LY Med's video: What s The Best Online Broker Investing Rx Ep 4

This video is all about taxable accounts! That's opening an account with a brokerage or online broker and investing. Now disclaimer: I'm not a financial advisor. This is for entertainment purposes and please do your own research and make your own decisions. But after you've invested in your tax advantaged accounts like your 401k, IRA, and HSA, then you may want to open up a separate taxable account. There are many choices out there. Robinhood and M1 Finance are some of the most popular ones, particularly with new investors. However, they offer their pros and cons. Robinhood was one of the first free brokers has had it's share of backlash over outages. M1 Finance offers fractional shares, but a can have a difficult interface and offers a limited assortment of stocks and a limited trading window. However, the main point is to choose a broker that allows you to buy and trade for free. Here's a list of some: https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/investing/online-brokers-for-stock-trading Now that you've opened an account, what do you invest in? Well it depends on your timeframe and risk tolerance. You can invest in cash equivalents like CDs, money market accounts and putting money in high yield saving accounts (high APY). Another popular investment is in bonds. This is where you lend your money to the government or a company. This can range from safe to risky (junk bonds) but overall bonds give a stable and consistent fixed income. And then there are stocks: Whether you invest in individual stocks or funds, please understand what you're investing in. There is a great variety here - international, large cap (blue chip stocks), mid cap, small cap, growth, value stocks, etc. You also have the choice of active and passive fund investing. Generally you want to avoid funds with high expense ratios. One of my favorite investments is REITS. This is investing in a company that manages real estate and mortgages. Of note, REITS have high dividends so its advisable to place this in a tax advantaged account. Commodities - will discuss in a future video. Now actually making your portfolio is actually something very personal and traditionally based on risk tolerance. However, I believe it has more to do with timeframe and other factors. The sooner you need the money or the more you can't tolerate volatile swings, the more bonds you should have in your investment. Joseph Carlson on Youtube also did a great video on the discussion of portfolio allocation and risks! Have a look and thanks for watching.