Trading 21 years old

akinos1 wrote: ↑Hello,

Im 21 years old I would like to know if there is any platform that offers low cost for student or people 21 years old

Thank you

Yes, some brokers waive min trading requirements for those under 25. Do some research and find them.

Kasakato wrote: ↑Yes, some brokers waive min trading requirements for those under 25. Do some research and find them.

I did some digging at Questrade

"1. As of April 1st, 2015, an inactivity fee of $24.95 per quarter is charged to clients with under CAD $5,000 in combined total equity for any quarter in which the client does not complete one commissionable trade. Commissionable trades include free trades or trades made using commission rebates. Combined equity includes all accounts owned by a client, including joint accounts. Clients are exempt if they are 25 years of age or under, or are subscribed to a level 1 (or greater) data package. Charitable organizations are also exempt. If the client trades in the quarter after incurring an inactivity fee, the trades will be commission-free up to $24.95, provided the account remains open at the end of the following quarter. For example, if a client incurs an inactivity fee on July 1st, any trades made in July, August or September will be commission-free up to $24.95."

Does that mean that I won't be paying any inactivity fee since Im younger than 25?

akinos1 wrote: ↑I did some digging at Questrade

"1. As of April 1st, 2015, an inactivity fee of $24.95 per quarter is charged to clients with under CAD $5,000 in combined total equity for any quarter in which the client does not complete one commissionable trade. Commissionable trades include free trades or trades made using commission rebates. Combined equity includes all accounts owned by a client, including joint accounts. Clients are exempt if they are 25 years of age or under, or are subscribed to a level 1 (or greater) data package. Charitable organizations are also exempt. If the client trades in the quarter after incurring an inactivity fee, the trades will be commission-free up to $24.95, provided the account remains open at the end of the following quarter. For example, if a client incurs an inactivity fee on July 1st, any trades made in July, August or September will be commission-free up to $24.95."

Does that mean that I won't be paying any inactivity fee since Im younger than 25?

i believe so :-)

also, after you're 25 years old, all you need to do is buy 1 free ETF per quarter

I would recommend you buy the couch potato ETFs.... VCN and VXC keep it simple!

if you can't find any good promotions, PM me we I can refer you and we both get $25

How much is this 21 year old going for?

SheaButters wrote: ↑i believe so :-)

also, after you're 25 years old, all you need to do is buy 1 free ETF per quarter

I would recommend you buy the couch potato ETFs.... VCN and VXC keep it simple!

if you can't find any good promotions, PM me we I can refer you and we both get $25

I currently have TD e series, I wanted to start trading. So once Im 25 years old, I should just buy 1 ETF per quarter so I dont get charged any inactivity fee?

theBasher91 wrote: ↑How much is this 21 year old going for?

Im still debating on that but I would put atleast 1k$

akinos1 wrote: ↑I currently have TD e series, I wanted to start trading. So once Im 25 years old, I should just buy 1 ETF per quarter so I dont get charged any inactivity fee?

fees could change in 4 years, but yes

considering ETFs are free, you could just get into the habbit of buying one per month :-)
adding say $50 a month, and buying 1 stock of VXC.to
note this very similar to TD E-series... just slightly more hands on

unless you have like $6k to buy $1000 of 6 different stock names, you shouldnt really buy single stocks... look at last september, oil companies dropped 50%, this month, utilities are dropping 20%, next couple months, something else will drop... etc
also buying a real stock costs $5 to buy $5 to sell, so if you spend $1000 bucks you need to gain 1% just to break even in trading costs

TBH if you are already doing TD E-series, you should just stick with it, and focus your energy on what will really increase your net worth at your age
- Earn more money
- Reduce your spending

Even if you make say 5% more than TD E-series by "gambling" on stocks, thats just $50, and you can very easily lose $50 OR MORE!!!

