Start No Minimum Investment Accounts

No-minimum investment accounts are offered by brokerage companies and a number of banks. These accounts can be opened online. This type of account is especially useful to self-directed investors who want to monitor their investments personally or those new to the stock market.

Instructions

1. Step1

   Have a checking account. Eventually, funds will be transferred from your checking account to cover your stock trades.

2. Step2

   Decide on the brokerage company you want to go with. It is now very easy to open a brokerage account online, and there are many discount brokerage firms online (see Resources below). Research the various brokerage firms, because not all offer no-minimum investment accounts. Some do, but with restrictions.
   Sharebuilder has no-minimum investment accounts and allows you to buy shares in fractions based on a fixed amount invested periodically. Charles Schwab's Schwab One brokerage account has no-minimums - you can open with zero - but requires that you automatically invest $100 a month. Banc of America, the investment arm of the bank, also has a no-minimum self-directed investment account.

3. Step3

   Open an investment or brokerage account. Once you have decided on which firm you want to go with, just open an account. You can easily do this online. Some firms may require that you fax in an application.

4. Step4

   Link your checking account to your investment account to fund your stock, mutual funds, ETF or bond purchases.

5. Step5

   Make it automatic. One of the best ways to invest with no hassles is to make it automatic. By linking your checking account, you can have a set amount transferred to your investment account every month to fund the purchases of carefully selected stocks. Some of the brokerage firms offer a discount for investing automatically.