The Smallest Amount of Money Required to Buy Shares

From planning for retirement to preparing for a child’s education, a number of reasons may make moms want to buy shares or look into investing. With many companies offering online trading, you can often buy shares at less expense than you could if you worked with a stock broker. How little money each share costs depends on the company you decide to use for your trades.

ShareBuilder Securities Corporation

ShareBuilder Securities Corporation is an online subsidiary of ING Bank. It offers shares for as low as $4 per share under certain promotional offers. To qualify for the lowest price, expect to make an initial account deposit. In April 2010, the minimum amount to open an account was $50. To qualify for $4 shares, you also need to enroll in automatic investing. Once enrolled, you can buy shares for less when you sign up for standard enrollment, which provides six investments per month at $2 per share. Advantage enrollment gives you 20 investments per month at $1 per share.

As an online stock broker, ShareBuilder allows you to control your investing, making it an execution-only service. That means the company doesn’t offer consultants, advisers or stock broker representatives, but it does offer online resources to help you find the best accounts for your investing goals.

ShareBuilder Securities Corporation
83 South King Street
Suite 700
Seattle, WA 98104
866-590-7629
sharebuilder.com

Scottrade

Scottrade is another leading online brokerage firm offering a variety of investing options. It offers shares for as low as $7 per share for stocks with a value over $1. The price remains the same regardless of how often you make new investments or the balance of your account. In order to get started with Scottrade, you’ll need to set up an account with a minimum deposit of $500.

In addition to its online presence, Scottrade hosts more than 400 branches across the United States, providing local access to the company for individuals who prefer to work face to face with a person. The company website allows you to make your investments, while you can find brokers at the local branches. Broker assisted stocks will cost more than online trades.

Scottrade
12800 Corporate Hill Drive
St. Louis, MO 63131
314-965-1555
scottrade.com

E*Trade

Rated by “The Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money Magazine” as the top online broker for 2007, 2008 and 2009, E*Trade offers a variety of resources to investors, including trading tools and industry research. In April 2010, E*trade advertised shares for $9.99 or less. If you make more than 150 trades per quarter, you qualify to buy shares at $7.99. If you work with a broker, the share price increases by $45. Opening an account requires a minimum deposit of $500.

E*Trade
P.O. Box 1542
Merrifield VA 22116-1542
800-387-2331
us.etrade.com

Computershare

With Computershare, you can purchase directly from companies by investing into a Dividend Retirement Plan (DRP) or a Direct Purchase Plan (DPP), which allows you to invest in stock for a small amount of money per share. To join the plan, you’ll need to own at least one stock in the company for which you want to invest. With these plans, stocks can range from $10 per share to more than $100. Plans can also charge a variety of fees, depending on the structure of the plan. For example, you may need to pay an initial set-up fee, a cash purchase fee, batch sale fee and an ongoing automatic investment fee. In some cases, you may need to work with a transfer agent to first secure stock in the company.

Computershare Investor Services
P.O. Box 43078
Providence, RI 02940-3078
866-897-1805
computershare.com