Ask a Certified Financial Planner

[rstlne]

Originally Posted by rolltimer

I second the Scottrade recommendation. I have been using them for three years. Seven bucks a trade then and seven bucks today. I do most of my trading within my IRA so I don't worry about capital gains, how long to hold before I sell, and other tax implications.

I use Scottrade too for my Roth IRA. Of course, there are brokerages that transact in stocks at lower cost and there are other brokerages that have a broader selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, but Scottrade seems like a fair compromise if I want to hold both individual stocks and mutual funds in the same account. So far, it has worked pretty well.

[TexasOaks]

Originally Posted by kav122

I have two questions:

1. We are actively paying down debt right now, but we would like to throw a little something into a college fund for our son. What type of plan would you suggest and how do I get one? Go to the bank or do I go to a financial planner like yourself?

2. I hope the stock market doesn't go down too much, but in addition to my 401(k), I would like to buy some stocks if they are really cheap this year. How do I go about that? I have some ideas of what I am watching for, and it won't be any tons of cash, maybe a few hundred. I am also not looking to be a "day trader" or make a million, I just want to buy some shares and stash them away but I don't have the slightest on how/where to purchase a stock/bond.

Sorry, in advance if these questions are too simplistic for you and your readers, but I am a newbie to trading/investing.

And THANKS so much for doing this, even if you don't get to my questions!!! VERY generous of you!

Another option for the first question is to open up an Educations Savings Account or ESA. Here's a link:

http://www.hilliard.com/Marketing/Br...erdell_esa.pdf