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Think you can’t afford to invest anything?  Think again! It appears that ING direct, one of the leading online banks offering high interest savings accounts, also has a program called Sharebuilder, which allows you to start investing with very little money.

Sharebuilder offers three different programs for the individual, beginning investor, including:

  • BASIC: No monthly billing, $4 for each automatic investment and $9.99 for real time trades
  • STANDARD FREE TRIAL: free for one month, 6 automatic investments included, $9.95 for real time trades, access to tools and resources
  • ADVANTAGE: $20 per month, 20 automatic investments included, $9.95 for real time trades, premium investing tools and discounts

Once you’ve chosen your pricing plan, you can begin investing.  There are a few options for that, as well.  You can either:

  • Build your account over time, using an automatic investment plan.
  • Use Express Funding to place a real-time trade
  • Invest savings into a money  market with either a one-time or recurring deposit

Investing is overwhelming to people who aren’t overly familiar with the process.  It can also be extremely costly.  Sharebuilder and ING direct seem to be offering a way for the typical consumer to get started making investments.  It’s an affordable way to learn how investing works and experiment with an amount of money you can afford to lose if you make the wrong move.



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