I always thought brokerages were just for rich people until I opened a Schwab account with $500 last month

I set up a simple index fund through their robo-advisor and the fees are like 0.08% compared to the 1.2% my bank was charging on their managed fund, so why wouldn't anyone with a few hundred bucks do this instead of a savings account?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_coleman14d ago

Aw man, I was one of those guys who thought you needed a pile of cash to even talk to a brokerage. Used to keep everything in a savings account earning next to nothing, figured investing was like gambling for regular folks. Then a buddy of mine showed me his Schwab account with like $200 in it and the fees were practically nothing. I opened one with $400 a few months back and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. It's wild how much we get conditioned to think this stuff is only for people with a ton of money.

emma_burns9614d ago

Definitely jumped on the same bandwagon last year with just $300 in a Fidelity account. Their zero fee index fund literally costs me nothing and I'm up like 12% so far which beats my savings account's 0.5% by a mile. I was nervous about picking investments myself but their robo advisor basically just asked me a few questions and set everything up automatically. The difference in fees is honestly insane when you look at what banks push on people who don't know any better. I tell everyone I know to just throw $100 at an index fund instead of letting it rot in a checking account.