How to Buy Your First Investment
This is the module that turns theory into a filled order. You'll pick a broker or investing app, understand the difference between CHESS-sponsored and custodial models, know what brokerage actually costs, and see exactly how a first buy order goes through. It's far less scary than it looks once you've seen the steps laid out.
7 questions · test yourself first · resources below to fill any gaps
Test yourself first, then learn what you missed
📝 Module quiz
You need thousands of dollars to place your first investment trade in Australia.
Missed a few? Shore up this module
Here is everything for this module in one place. Start with whatever you got wrong above, or work through the lot if you want the full picture.
📖 Guides to read
How to Start Investing in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide
The practical, step-by-step version: choosing a broker, opening an account, and placing your first order to buy shares or an ETF in Australia.
How to Choose a Broker in Australia: A Beginner's Checklist
A practical checklist for picking an Australian broker: brokerage fees, FX fees, CHESS-sponsored vs custodial ownership, and what actually matters.
How to Choose an Investing App in Australia
The three types of investing app, what to compare, CHESS vs custodial ownership, fees, and how to check an app is ASIC-regulated. Australia, 2024-25.
How to Buy Shares in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide for First-Time Investors
The exact step-by-step process for buying shares in Australia: choosing a broker, placing an order, T+2 settlement, and the HIN vs SRN basics of holding shares.
Micro Investing Australia: How It Works, What It Costs, and When to Move On
Micro investing lets you start with spare change. How it actually works, what the fees really cost on a small balance, and when to move to a standard brokerage.
Robo Advisor Australia: What It Is, How It Works, and Whether It's Worth It
What a robo advisor actually is, how it differs from a financial adviser and DIY ETFs, the real fee-drag maths, and who it genuinely suits in Australia.
How to Buy International Shares from Australia (US Shares and Beyond)
How to buy international shares from Australia: choosing a broker, converting AUD, the W-8BEN form, US withholding tax, and whether an ETF is simpler.
🧮 Try the numbers yourself
🔗 Go deeper with the official sources
- Choose a broker to buy shares · ASIC Moneysmart
- CHESS and holdings · Australian Securities Exchange
- Start investing · Australian Securities Exchange
- Investor alert list · ASIC Moneysmart
What I actually use
Pearler
This is the broker I personally use. Do your own research and form your own opinion, but I genuinely recommend it, it's built for long-term investors rather than day traders, and makes it easy to automate regular investing. Sign up through my link or with the code TIMOTHY269825 and you'll both get a $20 cash bonus once you make your first investment (Pearler's current offer, T&Cs apply).
Sign up to Pearler →This is a referral link. If you sign up through it, I get a bonus too, at no extra cost to you.
📚 Recommended reading
Sort Your Money Out and Get Invested
Glen James
Sort Your Money Out and Get Invested
Glen James
From the host of the my millennial money podcast, a step-by-step Aussie plan to fix your spending, clear debt and actually start investing. Practical and refreshingly free of finance-bro nonsense.
The Quick-Start Guide to Investing
Glen James & Nick Bradley
The Quick-Start Guide to Investing
Glen James & Nick Bradley
A short, friendly runway from never invested to confidently buying shares and ETFs, tuned for Aussie beginners. Great if Sort Your Money Out left you keen to go deeper.
Some links above are affiliate links. If you buy through them, Snowball Invest may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend books we'd suggest anyway.