Please recommend an on-line trading account for a teen

[3kids4me]

My son (a high school junior) is interested in trading some stocks. I'd like to open an account for him with a small amount of money that he can use to trade online.

Is anyone aware of an online company with no fees and a low trading commission that you would recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Jbart74]

Check out Zecco.com. No fees, 4$/Trade, I think.

 

[3kids4me]

Thanks...Zecco won't let you set up an account for a minor though. I'd rather put it under his name for tax purposes.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Sharon,

The only other free online trade sites that I'm aware of are at Bank America and Wells Fargo. However, they both require $25,000 deposits. Zecco as you know is $2500.

Richard

 

[ricoba]

Sharebuilder.com

 

[Nobylspoon]

Sharon,

The only other free online trade sites that I'm aware of are at Bank America and Wells Fargo. However, they both require $25,000 deposits. Zecco as you know is $2500.

Richard

Zecco doesnt require the $2500 deposit but if you do have that then you get 10 free trades a month. There is no minimum deposit with them, however if you are under $2500 then your trades are $4.50.

 

[BocaBum99]

Try any of these

 

[3kids4me]

Boca...yeah, he might be better off with those at this point!

Sharebuilder did the trick. I was able to set up an UGMA brokerage account. I could have actually done the same thing with our brokerage company; however, he would have had access to all of our accounts which I didn't think was such a good idea. (Since I don't have a personal account with Sharebuilder, he can just use my ID to access his account, but if I did, he would be able to see my account details as well.)

 

[MULTIZ321]

Nobylspoon,

Thanks for clarifying. The operative word was free and I just mentioned the amount you needed to get 10 free trades a month with Zecco.

Boca - I had a good laugh

Sharon - have your son check out companies that are still paying dividends.
Some dividend payments are in the 7% to 9% range and the underlying stock prices are at bargain levels.

Richard

 

[northwoodsgal]

This is a little off the thread but I just opened up Teenage Checking accounts at Wells Fargo for our daughters, ages 14 and 16. They have free checking, an ATM card (with a daily limit you can decide for yourself), and can put money in to CD's in increments of $100.

So far it's been a great way for our girls to learn more about handling money. Yesterday morning I got a call from our 16 year old while she was trying to check out of Shopko - she couldn't remember her PIN number. Good lesson right there!