Teens
Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

Charles Schwab on 26 March rolled out a new brokerage account that lets teenagers as young as 13 buy and sell stocks, exchange-traded funds, and mutual funds. The Schwab Teen Investor account is a joint brokerage account for young people aged 13 to 17 with a parent or legal guardian, the company announced in a statement.

The account carries no minimum deposit, charges no commissions on listed equity trades, and has no maintenance fees. Teens who complete an online investing course within 45 days of opening receive $50 (£37.80) in fractional shares, split across the top five stocks in the S&P 500.

Teens can trade stocks, fractional shares, most ETFs, mutual funds, and fixed-income securities through Schwab's mobile app, website, and its 'thinkorswim' platform. Higher-risk products are blocked. Margin trading, options, futures, foreign exchange, and leveraged or inverse ETFs are all restricted. Both the parent and teen can trade and move money within the account, and parents can set alerts for all activity.

'Young people - including teens - want to invest earlier than ever before,' said Jonathan Craig, Head of Retail Investing at Charles Schwab. Craig said it was critical to help teens 'get off on the right foot' by pairing a teen-friendly experience with education and professional support.

Schwab Survey Finds Strong Teen Interest In Investing

A Schwab survey of 1,000 teens and 1,000 parents, conducted in October 2025, found 70 per cent of teenagers described themselves as very or extremely interested in investing. Seventy-three per cent of parents said it was very important for teens to learn about it. Eighty-seven per cent of teens said they wanted their parents involved to some degree.

When asked what they most wanted to invest in, 34 per cent of teens chose artificial intelligence, 28 per cent picked video games, and 26 per cent selected social media, TheStreet wrote. Sixty per cent said they preferred steady growth over volatile swings.

Schwab said Gen Z investors made up nearly a third of new retail client accounts opened in 2025. The teen account is designed to feed into adult accounts, IRAs, and other Schwab products as users age.

Fidelity Investments launched a similar product in 2021 - its Youth Account, owned entirely by the teen rather than structured as a joint account. Other platforms, including Greenlight and Step, also offer investing features for minors.

What Experts Say Parents Should Do Before Teens Start Trading

Lori Schock, former Director of the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Assistance, has urged families to treat teen accounts as teaching tools, not trading platforms. In guidance published on Investor.gov, Schock recommended setting a firm dollar limit and investing only what the family can afford to lose.

'Start slow, as the real goal is to educate, not become an overnight gazillionaire,' Schock wrote. She advised parents to discuss every potential trade beforehand and consider a system where all trades are supervised and executed jointly.

Schock also warned against chasing meme stocks or acting on tips from social media influencers. A stock's price may be driven entirely by online hype rather than financial performance. 'Thoroughly research every investment opportunity independently,' she wrote. 'Don't be swayed by FOMO.'

Financial advisers broadly recommend that teens begin with index ETFs tracking major benchmarks like the S&P 500, which carry lower volatility than individual stocks. Penny stocks and cryptocurrencies are considered especially risky for inexperienced investors and are excluded from both the Schwab and Fidelity teen accounts.

The compounding case for starting early is well established. A $1,000 (£756) investment made at age 13, growing at 10 per cent annually, would reach roughly $142,000 (£107,350) by age 65. The same amount invested a decade later would reach about $21,100 (£15,950). That gap is the pitch behind every teen brokerage product now on the market.

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