Hi all,

Both of my kids ages 9 and 12 have a modest amount of money to invest.

Which Broker do you recommend (Schwab, Scottrade? )

Also, which ETFs do you recommend to buy and hold and  Dollar cost average?

Thank you for any recommendations for low-cost and reputable  brokers.

JP

Are you stealing this money from your children?

Vanguard or Fidelity. Read anything you can find by the author John Bogle.

Scottrade was acquired by TD Ameritrade. I wouldn't mind Vanguard or Fidelity, as I have a few of their funds. I believe you can purchase their funds fee free if you have a certain buy in amount.

This. I'm pulling money from Scottrade this year and moving to Vanguard.  I like that you can trade their ETF's for free.  I believe Fidelity also has several good ETF options that are free to trade if you have an account with them.

The advantages of the etrades, Ameritrade's, scottrades are shrinking every quarter.

If you're a day trader, options or similar they are the way to go. But a buy and hold type of investment, fidelity and vanguard are leaders in the pack.

Vanguard had $7.99 stock trades for a while meanwhile, as Jaqu or others mentioned, free purchases of their funds.

Vang/fide offer nearly the same services at about the same price and you get a discount on their funds.

For that reason, we have moved ALL our accounts including short term and long term accounts to vanguard. Multiple etrades and Ameritrade's over. We flat out couldn't come up with a reason to use any other platform.

Your example, buy and hold like that, I'm buying vanguard snp type of funds not necessarily etf's.

Tagged for later

This is correct, Vanguard and Fidelity keep lowering their trading cost for straight stock trades. Fidelity is down to $4.95/trade, and their funds are either on par or better than Vanguard for low fees.

vanguard. lowest fees in the industry, drop even lower once you hit X amount. I have my kid's 529 through them

Scottrade is gone so don't use them, they will be absorbed in 2018.  
Charles swab is likely who I will switch to.  I am a dividend investor mainly so the others aren't the best for me.

For a buy and hold investment, I'd use Vanguard. Depending on how much money it is, there's typically a $3,000 minimum buy-in for mutual funds. I'd start with the S&P500 and expand from there.

TD ameritrade

Free etf trades of VTI. Total stock market buy for free and forget. Your kids will thank you later.

That's a cool way of looking at it.

Did you open the account in your son's name or just in yours? Any hassles with opening an account for a minor?