The information you’ll need

To set up a brokerage account, you will need certain personal information like your name, address, and date of birth. Brokers are required to gather more information due to regulation. It’s important to research the type of brokerage you want as some offer different fee structures or services.

To set up an account, you’ll need personal information, answer questions about employment status and investing experience, and provide documentation to prove your identity. International investors need to complete the W-8BEN form to calculate taxes.

Selecting a broker

In simple terms, you want the cheapest, fastest, and most trustworthy broker available.

Consider trading fees, commissions, spreads, financing rates, currency conversion, and non-trading fees when selecting a broker.

Features and services, such as trading platforms, education, research tools, and customer support, should also be taken into consideration. Once you have your brokerage account set up you are ready to begin investing!

Our Recommended Brokers

In order to pick the right broker, you need to know what you are looking for. For example, if you are actively investing everyday than a broker like E-Trade or TD Ameritrade would be right your alley.

However, if you are just creating a brokerage account to buy a few of the large indexes then Fidelity could be a nice, low-cost broker for your needs. From my years of experience, the following brokers are the best all-around picks that will cover the needs of almost any type of investor.

  1. TD Ameritrade
  2. E-Trade
  3. Fidelity
  4. Interactive Brokers