and an entire industry full of highly skilled, highly trained professionals who exist for the sole purpose of putting your money in their pockets (and perhaps your objective is to eventually join their ranks)… it’s easy for an inexperienced participant to overlook the regulatory concerns accompanying certain trading activities.

In this article, I want to focus on an extremely important, yet often overlooked topic: brokerages.

Today in America, approximately 1 out of 5 adults could tell you what type of account you need to buy and sell stocks (a brokerage account). Those are terrible odds, but chances are good that, if you’re already a member of FinClub, you’re a part of the informed 20%, and perhaps you’ve already done your homework on which one is best for your particular needs.

“These are uncertain times.”

This phrase always makes me smirk. I mean, sure, it’s a credible statement, but when was the last time things were certain? Everywhere you look, there’s a duopoly of the best of times and the worst of times. This couldn’t be truer than in today’s markets.