Arm Yourself

There's a sea of financial experts out there all eager to give you their stellar investment advice. So how do you pick one? Before choosing a broker or brokerage firm, here are some important things to consider, including fees, commissions, investment product offerings and other financial services. You can also download the attached checklist to keep it handy.

ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) track an index, a commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trade like a stock on an exchange.
By owning an ETF, you get the diversification of an index fund as well as the ability to sell short, buy on margin and purchase as little as one share. Another advantage is that the expense ratios for most ETFs are lower than those of the average mutual fund.