Online Investing for Beginner
Students and DIY Money Makers

Online investing for beginner students is made easy with the #1 educational resource on the web. You'll quickly learn about online trading, and how to make profitable investments from home.

On this page you'll find a basic introduction to the world of online investing. We'll answer all your beginner questions, such as "What is online trading?" and "How can I find an online broker?"

We'll also provide you with links to invaluable resources for more advanced learning. Keep reading to learn more about online trading, choosing a broker, and making your first profitable investment.

Introduction to Online Investing

The Internet has simplified many processes, including the buying and selling of stocks on stock exchanges. In the past, it was mostly brokers who could buy and sell shares of stock on stock exchanges for their clients. Now, anyone with an online brokerage account can trade securities.

So what are the benefits of online investing for beginner investors? They can be hard to identify if you don't have any offline experience for comparison.

According to investment expert Dan Fournier, there are two prominent benefits to online trading. Firstly, trading costs have dramatically dropped with the use of Electronic Trading Systems. Also, the system will provide instant results when a buyer drops their stock to meet your asking price.

Choosing an Online Broker

Before choosing your online broker, you'll need to decide if you prefer full-service brokers or discount online brokers. Below is a quick summary of each, to help you decide which is best for your needs:

Full-Service Brokers

As the name suggests, the full-service broker offers you more services than the discount kind. This includes advice, tips, and research, which is very beneficial if you're at the online investing for beginner level. However, these services come at a pretty penny, both for opening an account and making each trade.

Discount Brokers

Discount brokers are the more affordable option, but come with less support and advice as their full-service counterpart. However, there are many other online resources that offer information, advice, and support for beginner investors.

Fournier's Online Investment Guide

Whether you choose to work with full-service or discount brokers, you'll still need to broaden your knowledge before making an investment. We recommend Dan Fournier's investment guide, which devotes and entire chapter to online investing.

This invaluable resource will help you choose an online broker for your individual financial goals, established in Chapter 1 with a personalized self-assessment. You'll also find an online broker comparison based on annual online broker ratings to help you get started.

To learn more, simply visit the Ordering page on the left-hand menu. You can also continue to learn more about online investing for beginner students by following the links below.