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Best Online Brokers 2020: Ranking The Top Choices

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When it comes to investing, choosing where to invest is often the first and most crucial choice you make (which is why we created this guide to finding the best online brokers from 2020!).

Choose correctly, and you’ll be in a great spot to pick from a wide variety of low-cost funds and make trades for free. Choose poorly, and your investment options will be limited, and your fees will be high.

Online brokers come in all shapes and sizes, but the three things I looked for in a broker in 2020 were:

  1. Low fees
  2. Wide variety of low-cost index funds and ETFs (for you non-stock traders out there)
  3. Ease of use

Below we’ll break down some of the best brokers out there and score them on the three criteria above. This way, you can make a smart personal finance decision and choose the best online broker for you.

First, here’s a quick primer on what makes an online broker (you experts can skip ahead).

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Robo-Advisors: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Pros and Cons)

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Robo-advisors might not be as inherently exciting as the 1966 Western Classic starring Clint Eastwood, but they are certainly more modern. 42 years after the debut of this Eastwood blockbuster, the first Robo-Advisor came onto the scene. And 11 years after that, we’re stealing the title of that movie classic to create our own Hollywood film (article), starring Robo-Advisors Pros and Cons. 

So grab your popcorn, fill up your 48oz cup of soda, and silence your cell phones – we’re embarking on a journey that every modern investor should complete.

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Investing in Art for Beginners: Affordable Art Investing on Masterworks

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Technology is changing the game yet again. This time, making investing in art possible for beginners, not just for the experienced and wealthy.

For many, investing in art is something that has probably not crossed their mind. Most people can’t afford a $1 million dollar home, let alone a $1 million piece of art.

And no, that is not a knock against “most people,” its more an admittance that art investing was just not practical. That is, until Masterworks came along.

Masterworks operates a lot like index investing (which many of you know we are quite fond of on this site!). Let me explain quickly:

Buying a share of Amazon (which was $1,700+ at the time of writing this) is just not possible for a lot of people. It’s too expensive. Let alone having to buy that share, and then also diversify your portfolio by buying many other shares various companies in various industries.

Index investing lets you get started by buying smaller pieces of a bunch of companies in one purchase. Boom! You’re instantly diversified.

With art, many people can’t afford to buy one painting – if you thought one share of Amazon stock was expensive, you should check out some of these artwork prices! But Masterworks allows you to buy shares of artwork for as little as $20 (with a $1,000 minimum investment). This simply was not possible before.

So you can now diversify your portfolio and start investing in art, even if you’re beginners without millions of dollars!

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10 Important Lessons From the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) Movement

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Most of you have probably heard of the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement (if not, don’t worry, we’ll explain shortly). Those of you who have heard of FIRE, you likely have a strong opinion on it – one way or the other.

But, whether you agree with the FIRE movement or not, I think there are important lessons that we can all agree on.

Well, at least I think that… I’m sure some of you will disagree with one or more of my 10 lessons from the FIRE movement below, but let’s find out. If any of these supposed lessons get you fired up (…couldn’t resist), let’s duke it out in the comments!

But first, here’s a quick primer on the FIRE movement so that we’re all on the same page.

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Why Lazy Portfolios Are The Best Way to Invest

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Imagine a world where you could sleep in until noon every day. Where you could watch Netflix for hours without feeling any guilt. Where you could eat all your favorite junk food, and not gain a pound. And, best of all, you could invest in lazy portfolios and still attain market returns!

Lucky for you, one of those is true!

Well, maybe they’re all true depending on who you are (and how fast your metabolism is). But, for most of us, we face the unfortunate truth that in every day life being lazy has negative consequences.

However, in the investing world, being lazy can actually be a good great thing.

Building a lazy portfolio could help you get the stock market returns you are looking for without having to invest the time and money most people typically associate with Wall Street.

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