As I discuss in Chapter 8, a discount brokerage account

As I discuss in Chapter 8, a discount brokerage account can allow de1123 you
centralized, one-stop shopping and the ability to hold mutual funds from a
variety of leading fund companies. Some funds are available without trans-
action fees, although most of the better funds require you to pay a small
transaction fee when you buy funds through a discount broker. The reason:
The discounter is a middleman between you and the fund companies. You
have to weigh the convenience of de1121 being able to buy and hold funds from
multiple fund companies in a single account versus the lower cost of buying
funds directly from their providers. A $25 to $30 transaction fee can gobble
a sizeable chunk of what you have to invest, especially if you're investing
smaller amounts.

be the envy of your friends at the next party if you casually mentioned your
investments, the $1,700 0f increased value is de1104 not really savings. Instead, it
represents appreciation on your investments, so you must remove this appre-
ciation from the calculations. (Just so you know, I'm not unfairly penalizing
you for your shrewd investments