August 27, 2021
1. Do you have one or more online trading or investment accounts?
Yes, I have one or more accounts that I access both online using a computer and using a mobile app.
2. If your response to Question 1 is Yes, do you think you would trade or invest if you could not do so online using a computer or using a mobile app?
No
3. On average, how often do you access your online account?
Daily/more than once a day
4. On average, how often are trades made in your online account, whether by you or someone else?
Once to a few times a week.
5. If you access your account online, did you have the account first, and only began to access it electronically later? Or did you open the account with the idea that you would access it electronically immediately?
I had a pre-existing account and downloaded an app or visited a website to access my account
6. My goals for trading or investing in my online account are (check all that apply):
Keep the amount of money I have, while keeping up with inflation
Save and grow my money for short-term goals (in the next year or two)
7. What would you like us to know about your experience with the features of your online trading or investment platform? (Examples of features are: social networking tools games, streaks, or contests with prizes points, badges, and leaderboards notifications celebrations for trading visual cues, like changing colors ideas presented at order placement or other curated lists or features subscription and membership tiers or chatbots.)
I'm using Robinhood and Coinbase. I haven't seen most of these gaming features on either platform. Although Robinhood has a recruitment incentive (that might be the primary suspect feature), it restricts daytrades to 4 per five days, pretty much preventing quick gains (except for once in a while) unless you can trade very large amounts. I was lucky and made a quick $200 as HOOD went public but I have not made anything like this since then and lost half of that gain over the rest of the month. It's rare that that amount of price increase happens and people have to be ready for it. Still, some stocks have relatively safe trajectories over a year and I've opted for sticking with a few of these and checking the account once or twice per day. I am very very new to this but have a background in policy and economics. I may not be representative of the average user but I know other users who would not be as prepared as I am to forecast and remain cautious. For them, it may help to complete required tutorials before investing to be reminded of diversification and other techniques to prevent losing large amounts of money. However my current assessment of Robinhood and Coinbase is this: they're useful and can be great for young people who do not have the money to buy whole shares and may be somewhat intimidated by more professional platforms or working with a broker. It has been like training wheels for more serious investing.
8. If you were trading or investing prior to using an online account, how have your investing and trading behaviors changed since you started using your online account? (For example, the amount of money you have invested, your interest in learning about investing and saving for retirement, the amount of time you have spent trading, your knowledge of financial products, the number of trades you have made, the amount of money you have made in trading, your knowledge of the markets, the number of different types of financial products you have traded, or your use of margin.)
I definitely ended up putting in more money than I initially expected to, but this was after approximately two weeks of \"testing the waters\" and getting a feel for volatility, how to watch it, forecast it, and respond to it. I've continued to learn about all of these things while using the app. Ultimately this has amounted to about $100 in profit over a month from approximately ten minutes or less per day of usage. I consider it a cheep payment for learning when usually I am paying to learn, so it's something of an implicit deal.
9. How much experience do you have trading or investing in the following products (None, 12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5+ years):
Stocks : Less Than 12 Months
Bonds : None
Options : None
Mutual Funds : None
ETFs : None
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : Less Than 12 Months
Commodities : None
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : None
Variable Insurance Products : None
Business Development Companies : None
Unit Investment Trusts : None
10. What is your understanding, if any, of the circumstances under which trading or investing in your account can be suspended or restricted?
HOOD has a daytrading restriction that essentially tells you \"this is NOT for day trading to make an income.\" If you day trade more than 4 times within 5 days, you can be flagged as a day trader and restricted from trading for 90 days. That seems to be very clear. If you have a lot of money, this cap might be enough for you to make your grocery money, but this is probably not most users. Coinbase has transaction fees that provide some friction on buying and trading.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
It is a little addictive in the sense that if you start, you have to make a commitment to continue researching and checking your account and maybe adjusting it. You have to be able to do some market research. Cryptocurrency trading is probably the most dangerous for the average person because of the volatility and unknown regulatory future. My brother encouraged my mother to download the Crypto app but gave her little more guidance. I found out several months later she had lost around $500 of $800 she put into a single obscure altcoin. I suspect that this could happen to a lot of people. Though I do not know how we can continue to make it easy for people like myself to use them (safely) while restricting other people who are more vulnerable. Too much cautionary material would obviously dampen enrollment and profit for the companies, so they will object as much as possible.