The query via email:

Hi Jay, I'm a college student(on a pretty minimal budget), and I want to start trading online. What online brokerage website would you recommend to begin buying/selling? - preferable one on the cheapest side.

My reply:

I'm going to give some advice that will sound patronizing. Your phrase "trading online" suggests you will be making short-term bets on stocks. If you're a college student on a limited budget, the only way you should be in the market is in diversified mutual funds that you won't touch for decades. The best thing on your side right now is time -- the ability to let money appreciate for decades, ride out the volatility that normally comes with stocks and take advantage of the miracle of compound returns. Study after study shows that people who buy and hold a diversified portfolio of stocks -- usually an index fund that tracks the market -- almost always outperform active mutual fund managers and active investors who trade in and out of stocks. The exception to this rule can often be seen over relatively short periods -- maybe a year, or five years or even ten years. And with all due respect, the people producing the market-beating returns are trained professionals with years of experience. Professional managers almost never beat the market over a matter of decades. Amateurs never do.

If you have any income, I would open a Roth IRA at Vanguard, start buying Vanguard's total stock market index (VTSMX) as an exchange-traded fund each and every year (this ensures that you'll buy when the market dips as well as when it rises) and let the money sit there for 50 years. After you build up some assets you can think about diversifying into international funds and maybe putting a bit more in small-cap and mid-cap funds. I would recommend reading Jeremy Siegel's "Stocks for the Long Run" or "Unconventional Success" by David Swenson.

Sorry -- I know that's not what you asked. My apologies if I misunderstood your query -- but if you're investing for the long term it doesn't really matter what your online brokerage costs are. I can't in good conscience give you or any other young person the idea that online trading is a promising way to make money.