[Pilon]

you can also open up a Schwab or Fidelity account to save some non retirement money. you can invest in no load funds. t rowe price, vanguard, janus to name some fund families with no sales charges. if you do stocks your going to pay for trades getting in and out, its better to diversify your money with mutual funds and let the managers choose what to buy and sell on a daily basis. im sure you have better things to do with your time than research stocks day in and day out.