Preferred brokerage firm for investing

E Double U · January 2021

At 40 I feel I am a bit late to the game, but just opened my first brokerage account. Due to limitations as an American citizen that no longer has a US-based address I went with E*Trade. The others I checked with don't allow it (Robin Hood, Fidelity, TDAmeritrade, T Rowe Price, Wells Fargo).

If there are any investors here, I am curious to hear about which platform you chose and why. I would really love to hear from people that have experience with E*Trade.

P.S. I know this site is exam focused, but I just wanted a break from the tech talk :-)

JDMurray · January 2021

E Double U said:

... as an American citizen that no longer has a US-based address ...

I would think the larger brokers have the ability to verify your US Citizenship and be good with no US snailing address but still having a US bank account attached to the brokerage account.

Then again, isn't there a service that can provide ex-pats a US-based POB address and forward their snail overseas or just scan the paper and email it to you? If not, I'm smelling a business opportunity here!

E Double U · January 2021

From the list that I looked into including all the ones that told me no, only E*Trade and Charles Schwab allow it. Between those two I went with E*Trade because there is no minimum investment. What Schwab demands is above my risk appetite as a beginner.

I didn't see a need to explore that service, but it indeed does sound like a good business opportunity. Step into my office :-)

Preferred brokerage firm for investing

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