him up with $100 he won't break you but will still have enough to trade and learn. The first link is a step by step tutorial. It looks more complicated to use the app than it actually is.

[www.businessinsider.com]

[medium.com]

[support.robinhood.com]-

[support.robinhood.com]

Even better.

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Hard to buy a good beef stock. They all taste metallic to me, even from a carton.

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Speedy
I use it for day trading (I think there is a significant balance required for instant settlement) which is probably what your son will want to do. I often trade the same company multiple times a day, often when the swing in stock price is only tenths of a percent (I'm retired and have plenty of free time many days so it is a bit like playing a first person shooter except with more on the line).

Come tax time,,, If someone does his own taxes and uses Turbotax/HRblock, etc does a day trader have to list the hundreds of trades separately?? Or does the brokerage/Robin Hood send the day trader one comprehensive list of trades made in the past year for tax purposes. And this is entered once? How does that work?

Quote
3d

Quote
Speedy
I use it for day trading (I think there is a significant balance required for instant settlement) which is probably what your son will want to do. I often trade the same company multiple times a day, often when the swing in stock price is only tenths of a percent (I'm retired and have plenty of free time many days so it is a bit like playing a first person shooter except with more on the line).

Come tax time,,, If someone does his own taxes and uses Turbotax/HRblock, etc does a day trader have to list the hundreds of trades separately?? Or does the brokerage/Robin Hood send the day trader one comprehensive list of trades made in the past year for tax purposes. And this is entered once? How does that work?

I don't know, this light day trading is something new for me this year. Previously I just bought and/or sold every few months and I got pages and pages of stuff, all I printed for my tax preparer without paying much attention to it.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

when I posted in 2014 about robinhood, many of you were skeptical

[forums.macresource.com]

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space-time
when I posted in 2014 about robinhood, many of you were skeptical

[forums.macresource.com]

Point taken. Seems like they now have been around long enough to warrant a second look.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.