I just saw that Sharebuilder is running an interesting promotion for new accounts that I wanted to tell MakeYouGoHmm readers about (pictured above). As of this writing (limited time offer!), existing ShareBuilder account holders (and I know a few readers are like me) can invite up to five friends/family to sign up for an account at Sharebuilder and they will give each person $25 USD free to invest. One of my friends checked this out and in order to sign up for Sharebuilder one must be a US citizen or be an alien with a social security number.

This could be a good chance for someone you know (friend/family member) who has been procrastinating and would like to learn what it’s like buying some stock but isn’t ready to make larger monetary committments. GOOGle stock alone is over $280 USD a share as of this writing, so a 10 share purchase would cost nearly three grand not even talking commissions and fees. That kind of purchase might be out of reach for some folks who would might like to own a stock like GOOGle. It’s quite possible through Sharebuilder to buy $25 worth of GOOGle stock, which I think is pretty darn cool for the cautious, experimental and/or beginning investor. Should this take place of a real savings plan? No, no, no! Stock investing is high risk, especially in the tech sector (remember the dot bomb bust?). Consult the licensed pros for real investing information. We use TRowePrice for that.

I use Sharebuilder for some smaller stock purchases and experimentation buying (mostly) tech sector stocks which is explained in more depth via the post Sharebuilder Rocks! To summarize, I’ve been very happy with my stock trades to date, but again it is very important to note that stock contains risk and investors can and do lose money all the time. In this case, a friend/family member could lose the $25 Sharebuilder is giving which seems like fairly low risk investing, at least for those twenty five bones.

My five invites have all been spoken for, but I’m curious if someone signs up new if they can get five invites for their friends/family? I’ll find out soon after the people I gave the invites report their findings back to me. I don’t know what the inviteee side of things is like on this deal, only the inviter. The inviter gets five free trades per accepted invitation (to a maximum of 25 free trades) which, depending on the monthly ShareBuilder plan chosen and over the plan allotment cost between $1 and $4 per trade.

Here’s the fine print from Sharebuilder as to how this works:

*ShareBuilder Plan Investments are recurring or one-time purchases of stock made on the first, second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month. Does not include real-time trades. You will receive 5 free Automatic Investments for each person you refer who opens a ShareBuilder Account and makes at least one investment. You will receive the credits within 2 weeks after the referee’s first transaction. Credits expire 90 days after date awarded. Maximum 25 Automatic Investing credits per account. Those you refer will receive a unique id code number that they must correctly enter in the proper field during their account set up process in order for you to receive your free investing credits. ShareBuilder is not responsible for incorrect entry of this unique id code. ShareBuilder reserves the right to end this promotion at any time.

Sharebuilder also has an Investor Starter Kit deal where for $29.95 that comes with $25 cash to invest, $10 iTunes certificate, the ShareBuilder iTunes Bonus program (where folks can earn up to $20 more in iTunes), a 1 year subscription to Young Money and Money Magazines and the #1 National Bestseller “The Automatic Millionaire” by David Bach. This package has a retail value of over $125 USD. Sounds like a good gift idea if there aren’t a lot of strings attached anyway.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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