Essential tools to make investing easier

Investing can be a great way to put your money to work and help you achieve what’s important to you, whether it’s owning a home, paying for your child’s education, or retiring comfortably. But investing can also seem intimidating at first, especially if you’re new to the markets.

Luckily, there are lots of tools being developed to help the independent investor become more knowledgeable, and comfortable, with trading. From platforms to features to research tools to automation, there are more tools than ever to make investing easier and more accessible for you.

The most important investing tool is the platform itself: it’s how you research, buy, monitor, and sell securities. To help meet every investor’s individual needs and preferences, Questrade has a number of trading platforms to choose from.

Questrade’s trading platforms come in two different flavours: standard platforms for everyday trading, and Questrade Edge platforms for advanced traders.

Everyday trading platforms: QuestMobile and Questrade Trading

These are your everyday platforms. They’re designed to be user-friendly for easy portfolio management, with features like at-a-glance summaries that let you monitor all your Questrade accounts, and built-in tools to help you to research securities and make trades. Plus, these platforms offer features to help you to monitor your Questwealth Portfolios.

Open and fund an account, then research and trade securities, all through one convenient platform.

Questrade Edge platforms: Edge Web, and Edge Desktop

These are the advanced trading platforms, designed to be powerful enough to meet the needs of even the most advanced traders while remaining sleek and agile. All Edge platforms offer features such as advanced charting and order types, robust research tools, full customization, and integrated tools from Questrade partners.

Keep an eye on stocks, ETFs, or any other securities you’re interested in. By setting up custom watchlists, you can create a custom news feed that pulls articles that are relevant to you. And, to keep track of movement and trade activity, you can set up alerts to notify you of significant updates as soon as they happen.

Follow the links to learn more about watchlists on QuestMobile, Questrade Trading, Edge Mobile, Edge Web, and Edge Desktop.

There are many important dates to keep in mind when it comes to securities: dividend payouts, stock splits and consolidations, guidance reports, conference calls, and more. The events calendar can help you keep track of these important events in Edge platforms, while the Upcoming events tab (under Watchlists on the QuestMobile app) shows you upcoming dates on standard platforms.

When it comes to making investing decisions, it’s always a good idea to be informed. There are many tools available to help you research what you’re considering investing in, so that you can make smarter investment decisions.

Follow the links to learn more about research on QuestMobile, Questrade Trading, Edge Web, and Edge Desktop.

While it does require initial set-up and sometimes occasional tinkering, automation can be a great way to make it easier to keep on top of your investments and stay on track to reach your goals. For example, setting up pre-authorized deposits can automatically contribute to your investment accounts, treating your goals as a high-priority obligation and effectively paying yourself first.

Another example is Passiv, an investment automation tool that can be set to monitor your portfolio, allocate funds, and even rebalance your portfolio.

There are also tools which can help you save as you spend: RoundUP automatically rounds up your purchases and deposits the difference into your investment account, and Cashback Rewards can earn money in your investment account just for shopping at eligible retailers.

Finally, if you want a truly hands-off approach to investing, you can always look into Questwealth Portfolios for the ease and professional oversight of a financial advisor, at a fraction of the cost.

Note: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied, is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.