How to invest $100,000 at Qtrade Direct Investing

If you have $100,000 to invest, the best way to do it is to set up a diversified portfolio of assets at one or more brokers, while keeping a close eye on trading costs.

Qtrade Direct Investing has a great selection of assets suitable for investing such an amount for the long term.

The trading fees for large transactions at Qtrade Direct Investing are average.

My key findings in a nutshell

My key findings in a nutshell

András Régely

Investments • Stock Market • Market Analysis

As a Broker Analyst at BrokerChooser, I'm dedicated to providing data-driven insights that simplify the world of investments. With a solid academic background, including an MSc in Accounting and Finance from LSE, I bring a deep understanding of financial markets to my role. My mission is to assist retail investors in finding the perfect broker fit by leveraging my trading experience and analytical skills. At BrokerChooser, I merge my passion for trading with a keen eye for market trends, helping clients navigate online brokers confidently and effectively.

Learn about our methodology

András Régely

Investments • Stock Market • Market Analysis

I've thoroughly tested Qtrade Direct Investing services with our analyst team by opening a real-money account and these are my most important findings:

• Watch trading costs: no-commission or flat fees are best for large trades
• Diversify among asset types or even brokers; check tax-free options
• Aim for a mix of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, real estate and cash

The more you invest, the more you may end up paying in trading fees, so it's worth taking a close look at fee conditions before you commit to a broker.

Trading fees and commissions for stocks, ETFs, funds and bonds come in many forms:

• Some transactions at some brokers may be commission-free, an increasingly common trend for stock and ETF trading especially in the US.
• Other transactions may involve a flat fee per trade (such as $1 or $10) regardless of the size of the trade.
• Sometimes, a volume-based percentage fee is charged; this percentage can be either uniform across all trades, or tiered according to transaction size (e.g. a $1,000 trade may involve a 0.2% fee while a $10,000 trade comes with a 0.1% fee).

If you're investing large amounts, flat fees often work out better than percentage-based fees. A 0.1% fee is better than a $1 flat fee if you buy a $100 stock; but not if you buy $10,000 worth of the same stock.

With that in mind, we calculated how much it would cost in trading fees to invest $20,000 at Qtrade Direct Investing into stocks, ETFs and mutual funds (if available).

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Do you have $100,000 to invest? Good for you! This is an amount that could form the basis of a solid retirement plan, or finance all sorts of life goals. However, investing this much money is not easy to get right.

First, you have to set your investment goals, such as saving for (early) retirement or making down payment for a house. You also need to think of a timeframe - that is, whether you'll need the money in five years, 10 or 30. You also need to be aware of your tolerance for risk; in other words, how much volatility or outright losses can you stomach in exchange for the prospect of bigger gains.

To lower risk over any timeframe, diversification - that is, spreading out your money across multiple asset types and markets - is key. In the chapters below, we'll list some popular options for diversification if you have $100,000 or a similar amount to invest; and show you whether and how you can realize them at Qtrade Direct Investing.

Popular asset types for investing $100,000

It's hard to diversify if you have only $100 to invest, but $100,000 is certainly a large enough sum to split across multiple asset types. Here's what Qtrade Direct Investing and its closest competitors have to offer, and why you should choose (or avoid) each asset type.

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Individual stocks

If you have the expertise (or time to spare for research), picking a diverse portfolio of individual stocks from multiple industries has the potential for significant long-term gains. From part or all of your $100,000, you can buy meaningful amounts of up to 15-20 different stocks. However, stocks are considered riskier than most other long-term investment options, and are prone to short-term volatility. If that doesn't deter you, here's our list of the best stock brokers.

ETFs

ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, invest in a broad portfolio of stocks and track a market index, such as the S&P 500. They're great for diversified long-term investment in case you don't want to do your own stock research and don't insist on trying to beat the market. If that's you, check out our top picks for the best ETF brokers.

Mutual funds

Mutual funds are similar to ETFs in that they invest in a wide range of stocks, but a key difference is that they are actively managed by a portfolio manager. This means that fees are higher, but also that mutual funds have the potential to beat the broader market (though they don't always do). See our top choices for the best brokers for funds.

Real estate

Real estate is a popular investment choice among wealthy investors, as it tends to appreciate over time while also providing regular rental income. If you want to avoid the trouble of managing actual real estate, or if $100,000 won't buy an apartment in your area, you should consider investing in REITs (real-estate investment trusts). Traded just like stocks, REITs own and operate property, and pay you regular dividend income on top of their price growth potential.

Cash

Good investment opportunities don't always arise right away, so you might need to park some of that $100,000 in cash for a while. Regular bank accounts or savings accounts are OK for this, but an increasing number of brokers now offer decent interest rates on uninvested cash, and some may offer a premium rate for sufficiently large cash holdings. See below if Qtrade Direct Investing or its closest rivals are worth the switch.

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to invest all of that $100,000. Before you start, it may be a good idea to pay off any high-interest debt and set aside some money for short-term emergencies (such as being temporarily unemployed).

Another form of diversification is opening multiple investment accounts, either at the same broker or at multiple brokerages.

In addition to regular trading accounts, many brokers also offer tax-advantaged accounts for retirement savings. The best-known of these are IRAs (individual retirement accounts) in the US and ISAs (individual savings accounts) in the UK. Both of these have annual limits on contributions, so they won't soak up all of your $100,000 at once, but they can be a great way to save a bit on taxes as you grow your wealth for retirement. If you're eligible, check out our lists of the best IRA brokers and best ISA brokers.

If you have $100,000 to invest, it may also be a good idea to split it among two or more brokers. One reason is that few brokers offer a comprehensive product selection at low fees across the board. So, for example, you may open one broker account for your US mutual fund investments, one for your global stock investments, and another for free US ETF trading.

Another compelling reason to sign up to more than one broker is to multiply the amount of investor protection available to you. Many of the world's top regulators offer some form of investor protection in case a broker defaults, but in some areas (such as the EU or the UK), protection is capped at an amount less than $100,000.

Data updated on December 10, 2024

Do you want to zoom out and pick the best broker for long-term investment based on a full set of criteria including fees, trading platform experience and product selection? Look no further than our list of the best brokers for buy-and-hold investors.