Do you need to be 21 to open a Brokerage account
Stock market basics involve a lot of questions on the part of investors just starting on their trading adventures. The most fundamental questions are ones like, “What are stocks in the first place?” Another pertinent question that plagues most individuals who want to trade is the query relating to the age requirement to buy stocks. Although analysts recommend you start trading early for enough experience and smarts to start profiting at a young age. However, you can’t start buying stocks in your early teens. It's important, therefore, to know when you can start.
- The Reason for an Age Requirement
An online broking account is easy to open and most youngsters, as technology-savvy as they are today, know how to open one. Many children may have experienced their parents trading from home and several parents give their children information early on. To open a free demat account, you only have to go online. Nonetheless, this too, has an age requirement. Why does age matter so much, and why is there a requirement at all? You should know that trading in stocks entails actual contracts. Minors are not permitted to sign contracts and hence, cannot trade. By law, minors are deemed to lack proper knowledge of what they may be signing, so an adequate age must be reached.
- An Age to Open a Brokerage Account
Coming down to brass tacks, how old do you have to be to buy stocks? Technically, once you open a free demat account with any premium brokerage firm like Motilal Oswal, you can be any age to trade in stocks. However, in India, you have to be 18 and above to open a demat account as well as a trading account to begin with. Without this, you cannot execute stock trading. Therefore, you have to have reached the age of 18 years to buy stocks. Moreover, to create a demat account and a trading account linked to it, you need to have a PAN card. You cannot apply for a PAN card till you reach the age of 18 in India. Internationally, too, this is the same law followed for opening a demat account and buying stocks. In some countries the minimum age to conduct these transactions is 21 years of age. However, if a parent opens a demat account on a child’s behalf, there is nothing stopping the minor from trading if they know stock market basics.
In India, once you have reached the age of 18, you can easily start trading. This is the right age to start if you really have an interest in trading, as you have years ahead to master tactics and strategies. You can always sign up with a dependable brokerage friend like Motilal Oswal to help.
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