Dear Ready to Open a Robinhood Account,
How are you doing? I am hoping that you are doing very well.
If you have been reading my letters, you know that I think that you should start investing as soon as possible.
If you have not read my previous letters, you can find some of them here:
Ten Secrets to Building Wealth
In order to be able to invest, you will need an investment account with a brokerage house (which is what they call a place where you can invest in stock.)
If you have been reading my letters, you also know that I am a fan of the Robinhood Investment app.
Robinhood is a free investing app that allows you to buy and sell stock.
I like Robinhood for investing for several reasons:
Unlike at some investment/brokerage houses, investing with Robinhood is free, no commissions.
Also, I like how convenient it is. You set it up to access it on your phone. I enjoy looking at my account everyday, and use time in waiting rooms to watch my stock and check out other stocks.
When you sign up for a Robinhood account, you will receive free stock. It will be a random stock. But, at the time that I am writing this letter, the value of that free stock can be up to $200.
You can start investing with as little as $1 in a Robinhood account. In fact, you can invest in fractional shares in as little as $1.
Once you sign up with Robinhood to get your free stock, without buying more stock, you can use that free stock to become familiar with watching a stock and looking at the various metrics related to stocks. Additionally, you can see the news related to that stock that Robinhood shares, and how that news affects your stock.
The Robinhood savings account has a good interest rate, compared to the average bank. Because I want more interest, I am using it more and more.
Robinhood offers automatic dividend reinvestment on your stocks. This means that when a stock pays a dividend, that dividend is automatically reinvested into that same stock.
Robinhood offers automatic recurring investments in individual stocks on a repeated schedule.
Now, I will spill the tea on how to start one of my favorite investment accounts.
This may look like a lot of steps. But, it the application process for Robinhood is actually pretty clear cut. Reading through the steps will just let you know what to expect.
How Do I Open a Robinhood Account?
First Steps to Opening Your Robinhood Account
1. Download the app. (Full disclosure, if you use my link, you will get a free stock, and I will get something also.)
2. Once you have downloaded the app, you will get a message about your free stock. Click on the “Get Your Free Stock” link.
3. You will then need to put in your email. If you are like me, you have more than one email. Be sure to submit your personal email, not a job or school email. Also, be sure to use an email that you use and check regularly. That way, whenever they contact you regarding stocks that you own, or any other account information, you won’t miss it.
4. After you enter your email address, hit continue.
Create a Strong Password for Your Robinhood Account
5. You will need to create a password for your Robinhood account. Make sure that the password that you entire is unique to this account and not one that you use with other accounts, Also, make sure that it is a password that is not easy for people to guess.
6. Next, you will be asked for your legal name. You need to put your real/legal name because it will be used on your account statements and tax documents.
7. You will be asked for your phone number. Just put your phone number, including your area code, in here. I use my cell phone number, because if they need to call me for anything, I want them to be able to reach me as easily as possible.
You will be asked for personal information such as your birthdate.
8. You will be asked for your date of birth. You will probably see a message with this request that informs you that U.S. federal law requires all brokerages to collect this information. So, no matter where you open a brokerage account, you will need to provide your birth date.
9. You will need to provide your residential address. This needs to be your physical address, not a post office box. The U.S. federal law requires them to ask for this information, too. If it prepopulates addresses, be sure to accurately select your address.
There are citizenship questions.
10. You will be asked to verify your citizenship. Here, you will have to indicate in which country you have citizenship. This is another federally required question. This information is used to help prevent money laundering.
11. You will be asked for your social security number. Prior to inputting your social security number, you will see a message explaining that as a registered broker dealer, Robinhood is required by U.S. federal law to collect your social security number. (I’ll be honest, I do not like providing my social security number online. But, it is the only way to get things done in so many cases. I just make sure that the organizations are legit.) All brokerage firms ask these questions.
There are questions about your investment experience.
12. You will be asked how much investment experience you have. This question is asked to determine what type of information Robinhood will share with you. So, be honest here, too. Choices will be something like: “None,” “ Not much,” “I know what I’m doing,” or “I’m an expert.”
13. You will be asked if you want to enable free options trading. I do not do options trading. I do not recommend that you do this, unless you have some expertise in this area.
You will be asked about your employment.
14. You will be asked if you are employed. This is another U.S. federally required question. The choices are: “employed,” “unemployed,” “retired,” or a “student.”
15. You will then be asked the name of your employer and your occupation/job description.
You will be asked some questions about your family members’ investment related employment.
16. You will be asked if you or a family member is a senior executive or 10% shareholder at a publicly traded company. There is a note that says something to the effect of: If you do not know what this means, it likely does not apply to you.
17. You will also be asked if you or a family member work for another brokerage account. Once again, it says something to the effect of: If you do not know what this means, it likely does not apply to you.
18. Last, you will have the opportunity to scroll through your application. You will actually need to scroll through the application to access and hit the submit button. Hit submit!
Time to fund Your Account!
19. After you hit the submit button, you will get a “Fund Your Account” page. You will need to transfer funds (money) to your account, in order to make your first stock purchase. Hit the “continue” button.
20. Robinhood will then have lots of the major banks. Look for your bank and click on it. If you do not see your bank, clock more banks. Then, you will be able to click on something like, “I don’t see my bank.” You will be able to put in your bank information. In addition to your bank name, you should have your bank’s routing number and your bank account number.
Finally!
21. Finally, you should get a message letting you know that your application is submitted. While your application is under review, you can explore Robinhood. Reviewing your application could take up to a few hours. So, have fun exploring!
Robinhood Account Takeaways:
- Robinhood is a convenient investment app that can be accessed via computer or phone.
- Also, it’s easy to set up an account with Robinhood. You can do it yourself.
- Robinhood investing is commission-free.
- Robinhood has a savings account with a good interest rate.
- Robinhood offers an automatic dividend reinvestment plan.
- You can set your Robinhood account to have automatic recurring investments in individual stocks on a repeated schedule.
So, you can get started on opening a free Robinhood account with this link: Robinhood
If you do use my link to sign up for your Robinhood account, you will get free stocks, and at no extra cost to you I will receive a small payment. I will use this toward covering the cost of this blog.
Thank you!
Also, if you do open a Robinhood account, I’d love to know what stock that you get. You can let me know in the comments.
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Enjoy Your Free Stock!
Rich Mom
I want you to be:
Young, Building Health & Wealth
P.S.
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I am not an investment advisor. Always do your own due diligence and research before investing. Check with your own investment advisor.
Also, remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.