What is a discount stock broker?

What is a discount broker? A discount stock broker is a brokerage company that executes your buy and sell orders at a low trading fee. Discount brokers can afford to charge lower fees because, unlike full-service brokers, they usually don't provide extra services such as research, personal investment advice, tax planning or robo-advisory.

What is the difference between discount brokers and full-service brokers?

Discount brokers started to offer extra services as well, like research; while full-service brokers started to lower their fees. The traditional brokerage and wealth management industry is under fee pressure from increasingly cost-effective online broker companies.

Can discount brokers afford to charge lower fees?

Discount brokers can afford to charge lower fees because, unlike full-service brokers, they usually don't provide extra services such as research, personal investment advice, tax planning or robo-advisory. The difference between full-service brokers and discount brokers has blurred somewhat in recent years.

What makes a good discount brokerage firm?

Besides lowest trading fees and non-trading fees, a good discount brokerage firm should also offer access to a lot of markets and products, because providing low fees in more than one asset class is not an easy job. All brokers in our list offer real stocks, but we also looked into whether you can trade currencies, options or mutual funds.