Hi Scott… I hear ya, I have mutual funds too and I believe it’s the best (or safest) way to invest, but having stock I choose myself on the side has really built up my portfolio by leaps and bounds (and I plan to add more!). Mutual funds have a hidden “built in” commission/brokerage fee. I take the brokerage fee into consideration when trading, but I don’t think $7 a trade is bad IF the trade is big enough to make it worthwhile. If I buy $100 worth of stock it’s 7%, but if I buy $200 worth, it becomes 3.5%, etc. Also, all of the stock has more than tripled so with my profits, the trade fee gets lower and lower. Mutual funds have a built-in fee of at least 5% (yearly) just for putting the fund together. (we pay a lot more in “fees” for mf’s than stock, but it’s still worth it.) We’ll never get away from those fees, but you’re right, we have to take them into account.

As I said in my last post, if you’re just starting to get into the stock market “pretending to play the stock market online” is a great way to learn more about it. Some people think the stock market is just for wealthy people so they ……