Hello All!
New to both the forum and investing. I've gone through the "Fool's school" a couple of times, and I think I'm begining to understand some of the basics of investing. I've read through the begining investing forums, and am now here.

My husband and I are in our mid 30's. His company doesn't offer any 401K benefits, and I'm self employed. Credit card debits are a bit more than I'd like, but are steadily dropping, and we're at a spot where we can put away about $100 a month for investing. I like the concept of Sharebuilder, and have a friend who's doing fairly well with it. From what I've been reading here, it seems like most of the people here that use Sharebuilder, get their start there, but then move over to something like Scotttrade, or Schwab, or Vanguard. Is this fairly normal procedure for investing? I researched and since I don't have a lot to begin with ShareBuilder seems like the right choice, but I really was curious as to why it seems like people move brokers?

I was planning on taking some advice I'd read here, and to keep costs low, instead of buying monthly with the $100, hold it for a month, then buy every other month to keep fees lower. Am I interpreting this correctly, as I'm still having a bit of trouble grasping how the fees are accrued. Really only looking at 3 things right now, 2 single stocks and then something index-y (Thinking S&P 500, as it has a good diverse group of areas), so was wondering how you'd space this out?

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for any help!
Gretchen - gpisces | Date: 10/1/2007 7:26:54 PM | Number: 1004

It is always good to start investing.

I have never used "Sharebuilder." I started with the Merrill Lynch Honolulu Office in 1969. Now I use Goldman Sachs & Jeffries & Company Chicago offices and Charles W. Schwab (since 1980) and Scott Trade since 2004.

Kahuna,CFA