There is an array of brokerage accounts available. There are premium services, discount services, full services, and no services. Deciding on which brokerage accounts are right for you is easy.
If you have not lost faith with financial advisors, or are content with a current relationship, then full service brokerage accounts may be appropriate. If you are depending on professional guidance, you should expect to pay for professional services. Commission rates are normally higher than discount firms, in some cases by hundreds of dollars. A professional's compensation should be directly related to his performance. If a professional underperforms, you shouldn't be paying high commission rates.Discount services give you the tools to conduct all your trading moves on your own. No phone calls, no ideas, just a website with some research tools. Under this format, you should be paying much less in commission fees. The only real costs are execution and exchange fees.There is, of course, a hybrid between full service and discount firms. These firms have specialists on call for their clients to speak with. You will likely deal with different people for different questions. This is a crapshoot since sometimes you may speak with highly qualified professional and others you're talking with someone less knowledgeable. These types of firms are growing in popularity since many investors are trying to go it alone but still need occasional support. These types of firms are most popular with foreign exchange traders.
