Deep Discount Broker

A generation ago, a full service stockbroker was a guaranteed lucrative profession. The stockbroker was the gatekeeper to the general public for individual stock or bond sale or purchases. Commissions would be a percentage on the total value of the trade and could run to thousands on a large sized trade.

Flash forward to the present, where online trading is the preferred platform for most people who manage their own investments and deep discount brokers, such as TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, have cut commission rates to flat fee levels with account maintenance and order taking services, but without research, portfolio management, and calls with tips. Full service brokers still exist, but serve a very small, select group of high net worth clients who don’t have the time and patience to manage their own portfolios.

Thanks to lowered high school and exam standards, a college education is no longer considered what it used to be. The same can be said for a FINRA SIE or a Series 7 license.