ShareBuilder

*Est. $4 per trade (automatic investment)

Reviewed

March 2011

Pros

Includes tutorials, primers
Automatic investment plan
Automatic investments cost $4
No minimum balance required

Cons

Market orders cost $9.95
Fairly basic trading tools
Narrow range of investment products
No banking services

Where to Buy

Our Analysis

ShareBuilder, part of ING Direct, is geared toward the novice investor; no minimum balance is required, and there are no maintenance or inactivity fees. This online broker is noted for allowing investors to take advantage of dollar-cost-averaging by scheduling the investment of a certain amount at set intervals. Automatic investments incur a commission of $4 each, but market orders done outside of the automatic investment program cost $9.95 each, and you have to pay for research. If you want low-cost real-time trades with no account minimum, reviewers say TradeKing may be a better choice.

We found reviews of ShareBuilder in SmartMoney magazine and Barron's. A survey by J.D. Power and Associates assesses how ShareBuilder's customers rate this broker.

Where To Buy

Our Sources

1. SmartMoney.com Details/Subscribe

Editors name a best broker in each of six categories based on hands-on analysis of each broker's fees, customer service, research tools, features and more. ShareBuilder is named the worst broker in the area of customer service, and is ranked 16th of the 17 brokers in the survey.

Review: SmartMoney 2010 Broker Survey, Neil Parmar and J. Alex Tarquinio, May 20, 2010

2. J.D. Power and Associates

This survey measures customers' overall satisfaction with each broker, as well as their appraisal of the broker's account offerings, customer service, trading charges and fees. ShareBuilder gets a rating of 4 out of a possible 5 for overall satisfaction, but3 out of 5 in the areas of account offerings and information resource.

Review: 2010 Self-Directed Investor Satisfaction Study, Editors of J.D. Power and Associates, Sept. 30, 2010

3. TopTenReviews.com

Despite its name, TopTenReviews.com provides reviews of 18 brokers, with ratings and data about the brokers summarized in a comparison chart. ShareBuilder is ranked 8th of the 18 brokers here; the review says, "ShareBuilder is worth looking into if you want to sign up for their automatic investing program."

Review: ShareBuilder Review, Editors of TopTenReviews.com

4. FiveCentNickle.com

FiveCentNickel.com is maintained by a self-described "30-something year old" self-taught financial adviser. This article is based on the results of his request for readers to list their favorite online discount brokers. A total of six are featured, ShareBuilder among them.

Review: The Best Online Discount Brokers, "Nickel"

Charles Schwab *Est. $8.95 per trade

7 picks including: Barron's, Forbes…

Scottrade *Est. $7 per trade

5 picks including: Barron's, SmartMoney.com…

TD Ameritrade *Est. $9.99 per trade

5 picks including: Barron's, Kiplinger.com…

E*Trade *Est. $9.99 per trade

4 picks including: Barron's, Keynote Systems…

OptionsXpress *Est. $9.95 per trade for up to 1,000 shares

3 picks including: Barron's, Kiplinger.com…

Interactive Brokers *Est. $0.005 per share