Stock Markets Exposed

I am 15 and am really interested in investing in the stock market, how would I go about doing so?

I know all the risks, etc. But because of my age how would I go about investing in stocks? What's the best broker? And what type of account do you need (I assume my dad or mom needs to be on my account)? I live in Canada and a lot of the stuff online is American. I have been looking at a few sites and they don't seem to have a option to open a custodial account for a minor...any help there? I have invested in Microsoft in the past through their Direct Purchase Plan, it was a complicated process (I had to buy a single share from a gift site, get it shipped, then sign up with a custodian, etc.) But I want to invest in other companies aswell.

Public Comments

1. wait until it crashes and then buy
2. you pretty much need to be 18 to do any investing without a custodian
3. You "know all the risks" about something you don't know how to do? Give me a break! Go to the library, sonny, & learn how to invest & while you're at it learn the risks through reading and not after you lose all your money to people like me.
4. Unfortunately, being under 18 means you are not legally bound by any contract...well, in America anyway...so the only way for you to invest would be by having a legal adult (someone over 18) open the account as trustee for you. Your name will be on the account, too, but so will the trustee's name. If you'd rather not do that, I would suggest you take the next 2+ yrs (until you turn 18) and do paper-trading, to learn more about the market you want to invest in. Run different scenarios, research different companies and see what your result becomes. And then when you get into college, you might even want to take courses to prepare you for the trading floor or another stock-market career.
5. Here in the US, the type of account you need is called a "custodial account" it is often titled, "your name", AMB (which stands for A Minor By) "parent's name" - CUSTODIAN. That means while the money in that account is recognized to be yours, the account recognizes that the parent is the party responsible for actually authorizing and signing for trades. I can imagine that online brokers might be weary of custodianship accounts because of the liability that could be involved should the beneficiary, a minor, gain access to the account through the web and execute trades. I don't know any brokerage firms in Canada specifically, but most likely wherever you do your banking would have a recommendation for you. From there, if your account has online features, you can give your stock orders to the custodian to trade on your behalf.