Choosing a Broker: 3rd Factor

• Experience: If you have been investing for years, and know the ropes pretty well, then a self service brokerage would be a better fit as you won’t need someone managing your account and explaining to you how certain investments work. Depending on how experienced you are, you could apply for Margin or Options trading (I will get into what these are later) to further expand your investment choices. If, however, you are new to investing, you may want to stick to a full service brokerage firm and let them manage your portfolio. This isn’t to say a novice investor can’t start off with a self service brokerage firm, but the2 previously mentioned factors should be taken into serious consideration before making such a decision. Many novice investors have their retirement money with a full service brokerage firm and keep their “play” money in a self service brokerage firm. This way they avoid the risk of losing their retirement money and only “play” with money they aren’t relying on for retirement. This could also be another form of spreading your risk.