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Comment by acyacy | Hacker News Reader

Robin Hood is dangerous for the young millennial. Short term trading is really risky and if you have some cash saved up it can make a big difference in the longer term if you don't blow it up or lose it. Being young matters.

If you're in Australia and looking for something longer term access to Berkshire Hathaway shares or ETFs https://getfirststep.com is another service too [no individual shares] its more like wealthfront/betterment/acorns.

They fractionalise the investment so you don't need huge amounts which is quite nice.

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Not saying you don't have a point, but there are a lot of ways to lose your ass in this world and I don't see Robinhood as a particularly egregious case that requires any more warning than Fidelity (which will jam fees).

Unless you have a gambling addiction, it is hard to get into trouble with a cash account. Margin accounts are another issue, but in the States, "pattern day trading" requires $25k minimum balance to execute more than 4 trades in 5 biz days. That is a pretty effective filter.

I really hope they add IRA support soon.

Just to be clear, unless you're in the margin account beta, "free-riding" is impossible in Robinhood, so users will never be breaking any day trading rules.

disclaimer: this is not legal advice

http://www.finra.org/investors/day-trading-margin-requiremen...

>Day trades can occur in a cash account (only) to the extent the trades do not violate the free-riding prohibition of Federal Reserve Board's Regulation T. In general, failing to pay for a security before you sell the security in a cash account violates the free-riding prohibition. If you free-ride, your broker is required to place a 90-day freeze on the account.

Yup, agreed. For the uninitiated, this refers to your account showing a positive balance based on a sale that occurred but has not settled.

Seems like a great app... just have to get some money in there without telling them my bank creds...

But short term trading at traditional brokerages is even worse. You loose money to commissions in addition to whatever you loose through trading.

There's nothing stopping someone from doing long-term investing with ETFs in Robinhood, is there?

This is exactly what I do personally, and RobinHood allows me to buy gradually in small increments to minimize fluctuation in my cash emergency fund. If I were to buy $100 in ETF shares at a traditional brokerage I'd start down something like 10% on fees alone.

looking at your post history, I see your previous post also mentioned the same company. If you are affiliated with them, please add a disclaimer at the bottom.

I'm on their early signup list. It's being made at my uni (Uni of Sydney) at their accelerator. I just love the app, It can't be wrong to share this.

Not saying it's wrong, my apologies if my comment came across that way!

Usually, if you have a short post history, and link to a product more than once, it raises alarm. Usually better to put a disclaimer either way: I am not affiliated w this company, just a huge fan of their product.

sounds like you work for getfirststep

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