Investment Platforms

There are two types of Investment Platforms I use:

1) Online Brokerage (For picking individual stocks)

2) Automatic Investment Platforms (Where I essentially pay a company to invest on my behalf)

Breaking Down Path 1: Online Brokerages

• Pros:
  • Higher potential gains because you might be able to find the next Amazon.
  • If you purchased $2,000 of Amazon stock 20 years ago, you’d be sitting on about $2,000,000 in Amazon stock (as of April-2018). That’s a return of over 57,000%!!!
  • You get your own freedom to pick investments and follow trends
  • Higher rewards + higher risk
• Cons:
  • Higher rewards = High risk.
  • You will have to do a lot more work and research for making your own investment decisions.
  • You could lose a lot of money at first. A lot more stressful too! 

Before everything became digitized and easily accessible online, individuals would have to go to either the bank or call a stockbroker to make investments for them. Now we can all just easily do it with online platforms. Although there are many pros to making your own investments and stock picks, it does take a lot more effort. Research, analysis, and timing are all crucial if you want to make good returns in the stock market. But who knows, you might become the next Warren Buffet.

Platforms

ETrade 

• I personally use ETrade. I pay $5 per trade (buy & sell), so $10 in total if I want to lock in the profits from a stock. Fees suck, but ETrade is the first American online brokerage I could sign up for as a Canadian. They do offer many resources and trading options. However, if you are American, I recommend you use Robinhood

Robinhood (American citizens only)

• I wholeheartedly think that Robinhood is easily one of the best platforms out there. Robinhood is an app. You can easily invest in stocks right on your smartphone. It’s super easy to navigate and has a great UI/UX. Best of all? THERE ARE NO COMMISSIONS. Yes, free trades for days. (The only reason I don’t use Robinhood is that it is only open to American citizens right now. Will be watching out for Canadian release).
• Use this Robinhood referral link and when you sign up, you’ll receive a FREE random stock. Could be worth $5, but it could also be an Apple stock worth $200. 

Quest Trade Brokerage (Canadians)

• This is one of the best Canadian online brokerages.

Make sure to check out the DTF stocks page where I discuss companies that I think have great potential and personally invest in.

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Breaking down Path 2: Automatic Investment Portfolios

This is pretty straightforward. As I mentioned, you sign up on a platform, and you pay other people to essentially buy stocks for you. 

• Pros:
  • Passive & automatic; you don’t do much work as you are paying for someone else to invest for you.
  • Other people essentially create wealth for you.
  • Simple, easy to set-and-forget. It’s a no-brainer!
• Cons:
  • Over the long term, you can be paying large % in fees for these platforms to manage your money.
  • Less potential for massive profits, as these managers generally look at safer, well-established companies.
  • No freedom to pick your own investments. What if you found the next Apple and want to invest?

Platforms

Acorns (For Americans. Is an APP)

• Acorns is an AUTOMATIC investment portfolio app that you can access right on your phone! Basically, Acorns will do all the investing for you, and you just sit back and watch your wealth increase. I personally think Acorns is one of the best automatic investment portfolio apps available because of how simple it is to use.
• Use this REFERRAL LINK (my referral) and we both get a free $5 to our investments.

Mylo (For Canadians. Is an APP)

• Mylo is the Canadian version to Acorns. Check it out! What’s great is that they automatically can round up your transactions and purchases with your credit/debit card, so you’ll be saving money and investing spare change without even knowing it!
• Use this REFERRAL LINK (my referral) and we both get a free $5 to our investments.

WealthSimple (Available both for Americans & Canadians. App and Website.)

• WealthSimple has a bit more features and is a great company. You have the option to choose socially responsible investments (SRI), and tax-advantaged accounts (RRSP, and ROTH IRA) and has a great customer service.
• Use this referral link to get $10,000 managed for free for a year.

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Other DTF Articles:

• Down to Finance Investing Page
  
• Down to FInance Stocks Page
• Why I am ALL-IN in Amazon
• How to Invest in Fortnite (And why you SHOULD!)
• iQiyi: The Netflix of China

WTF Explanation Series:

• WTF is Compound Interest?
• WTF is an ETF?

If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out. I will gladly help you with any concerns, and we can hop on a call/chat if you want.

Email me: downtofinanceDTF@gmail.com

Follow me on social media! Instagram: @DowntoFinance

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Disclaimer:

I am not a professional financial advisor or planner as much as I’d like to be. All thoughts on the DTF Website are strictly my opinions unless otherwise stated. I understand there may be errors in my writing. My articles are not meant to be offered as professional advice, as I am currently learning a lot about finance myself. Please always do your own research and due diligence when it comes to financial decisions. Money is very important! I may own some stocks discussed in this article.

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