How To Guide For: Understanding Brokerage Accounts --What You Need To Know To Open A Brokerage Accou

A brokerage account is an arrangement between an investor and a licensed brokerage firm that allows the investor to deposit funds with the firm and place investment orders through the brokerage. The investor owns the assets contained in the brokerage account and must usually claim as income any capital gains he incurs from the account. If you don't have a brokerage account and plan on opening one up you need to first know what your investment goals and needs are. Then once you can answer this you need to determine if you want a full service brokerage account or a discount brokerage account. A full service broker is a licensed financial broker-dealer firm that provides a large variety of services to its clients, including research and advice, retirement planning, tax tips, and much more. A full service brokerage firm can offer face-to-face interaction with their clients. Full service brokerage firms typically assign a single person to handle your account. Full service brokerage accounts have two types of fee structures, either on a commission or advisory fee basis. A discount brokerage account is great for people like me who have basic understanding of investing. Discount brokerage firms have lower costs. I use Fidelity, Scottrade and E*Trade because they all allow me to enter my own trades and put money into the accounts. A brokerage account is a good thing to have and the sooner you start the better. These are just some of the things you need to know when thinking about opening up a brokerage account. To get more in depth information about brokerage accounts and what you need to know to open one -- click on the pictures below to read the articles.