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Stock Trading — Quickstart (30 minutes)

If you have 30 minutes, do exactly these three things. Do not buy anything yet.

Most readers should stop after this quickstart

For the median reader of this wiki, the right move is: open a brokerage, buy total-market index ETFs on a recurring auto-buy, never look at the market again. That's not a joke. The data on retail active trading is bad. If after Level 1 you don't have a clear edge thesis, do this and move on with your life.

1. Open a brokerage account (10 min)

Pick one — order of preference for serious work:

  1. Fidelity (recommended default for US residents) — fidelity.com.
  2. Charles Schwab — schwab.com.
  3. Interactive Brokers (IBKR) — only if you want pro-tier features and are comfortable with denser UX.

Open a Cash account (not Margin) for now. ~10 minutes online; a few days for funding to settle.

Skip Robinhood for serious work. It's fine to learn UI but PFOF and gamification work against you.

2. Set up tax-advantaged accounts first (10 min)

Order of priority — the boring core that beats most active strategies:

  1. 401(k) up to employer match — free money, do not skip.
  2. Roth IRA ($7,000/year limit if income-eligible) — better long-term tax shelter than taxable accounts.
  3. Back to 401(k) up to annual limit ($23k+/year, employer match dependent).
  4. HSA if you have an HDHP — triple tax-advantaged.

For the non-retirement satellite, only after the above is funded.

3. Auto-invest in a 3-fund index portfolio (10 min)

Set up recurring buys (most brokers support this):

70% VTI   (Vanguard Total US Stock Market)
20% VXUS  (Vanguard Total International Stock)
10% BND   (Vanguard Total Bond Market)

Or the equivalent fee-free fund at your broker (Fidelity: FZROX/FZILX/FXNAX). Schwab: SCHB/SCHF/SCHZ.

Set the dollar amount you'll contribute monthly. Auto-invest it. Do not look at it for at least 6 months.

What's next

Common expensive mistake

Skipping the boring core (index auto-invest in tax-advantaged accounts) and jumping into active trading. The math says: a mediocre core + great satellite still loses to a great core + mediocre satellite, for almost everyone, over almost every horizon.