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The Gamification

The Infinite Version

“ Writing code? That’s the easy part. Getting your application in the hands of users, and creating applications that people actually want to use — now that’s the hard stuff.

— Jeff Atwood - http://www.codinghorror.com

My Experience with Zecco.com

Update: As of March 2009, the minimum balance was raised to $25,000 to get 10 free trades a month.

So, a little over a year and a half ago, I decided I wanted to give the stock market a try for myself. I wanted a site that had a low trading costs and a low minimum balance. Enter Zecco.com.

Zecco, which stands for “Zero Commission Cost”, is an online trading community that, like its name implies, offers commission free trades. There are, however, a few guidelines…

Account minimum of $2,500
10 free trades a month

Accounts that do not meet these guidelines or for every trade after your first 10 are $4.50 a trade which is still lower than most sites that I am aware of.

Other than a few minor mishaps, my experience with Zecco has been excellent. The site seems like it was built to teach and inform the beginning investor. The forum is very active and full of members willing to share their knowledge of investing and give their opinions on companies. The community side of Zecco also allows, but does not obligate, users to share their portfolios and daily trades.

I would highly recommend Zecco to anyone who wants to give the stock market a try for themselves. Zecco would also be a descent place to start a traditional or Roth IRA. The Roth IRA accounts have a yearly $30 maintenance and mutual funds are $10 per trade for each account; so, I would recommend a portfolio of diversified stocks or ETFs since those can be purchased at no commission.

**Send me an email to aheuermann ‘at’ gmail.com if you would like a referral