Beginner Guide

How to Pick Your First US Broker

Your first broker choice decides how easy or painful everything else feels: funding, buying ETFs, handling FX, dealing with tax forms, and sticking to your plan. Use this checklist to pick a broker you can live with for years, not weeks.

Step 0 – Start from your real use-case

Most people do this backward: they browse broker websites first. Instead, decide what you’re actually trying to do, then choose the broker that makes that job easy and cheap enough.

If you haven’t clarified the basics yet, read How to Start Investing in the US Stock Market and How Much Money Do I Need to Start Investing? first.

• Long-term ETF investing: you buy broad ETFs and hold for years.
• Stock picking / active trading: you trade individual stocks more often and care about execution/tools.
• Multi-market access: you want US + Europe/Asia in one account.
• Automation: you want recurring buys, pies, auto-rebalancing, or “set-and-forget”.

Once you choose the bucket, the “best broker” list shrinks fast.

Step 1 – Eligibility (non-US investors)

This is the first hard filter: many brokers simply won’t open accounts for your country, or they’ll restrict products.

• Do they accept your country of residence today (not “sometimes”)?
• What documents do they require (passport, proof of address, tax ID)?
• Any restrictions on US ETFs, margin, options, or specific exchanges for your region?
• Is the onboarding process clear, or does it feel like a maze?

US-focused apps like M1 Finance or Webull can be country-limited. Global brokers like Interactive Brokers are usually more flexible.

For paperwork + tax context, see Tax Basics (US stocks as a non-US investor) and How to Open a Broker Account.

Step 2 – Markets, products, and account types

You want access to what you’ll actually use — not a circus of add-ons.

• Markets: US only, or US + Europe/Asia?
• Products: stocks/ETFs only, or options/futures/bonds too?
• Fractional shares: useful for small contributions and high-priced tickers.
• ETF access reality: can you buy the ETFs you want in your jurisdiction (rules can restrict some US-domiciled ETFs)?

A long-term investor might prefer a simpler platform; an advanced multi-market investor may accept more complexity for better access. Choose by strategy, not by marketing.

Step 3 – Fees that actually matter

Ignore the “$0 commissions” headline and look at the costs that hit you repeatedly. For a deeper breakdown, see Fees Really Matter.

• FX conversion: markup/spread to convert EUR→USD (this is often the real fee).
• Ongoing account fees: custody, inactivity, subscriptions, “minimum activity”.
• Execution quality: spreads and routing can cost more than a small ticket fee.
• Withdrawals: fees to take your own cash out, and how long it takes.

For long-term ETF investors, FX + platform fees usually matter more than tiny differences in trade commissions.

Step 4 – Funding, withdrawals, and currency friction

A broker that is “perfect on paper” but painful to fund in real life is a bad fit.

• Deposit methods: SEPA/SWIFT, local transfer, card, internal transfers.
• Timing: how long until deposits are usable, and withdrawals arrive?
• Base currency handling: can you hold USD cash, or does everything auto-convert?
• Minimums/fees: any minimum deposit/withdrawal or small-transfer penalties.

If moving money is annoying, you’ll avoid investing and rebalancing. That’s structural drag.

Step 5 – Platform, automation, and tools

You don’t need a trading cockpit to buy one ETF per month. But you also don’t want a toy app if you genuinely need advanced tools.

• Clarity: positions, performance, cash, and fees are easy to find.
• Orders: limit orders, recurring buys, auto-invest features.
• Automation: pies, auto-rebalancing, scheduled contributions.
• Research: basic research is fine if you use external charting for deeper work.

If you want serious charting alongside any broker, use TradingView.

Step 6 – Safety, regulation, and support

This is where you filter out sketchy platforms. You can’t remove risk, but you can avoid obvious nonsense.

• Regulation: major regulator + clear entity details for your account.
• Segregation: client assets held separately from the broker’s own funds.
• Protection schemes: what’s covered, and what isn’t (limits matter).
• Support: available channels + reasonable response times.
• Track record: long-standing infrastructure beats brand-new hype.

One-page checklist (copy/paste)

• I know whether I’m mainly a long-term ETF investor or an active trader.
• The broker accepts my country and clearly lists restrictions.
• I can buy the US stocks/ETFs I actually want.
• I understand FX, platform/inactivity, and withdrawal fees.
• Funding works with my bank without constant friction.
• The platform is usable under stress (volatility, crashes).
• The broker is properly regulated and has a real track record.

When a broker passes this checklist, stop shopping. Open the account, learn the interface, and execute your plan.