February 5, 2008


IT'S SUPER TUESDAY - PLEASE VOTE!!!

BROKERAGE FIRMS
Unedited


Last summer I met a woman who was wonderful. She was a financial advisor for a major financial firm. I signed up because I liked her, forgetting that she worked for a company. Sitting down to sign papers, I was irritated by the constant mention of insurance and for an extra $50 you can receive...and if you give me the names and the phones numbers of others then...I wanted to lay out a plan for my finances that would help me save for retirement while getting out of debt. Why does insurance and references keep coming up after I already said what I was there to do? I still really liked her but by the third meeting I finally had to admit that I had made a mistake. This person was not working for me, she was working for a company and as an agent she had certain quotas that she needed to meet. Unfortunetely those quotas were not my priority but of course I liked her so there I was signing up for insurance but I put my foot down on giving out my friends phone numbers.

Trusting her, I blindly signed up for my Roth account. There was no minimum which was my priority at the time. However, I later learned that they deduct a certain amount of money per quarter from what was in my account. That was never mentioned of course. I had already paid my money for the year, I already had my leather bound binder with 150 sheets of computer generated analysis and when I was scheduled to go in for my next appointment, to add more insult to injury, I learned that she had left the company three months before. But I thought she was my personal advisor? Of course, I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. But at least since she was no longer there, I can leave this company especially now that I know I can have my account for free. Oh by the way there is a $75 penalty for transferring your money out of the account. What?! So there I remain.


The table below sums up the resources that matched with the books I've read or my conversations with other financial planners that I've spoken to as the TOP DISCOUNT BROKERS

BROKER WEBSITE ACCT. MIN.
Charles Schwab www.schwab.com $1,000
Fidelity www.fidelty.com $2,500
Muriel Siebert www.siebertnet.com none
Scottrade www.scottrade.com $500
Sharebuilder www.sharebuilder.com none
TD Ameritrade www.tdameritrade.com none

Adapted from Black Enterprise February 2008 issue pg. 36
Note: If you're interested in the places that have minimums listed, call them because in some cases they waive the minimum if you set up automatic deposits.

Definition of Brokerage Firm - a firm engaged in buying and selling stocks and bonds for clients
The American Heritage Dictionary

On this Super Tuesday I'm going share another faux pas. I always thought brokerage firms were only if you were a stock broker doing trades in the stock market. Yes, I know. But in case I'm not the only one, I want to share that, this isn't the case. They have CD's, Roth Accounts, Mutual Funds, checking accounts that charge less then the fees of the banks in many cases. In the event that you decide you want to enter the stock market you pay them an amount per trade. You can use the accounts that you have opened with them as your source of financing the trade or not. They have the right to broker but that is not all that they do.

We are living in a very important time in our history, there is no time like the present for putting your finances in order! I hope me sharing my faux pas can help you make better choices!



RESOURCES:
1. On My Own Two Feet by Manisha Thakor & Sharon Kedar
2. Go to www.sterlingchoices.net and join Jaquette Timmons mailing list so you can be apart of her wonderful 3 part teleseminar series in February and March:
Making Credit Work for You
The Best of Both Worlds-Be A Passive and Active Investor
Right Mind, Right Behavior, Right Results.
PLEASE JOIN HER MAILING LIST TODAY!


PLAN OF ACTION:
1. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! Polls are open from 6am to 8pm. Make the time!
2. If you don't have an account, start with the ones in the table above and choose the one that best meets your needs. Don't forget to actually make a deposit.
3. If you have an account, how long as it been since you checked its status? Is it doing what you want it to do? If not, what are your options? What action will you take this week?

Please share your brokerage firm tales - good, bad and inbetween at emotionalmoney@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.




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