Going from a good investor to a great investor means
grabbing great opportunitiesfaster than a speeding
bullet. Without one key resource in your investing toolbox,
however, you could miss out on the chance to become the
world's next great super-investor.
I'm not talking about a particular stock or group of
stocks. I'm not here to recommend a specific mutual fund or
exchange-traded fund (ETF), nor will you see me talk up
commodities or encourage you to trade in the
foreign exchange markets.
But what
isessential is the tool that will let you have
access to all of those investments and more when you need
them. That tool is a
discount brokerage account, and it's easier than ever to
find a brokerthat's the perfect fit for you.
How to live without a broker
It's true that you don't absolutely
haveto have a brokerage account in order to invest.
Even if you never work with a broker, there are thousands of
mutual funds you can buy directly from fund companies. Those
funds can open the door to every corner of the investing
world, and you can easily put together an investing strategy
that has a strong chance of helping you achieve all of your
financial goals. And they're very well-diversified, usually
holding anywhere from 20 to hundreds or even thousands of
different investments.
But if you want to invest in individual stocks, mutual
funds are certainly not the answer. However, you're still not
out of luck even if you don't have a broker. Through
direct stock purchase plans, you can buy shares of dozens
of stocks directly from the companies themselves. Many
companies let you buy shares without a huge initial
investment. For instance, one transfer agent offers direct
investment plans in the following stocks to investors, some
of which offer fairly reasonable minimum purchases:
Stock
Minimum Initial Purchase
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)
$250
Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP)
$1,000
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY)
$500
FedEx (NYSE: FDX)
$1,000
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)
$250
Oshkosh
$100 Continued... |