Finding a Good Broker

So now that you have the cash saved up to start investing you need to figure out who your going to use to get it into the market, and to do that you need a broker.

Brokers are very important things, and need to be selected taking your time and with some thought.

When I looked at brokers I classified them into three different sections:

-High Cost (higher fees, most of the time they are more "seniored", they are the oldies at doing it)
-Middle Cost (higher start up costs, minimum account money requirements...)
-Low Cost (these brokers are new at it, normally have no account minimums, maybe not the best platforms etc)

Now, let's explain these one by one....

High Cost Broker

This type of broker has higher costs to invest, but normally they have better resources and have more "ease of use". These brokers have also been out there a long time, normally they won't have the technical "difficulties" or the horrible customer service. These could be brokers such as "Scottrade", "T. Rowe Price", "eTrade",and "Ameritrade".

Middle Cost Brokers

This type of broker is normally the one right in the middle. They don't have real high fees, but they might have some account minimums and "opening" costs.
Some examples: "ShareBuilder", and "Options House".

Low Cost or "Best Value" Brokers

These kinds of brokers are newer to the "marketplace" of brokers, have low fees, possibly not the best platforms, but they work and have the bare minimums.
These might be: "Zecco", and a few others that you might find, there are not many of these.

What I Think....

Here are a few things I would recommend...

-If you are just starting out go with someone like "Sharebuilder", I had an account with them for a year or so while starting out, they offer cheap enough trades, have great customer support for people with "questions' and they have great support forums etc. so you don't need to feel dumb if asking one of those "should be obvious" questions...

-If you are someone who has been doing this for a while but needs a good inexpensive but still competent way of trading try "Zecco". These people are very professional, have tons of options, and their site by my opinion is one of the best out there. It is superbly fast and easy enough to use.
They also have 3 ways to get customer support, Live chat, Call, or email. There is an interesting "social" side of the site, which allows you the investor to speak with other investors, ask questions and see what other people are investing in.

Overall I would recommend Zecco, they also give out free trades!!!