Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Getting to a place where you’re financially secure is up to you. Ideally, you should have an emergency fund that would sustain you over a prolonged period of unemployment. The bare minimum is three months. Six months is better, and a full year should cover you in most non-catastrophic scenarios. Then there’s your nest egg – the retirement accounts that will hopefully enable you to comfortably retire someday.
But saving is not easy. Human nature makes us want to consume, to buy, to raise our standard of living as much as we can and to surround ourselves with nice things. When things are going well, it’s difficult to imagine that things could go wrong. I do believe that saving for a rainy day, while smart and prudent, often goes against human nature.
But there ARE ways to essentially trick ourselves into saving more. Here are a few. [ continue reading… ]
TradeKing seems like an amazing brokerage firm so I was excited before I even reviewed them. What I found didn’t disappoint, as TradeKing focuses on customer’s needs from the beginning of the company’s inception. Let me walk you through why I recommend this broker as your trading platform of choice in this review.
There are a few areas that I am particularly interested in when I look at a stock broker. They are:
Solid Technologies – A website that doesn’t go down, responsive service etc. If I cannot exit my positions when the market is crashing because most people are logged on, then I will stay away even if the company offers me money every time I trade.
User Interface – Functions and prompts should make sense and the the flow should make sense from one page to the next
Inexpensive trades – Stocks, options, and ETFs are what I normally trade so I’m most interested in these.
Fast Execution and Routing – The stock broker needs to try hard to obtain shares at the price I want.
Research Tools – This is nice but it’s not crucial since I can get it everywhere else online.
Extras – Low margin rates for the few times that I use it, or whether they offer anything else that the competition don’t etc
Now let’s see how TradeKing performs in these areas.
Solid Technology
Unlike some of its competition, a quick search online doesn’t reveal any outage issues for TradeKing (a very good sign). Also, jumping from page to page doesn’t seem to take forever to load, even when there’s a big announcement in the market (usually a time when online stock brokers start to become less responsive due to heavy load). This is obviously a never ending test as I continue to work with this broker but so far so good.
User Interface
I started trading stocks with Etrade Financial and I was spoiled with its user interface. I thought that every company’s interface would be comparable and made just as much sense but boy was I wrong. Luckily, TradeKing offers a solid platform for my trading needs. For example: The share price of a stock would conveniently show up on the screen after I type in the symbol (you’d be surprised that many brokers don’t do this). On the same screen, I can get a snapshot of all the essential facts about the company as well as trade the stock, see all the options chains, insider activity and advanced chart with another click of the mouse.
Inexpensive Trades
TradeKing is hard to beat when it comes to stock trade pricing. At $4.95 per trade, it is easily one of the lowest in the industry and the price stays the same whether you trade once a year or more than once every day. The straightforward pricing extends further because you can trade through the phone (known as broker-assisted trades) for the same low price of $4.95. I imagine most people can make trades online by themselves but it is great to know that the option is there just in case, like times when your computer is down but need access to the market.
As for options trading, the prices are or $4.95 per trade + $0.65 per contract. Not as straight forward as pricing on stock trades, so keep that in mind when you are trying to calculate your break even points.
Fast Execution and Smart Routing
Any stock broker has an obligation to execute customer orders at the best price available and TradeKing takes this a step further to offer best execution. In their eyes, best execution includes speed of transaction, execution price, price improvement opportunities and liquidity. In fact, if the broker is unable to obtain the best price available, your trade is free.
Research Tools
I’m slowly falling in love with the stock screener that TradeKing provides. I like the fact that it has tons of filters and that I can actually save the criteria so I don’t have to hand pick them every single time I want to use it. The technicals of a stock is so important for short term trading and TradeKing offers free technical analysis with every account. Even though studying the charts thoroughly is highly recommended, I like the quick summary that tells you whether the analysis signal a bullish or bearish tone. Among other tools, TradeKing also offers live webinars for us to attend, an options playbook (the most comprehensive guide on options I’ve read), and a forum for traders to talk about the market and different strategies.
An Update on the Webinars: Being an account owner of many stock brokers, I receive different invitations to webinars hosted by Etrade, TD Ameritrade, TradeKing, OptionsXpress among others. What I noticed was that TradeKing hosts many more webinars than others, and they make it available to everyone no matter how much assets you have (alternatively, Etrade and I believe TD Ameritrade seems to offer more services to people with more assets).
