Charles Schwab this week announced the new Schwab Teen Investor account, a joint brokerage account for kids ages 13 to 17 and their parent or legal guardian.
With the Schwab Teen Investor account, teens are given access to a range of investment products and personalized financial education. Teens who complete an online education course within 45 days of opening the account will receive $50 in fractional shares to help them get started. A joint account structure allows parents to monitor and engage as needed as their teens invest, Charles Schwab says.
According to a recent Schwab survey, 70% of teens are very or extremely interested in investing, and 73% of parents believe it is very important for teens to learn about investing. For parents, the desire for their teens to learn about investing is about teaching financial responsibility (69%), giving them a financial head start (65%), and ensuring they learn important financial concepts like growing wealth over time (64%).
“Young people – including teens – want to invest earlier than ever before, and the Schwab Teen Investor account offers an accessible and engaging way to help teens start their investing journey,” said Jonathan Craig, head of Retail Investing at Charles Schwab. “It’s exciting to see this interest in investing at such a young age, but it’s critical that we help teens get off on the right foot by combining a teen-friendly experience with the education, tools, and support they need to develop a strong understanding of investing and build positive habits.”
The Schwab Teen Investor account gives teens the ability to trade stocks, fractional shares, most exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and fixed income securities via Schwab’s mobile app, Schwab.com, and Schwab’s thinkorswim trading platforms.
Additional Schwab Teen Investor account features include:
- No minimum initial deposit, $0 commissions for online listed equity trades, and no account opening or maintenance fees.
- Cash held in the account can be accessed with a debit card.
- Direct deposit to fund account.
- Both parents and teens can trade and move money in the account.
- Industry-leading client service that enables clients to engage with an investment professional anytime by phone or chat 24/7.
- The Schwab Satisfaction Guarantee3 and Schwab Security Guarantee.
The Schwab Teen Investor account does not provide teens access to higher risk products and services such as margin and option trading, futures and FOREX trading, and higher-risk securities such as leveraged or inverse ETFs.