Thus I decided to create a page for easy reference and your convenience.
1. One Time Fee
Online stock transaction incurs only a one time charge of 0.275%. No other costs required, no recurring fees, or any hidden charges.For offline trades (calling broker to place trades) will be a bit more expensive. The current market rate is about 0.5%.
IT savvy clients can open a FREE trading account here and execute trades via mobile app or laptop. At the same time, keeping in touch with the broker. This is one of the best of both worlds method.
That said, one of the misconceptions that I would like to clear is after you have opened an account with a broker it does not mean that you cannot trade by yourself and have to trade through the broker. You can continue to trade via online, except the fact that the broker is in charge of your trading account. Should you need help, or information, you can look for the designated broker for help.
Regardless online or offline trade, it is relatively cheap compared to the rates in the past which can be as high as 3 to 5%. But those were the days where equities movements are +/- 10% daily.
2. Yield
Relatively depending on market conditions, insurance yield might be lower than stocks due to marketing cost, admin charges and channel distribution fees.Yet do not get me wrong, I am NOT advocating which is better in this case. Each has its merits, its pros and cons for comparison depending on individual needs.
In layman terms, stock investing is only good for growing your money. Insurance is good for protection. If you are looking for a lump sum of money to be paid out after kicking the bucket, go for insurance. If you are to grow your money, which is the purpose of this site, do stock investing.
As this site is more on stocks and shares, you can click here to know more about insurance and financial planning.
3. Stocks vs Unit Trust
Unit trusts are similar to shares; it's a basket of stocks. These funds have annual management fee to manage the unit trusts. Also, there will be marketing and promotional costs to ensure that there will be 'fresh funds' flowing in. The fresh funds is meant to provide liquidity, to capture opportunities in the market.
Using a very simple logic, it is always cheaper to DIY. The own question is the quality of work and performance result, will it be better if you were to pay someone else to do it for you?
If you have investing knowledge, the access to the equities market, and would like to do your own investing, stock investing is the best and cheapest way to do it.
4. Direct investing
Stocks allow direct investment into a particular company. After a company release positive news, the stock prices will react immediately, reflecting the latest changes. From another perspective, this is how news can be monetised. Since the positive news is going to have a great influence to the company, why not let your money grow on it?
No doubt, this is the best way to grow money ideally. However, there are other factors in play which investors have to be aware too.
Nonetheless, there are no other ways better than stock investing to grow your monies via company developments, news and announcements
5. Growing
Don't know what to buy? Look at the companies around you when you go about your daily life.
From airport terminals (SATS SGX:S58), to banking (DBS SGX:D05), to taking X-rays in hospitals (Raffles Medical SGX:R01). If you like the business, and you believe it will continue to grow, let your money grow with the business.
Buying/selling stocks is the best way to ride on the company's growth.
So volia, 5 points of why stock investing is the best.
Again, if you know how to access the market, it makes all sense to invest in stock market directly. All you have to do is to open a free trading account and execute trades by yourself. It's the cheapest and the most direct way to invest and grow your money.
