IS IT SAFE TO BUY STOCKS ONLINE?
The Internet has really changed the way business is done in the world. Everything it seems is moving online in one way or another. The world of stock market investing is no different as most stock buying is now done through a secure connection on laptops in every city and country on earth.
It really wasn’t that long ago (even though it may seem like it was) that you had to call up your stock broker and place your buys and sells through him (or her). Almost everyone who had a stock portfolio had some sort of relationship with their broker even if it was just a voice on the phone. I remember opening my first stock account 20 years ago and sitting down with a guy who started asking me how much I had to invest and what my goals were. It was a bit scary as he knew a lot more than I did and I was unable to understand some of his questions.
How to buy stocks have changed drastically with online investing. Now days most people buy stocks online and you never have to talk to anyone, answer any questions, or be worried that you will say the wrong thing that will show you are a novice. You open an account similar to all the other accounts you open online by filling in the normal information plus your social security number. And then you have to have money wired or sent electronically in to fund your new account or you might choose to snail mail a check. You never talk to one person.
There are still a fair amount of people that aren’t online or are out of their comfort zone when it comes to computers. These people might be hesitant to open a stock account and be wondering if it is really safe to buy stocks online. They are uncomfortable entering all that personal information into cyberspace and wish things could be done the old way.
It seems now that every account you have, whether it be at a bank, a credit union, a credit card company, or a stock broker will be on the Internet for you to access. It is just the way we do business in this new era. You can probably still call up someone at your stock broker company and place your orders but that will probably cost extra to be able to speak to that real person. It is the same in every industry where they are trying to save money and replace people with computers.
The safety issue doesn’t seem to be an issue at all, thank goodness. As long as you choose good passwords (long and complicated ones) and change them periodically, your money should be just as safe as the money you have in your bank. Does that mean that you should automatically assume everything is safe? I think not as I check all my accounts every week just to make sure they look correct. You can also request a paper account statement be sent to your address instead of going paperless and accessing the one they have online. You may have to look hard for that option somewhere in your account info page and change it so that you get the real statement instead of nothing. They don’t want to send you a paper statement but your online broker should have that option (you may even have to pay extra for it).
In conclusion, don’t lose sleep over the safety of any online account you have. Just know that you should always be vigilant in making sure that things look right on a regular basis.
