Disclosure: This article is written for entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as financial or any other type of professional advice.
If you understand the concept of index fund investing or just want to buy shares of your favorite company, you may be ready to invest but unsure about the mechanics of getting started. Learn the steps of this process.
Get Ready to Invest
Here are steps to consider:
Make sure you have money to invest
Verify you have money in a bank account or a steady source of income that gives you extra cash each month. And, confirm you won’t need your savings or extra income to pay bills. Consider using this financial checklist before you get started.
Ideally, you’ll have enough to open an account with a brokerage firm and invest on a regular basis. You could certainly find a way to invest, for example, $100 on a one-time basis. But you’ll be more likely to build wealth if you can invest on a regular basis. Ideally, you’ll buy shares of a mutual fund, ETF, or favorite stock at scheduled times throughout the year. Brokerage account minimums are often zero. Monthly investments can run you as little as $25 and even less.
Figure out what type of account you want to open
When you complete a brokerage account application, typically you’ll need to choose the type of account you want to open. Generally, if investing for your own future, you’ll open either:
- a regular brokerage account (taxable, when you sell investments or receive dividends); or
- an IRA (tax-advantaged with taxes occurring upon withdrawal of funds).
What I love about regular taxable accounts are their few restrictions. You can put money in and take it out without researching IRS regulations. Unlike IRAs, these regular accounts don’t require achieving a certain amount of earned income or keeping your income below a certain threshold. You can put as much or as little in the account as you want, depending on the minimums established by the brokerage firm. When your investments are held inside taxable accounts, you’ll pay taxes on any dividends, mutual fund distributions, and capital gains that may occur each year.
In regard to an IRA, there are two kinds: Traditional and Roth. Generally, investors must have earned income to contribute to either of these accounts. Further, there are eligibility restrictions, contribution caps, other rules, etc. for the Traditional IRA and the Roth IRA. Compared to a regular brokerage account, the advantage of the IRA is that investments held inside of these accounts grow tax-free. That is, when you sell a $1,000 investment for $2,000, you don’t owe any income tax on this capital gain in the year it occurs. On the other hand, you can’t deduct capital losses. Plus, while you may get a tax break when you contribute to a traditional IRA, you’ll pay ordinary income taxes when you withdraw money in retirement.
Because of a couple of cool benefits, many people put money in a Roth IRA if they’re eligible and can afford to contribute. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to withdraw your contributions from the Roth IRA without tax consequences. When you retire, you can take qualified distributions free of income taxes.
Select an online brokerage firm
There are a lot of great online brokerage firms from which to choose. For example, you might open an account with E*Trade, Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, or upstart Webull. Those firms allow you to invest in a variety of stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs for free with no minimum.
As an aside, you could open an investment account with a company that is not a discount, online brokerage firm. You could invest with the investment arm of your bank. For example, if you have a checking account with Wells Fargo, then you might open an investment account with WellsTrade.
You might also consider newer, innovative firms such as Betterment, each with unique advantages and drawbacks.
At Betterment, you choose a type of account and set a financial goal. The firm makes a recommendation in the form of a selection of ETFs for a diversified portfolio; you can accept or modify the recommendation to be more conservative or aggressive. In general, account funding is similar to these firms. However, depending on how you set up your accounts, Betterment is designed to immediately purchase shares. Most firms require you to fund your account and then initiate a purchase of a specific investment in a separate action.
Choose investments for your account
If you are a beginning or passive investor, you might consider buying index funds. Your choices include low-cost index mutual funds or index ETFs.
Most brokerage firms help you find index funds among mutual funds and ETFs using screening tools. When using these tools and making a selection, consider checking annual expense ratios (these should be low, such as under 0.25% or much less) and fund management style (the style should be passive for true index funds), and compare actual performance with market indexes (these should be similar) to be sure you are truly getting an index fund. Also, you need to decide what index you want to track, such as the S&P 500 or Russell 3000.
Brokerage firms (and banks) often develop and sell their own brand of index funds. So, you might buy Fidelity funds from Fidelity, Schwab funds from Schwab, Vanguard funds from Vanguard, etc. This approach is often the simplest and most cost-effective.
Fund the investment account
After you confirm you have money available to invest, choose a brokerage firm, and open a brokerage account, the next big step is funding the investment account. Here’s what to do:
- Decide what checking or savings account will serve as the account to which you transfer funds to and from the brokerage account
- Get your bank’s routing number and the number of your checking or savings account
- Make sure you have online access to your banking information, such as bank balances, deposits, and withdrawals
- Establish a link between your brokerage account and your bank account
- Initiate a transfer from your bank to the brokerage firm to fund your account
Note that #4 is typically the most involved. Launch this process within the brokerage account’s dashboard. Look for “move money,” “transfer money,” or “enroll account.” Respond to prompts that involve entering your bank’s routing number and your bank account number. Then, check your bank account online to find the trial deposits made by your brokerage firm (usually, these numbers will be something like $0.22 or $0.34). Next, enter the trial deposits on the broker’s website to verify a) you are the owner of the bank account and b) you authorize transactions between the brokerage and bank accounts.
Hopefully, setting up the link to facilitate an ACH transfer (not a wire transfer) between the bank and brokerage firm will be easy. But if you have problems, call a customer service representative to help you deal with the problem.
Buy investments
The next step is to decide what you want to buy. Then be sure you have the funds to cover the purchase of your selected investment. If you choose a mutual fund, you’ll need to make sure you have enough money to make an initial investment plus any transaction charges. If you choose a stock or ETF, you’ll need to have enough money to purchase one share plus any transaction charges (though this amount is typically $0).
To execute the transaction, find the mutual fund or ETF listing (such as SWPPX for Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund) and follow the prompts. Typically, you’ll click on “buy” or “trade,” enter the amount you want to buy (a dollar amount or number of shares), and then confirm the order. An order may be filled immediately, when it fits within limit prices or other parameters, or at a specific time, such as the close of the trading day.
That’s it! I’ve gone into detail for those who want to know the finer points of getting started in investing. After you’ve opened an account and set up the banking connection, buying and selling shares is easy.
Do you find the process of getting started in investing easy?
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