You’re super inspired and want to start investing ASAP, but if you’re underage, you might be unsure if you can start investing. I’m here to give you some good news! You can start investing at any age, as long as an adult (like your parent or legal guardian) opens a custodial account in your name. Your parent or guardian will not have legal ownership, but they will maintain the account for you and have control of the investment choices until you’re 18.
Here are some of the best online brokers for custodial accounts:
- Ally Bank:
- They have lower costs than most brokers. For example, stock and ETF trade fees are $4.95 per trade, with no account minimums. If your parent or legal guardian is picking the investments for you, there is no minimum opening balance. If you want your account to be professionally managed, where Ally’s technology will watch and automatically rebalance your account, there is a $100 minimum opening balance.
- Charles Schwab:
- They’re a good value option with no monthly fee, no minimum opening balance, and $0 online stock and ETF commissions.
After you open the custodial account, you can have the custodian of the account select the investments for you (for example, stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds). The sooner you get started, the more time you allow your money to grow. Plus, there are tax benefits. Your initial earnings of around $1,000 are considered tax-free. What are you waiting for to make some money?!