Broker for Index Funds Question

[grtflone]

I'm thinking about investing a little of my Poker winnings, probably just in S&P Index Funds. Can anyone suggest a good brokerage. I don't want it to be an IRA account, I'd like access to the money if I want/need it.

Low minimum deposit, low commissions would of course be desired.

Suggestions? Thanks.

[midas]

I use Fidelity myself but I don't know if that's the cheaper the Scott or E-Trade. You should also look at MDY the mid-cap index.

[joshman1204]

checkout sharebuilder for cheap purchases of stock. If you use their scheduled purchase you can get them for $4.

[TGoldman]

Keep in mind that Sharebuilder is designed for investors with long term investment horizons. You can buy stocks and funds for only $4, but it will cost you at least $15.95 to redeem your shares. So if you plan on doing any selling along with your buying then you're better off using a regular discount broker like Scottrade. I use Sharebuilder for my index fund investing and I have been happy with them. I especially like that Sharebuilder allows me to buy partial shares so I can be sure all of my money is being put to use.

[grtflone]

I just checked out the Sharebuilder site. I like it. The 15 dollars to sell is not a big deal to me...my horizons are long term. If I did sell something it would be like once a year or some such thing.

[joshman1204]

If you are doing strictly index funds then I think sharebuilder is the way to go due to the very low commisions and also the lack of inactivity fees. Also as mentioned above the ability to buy partial shares really helps when it comes to buying index funds.

[Ray Zee]

look into a full brokerage like fidelity or vangaurd. they have much more to offer and are around to answer the phone like the others didnt during the last big crash.
open an ira it is stupid not to. learn about that stuff, its important to compound your money. the soup line is long at the old folks home.

[alekhine8]

What about something like MBTrading.com?