In a time of golden returns, everyone is a pro, and as a result, people of all ages are dismissing their brokers, managing their own money and doing their own research. Online trading has nearly doubled in each of the last two years and now accounts for about 10 percent of all stock trades, retail and institutional, according to Bill Burnham, an online analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston. Gimpel, a retired engineer, likes to hand out a 40-page document filled with his favorite investment sites on the Web, more than 500 of them. The data are here. While Adams trades through National Discount Brokers, which offers online trading, Gimpel, like a number of older investors, uses the Web to do research and then telephones a full-service broker.
Some older investors say they like the comfort of having a broker available in emergencies.
But don't forget, everyone knows more. You may have an edge over the past, but you may not have an edge over everyone else. And if everyone knows more, it means it's already computed in the price. Advisory services include estate planning, management of personal trusts and information on other complex topics, said Ms. Breslow of Salomon Smith Barney. And the transaction is the least important part of the business.