Yahoo Finance Is It Possible To Buy Stocks With a Credit Card?
Sixty-one percent of American adults say they own stock, according to a 2023 Gallup poll. That’s the highest percentage since the 2008 recession.
With more than half of American adults investing, and unprecedented technologies making investing in stock easier than ever, there are many new ways to buy shares.
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Credit cards, however, are not the best way to dip your toes in the stock market. Although it is possible to buy stocks with a credit card, experts recommend against it.
“Brokerage firms prefer you fund your brokerage account using bank transfers or checks,” according to an April 10 Forbes Advisor article. “If you do decide it is worthwhile to buy stocks with your credit card, you will likely have to route your money indirectly to land it in your brokerage account.”
Some may feel more comfortable buying stock using a credit card even if it means jumping through a few extra hoops. If you’re one of them, you have options.
One is Stockpile, a self-directed online brokerage whose app allows users to purchase stocks via an e-gift card.
The gift cards make it easy for beginning investors to test the waters. “When getting your gift, choose the stock or crypto and dollar amount you want to give (say, $50 of Apple stock or bitcoin), tell us who the recipient is and pay for your purchase,” Stockpile instructs on its website.
You can use Visa or Mastercard to purchase a card valued up to $200 per day. If you’d like to spend more than $200, you will have to wait 24 hours before purchasing a Stockpile gift card again, Forbes Advisor noted.
While there’s no charge to send an e-gift (as long as you pay off your credit card balance each month), Stockpile is costly way to invest because it requires a membership. New investors start with a free trial. After that, it’s $4.95 per month, or about $60 per year, which would require a $750 investment that returns 8% per year to recoup.
This roundabout way of investing is not ideal, but for those who find comfort in making purchases with credit, this is one way to do it.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Is It Possible To Buy Stocks With a Credit Card?