TradeKing Maxit Tax Manager
I used to hate doing taxes because the amount of trades, dividends and re-investments made the schedule D next to impossible to create. As a result, I used to pay about $80 a year for a service to have my trades automatically uploaded and organized. When I found out that TradeKing has a similar service built into their platform, I wanted to check it out.
Powered by Scivantage Maxit, the system will:
Track the cost basis of all securities and transactions real time
Adjust for mergers, splits and spin offs automatically
Automatically handle wash sales
Unrealized and realized gains and losses information are available at a touch of a button
Generate a schedule D automatically
Best of all, it came with the account for free. No more importing and exporting and a savings of at least $80.
Customer Service and Awards
It’s comforting to know that TradeKing is known in the industry for its awesome customer support. In fact, the company has won many awards including the “Best Customer Service”, “Best for Option Traders” and “Best for Long-Term Investing” according to Barron’s and Smart Money.
A nice little feature I really like about the broker is the live chat feature. Instead of picking up the phone, I can launch live chat in a small window and just type my question. This instant messenger type system is efficient, natural for me and I can often get my questions answered within minutes. Thank you TradeKing, because I no longer need to press “0” as fast as I can in an attempt to get to a representative after I call the 1-800 number.
Extras
TradeKing’s margin rates are consistently among the lowest in the industry. Also, they are currently offering to reimburse up to $150 in transfer fee for you to switch over to them. With all that the stock broker has to offer, it can be tempting to take the plunge. However, deciding on the stock broker you stick with is an important choice, so remember to open an account and make sure you are comfortable with everything the broker does and doesn’t offer before making the switch.
When you find someone special who you want to spend your life with, your first thought probably does not involve the state of that person’s finances. That’s perfectly fine — love shouldn’t be about money. But if you reach the point where you’re going to be combining finances (whether you’re getting married, jointly signing a lease or some other situation), it’s a good idea to sit down and have a heart-to-heart about both of your finances. Very few people have an absolutely clean financial track record and that’s okay, but neither you nor your partner want to deal with nasty surprises after the fact. Asking the right questions — and making sure both of you answer them fully — is the easiest way to avoid such situations. Here are five such questions to get you started on this conversation. [ continue reading… ]
Having friends and family visit from out of town is a joy, but the costs can add up quick. Between having more mouths to feed and the costs of visiting local attractions and taking time off work, you can find yourself going far beyond your normal budget.
But with a little advance planning, you can keep costs under control and enjoy your guests. Instead of worrying about your bank balance, you can use that time to figure out when you should invite everybody again. Here are a few suggestions on how you can do just that. [ continue reading… ]
You can spend a fortune on cologne/perfume if you aren’t careful, and frankly, it just isn’t worth it. People get very attached to a particular scent – and that’s fine – but that isn’t a good way to save. Having a few different scents in your palate will increase your chances of finding what you want without spending too much. In addition, looking off the beaten path can help too. [ continue reading… ]
Our very own Tracy recently said, in a Facebook status, “Just realized I am making more freelancing part time than I did at my last full time job. Kind of neat.”
I loved that status, because my own experience has been similar. Since starting my own business, I’ve been making more, and with far more flexibility and control. Another colleague/friend who took the plunge a couple of years ago, Kim, shares our experience. Her business is thriving, her expenses are kept to a minimum because she works from home, and she’s able to spend more time with her daughter.
Of course, working from home is not for everyone. If you’re a very social person who needs daily adult interaction, it will be tough on you. But to those who can manage the isolation, starting your own business and working from a home office offers plenty of advantages, including saving on commute and on work clothes, a low overhead (we don’t rent an office, don’t have employees to worry about) and – of course – plenty of flexibility. [ continue reading… ]
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Getting to a place where you’re financially secure is up to you. Ideally, you should have an emergency fund that would sustain you over a prolonged period of unemployment. The bare minimum is three months. Six months is better, and a full year should cover you in most non-catastrophic scenarios. Then there’s your nest egg – the retirement accounts that will hopefully enable you to comfortably retire someday.
On the same screen, I can get a snapshot of all the essential facts about the company as well as trade the stock, see all the options chains, insider activity and advanced chart with another click of the mouse.
The technicals of a stock is so important for short term trading and TradeKing offers free technical analysis with every account. Even though studying the charts thoroughly is highly recommended, I like the quick summary that tells you whether the analysis signal a bullish or bearish tone. Among other tools, TradeKing also offers live webinars for us to attend, an options playbook (the most comprehensive guide on options I’ve read), and a forum for traders to talk about the market and different strategies.