Look at real life, you can just work 2 hours of overtime to make that $50, or simply don't go out to a restaurant, or drink water at a bar night instead of alcohol
Whereas logging onto Questrade, buying an ETF, etc will run you 5 minutes a month, and you'll probably waste at least 15 minutes a week thinking about your $$$$


trust me, just earn more money, reduce where you can, and SAVE UP PASSIVELY



I also assume you'll probably want to buy a house in another 5-10 years, so you'll need to keep your money a bit conservative...
If you make 40k+ annual, you should drop some money into RRSP over the next several years, and use Home Buyers to take out $25,000... This is LIKE a free cash advance, paying it back over the next 15 years, or simply add the income difference to your taxes (of course if you plan to make 80k+ you should wait until your in a higher bracket before adding RRSP)


Also any time your employer gives "matching" you should take that free money :-)

SheaButters wrote: ↑fees could change in 4 years, but yes

considering ETFs are free, you could just get into the habbit of buying one per month :-)
adding say $50 a month, and buying 1 stock of VXC.to
note this very similar to TD E-series... just slightly more hands on

unless you have like $6k to buy $1000 of 6 different stock names, you shouldnt really buy single stocks... look at last september, oil companies dropped 50%, this month, utilities are dropping 20%, next couple months, something else will drop... etc
also buying a real stock costs $5 to buy $5 to sell, so if you spend $1000 bucks you need to gain 1% just to break even in trading costs

TBH if you are already doing TD E-series, you should just stick with it, and focus your energy on what will really increase your net worth at your age
- Earn more money
- Reduce your spending

Even if you make say 5% more than TD E-series by "gambling" on stocks, thats just $50, and you can very easily lose $50 OR MORE!!!

Look at real life, you can just work 2 hours of overtime to make that $50, or simply don't go out to a restaurant, or drink water at a bar night instead of alcohol
Whereas logging onto Questrade, buying an ETF, etc will run you 5 minutes a month, and you'll probably waste at least 15 minutes a week thinking about your $$$$


trust me, just earn more money, reduce where you can, and SAVE UP PASSIVELY



I also assume you'll probably want to buy a house in another 5-10 years, so you'll need to keep your money a bit conservative...
If you make 40k+ annual, you should drop some money into RRSP over the next several years, and use Home Buyers to take out $25,000... This is LIKE a free cash advance, paying it back over the next 15 years, or simply add the income difference to your taxes (of course if you plan to make 80k+ you should wait until your in a higher bracket before adding RRSP)


Also any time your employer gives "matching" you should take that free money :-)

Thank you for your reply,

Currently Im still studying so im working part time.. making about 10k$ a year. So Im not putting any money into RRSP, keeping it for later on.

Concerning what you said about that I should just stick to my e-series, I think your right. Thing is a part of me really wants to try trading. Like I said at first, Im not going to put a big amount of money.

What to do...

Bmo investorline has a program for younger than 35 years olds where they waive monthly fees or minimum balance requirements.

panda470 wrote: ↑Bmo investorline has a program for younger than 35 years olds where they waive monthly fees or minimum balance requirements.

There is still a min trading/commission fee applicable.

And I don't think any brokerage provides free trading unless you are trading a limited number of ETFs at Scotia etc. Otherwise you want to stick with mutual funds or e-series.

akinos1 wrote: ↑Im still debating on that but I would put atleast 1k$

$1000 to trade is just not enough.

At minimum, you should have at least $50k. Ideally though your trading account should have at least $100k.

FYI, most disciplined traders only risk up to 2% of their entire capital per trade.

akinos1 wrote: ↑Im still debating on that but I would put atleast 1k$

I would put that in a TFSA and just buy $1000 of a balanced mutual fund or index ETF.


$1000 is not enough to buy individual stocks, the trading fees will eat into any profits. Also don't get sucked into buying penny stocks like I did, remember the # of shares you buy doesn't matter, only the % return your investment.

Wazzaa4u wrote: ↑I would put that in a TFSA and just buy $1000 of a balanced mutual fund or index ETF.


$1000 is not enough to buy individual stocks, the trading fees will eat into any profits. Also don't get sucked into buying penny stocks like I did, remember the # of shares you buy doesn't matter, only the % return your investment.

I was thinking getting penny and keep it long term

You can do that if you want, but be fully prepared to never see that $1000 again. High risk, high reward.

FULLY PREPARED. THIS IS GAMBLING.

Slashon wrote: ↑You can do that if you want, but be fully prepared to never see that $1000 again. High risk, high reward.

FULLY PREPARED. THIS IS GAMBLING.

I am indeed