4 Tips for Picking the Right Options Broker
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Tip #2: Call the brokers you are evaluating.
Question: When do you really need your broker?
Answer: You need them when you have a problem, and when that happens, service matters a lot more than just about anything else.
Try this handy experiment: Call the broker you are evaluating during options expiration Friday (the third Friday of the month) and ask a few questions. This is the time they will be the busiest. Also call them after market hours on another day, and call them right at the market open on another. If you are getting good answers and courteous responses during these difficult operational times, then you have a customer service winner.
A broker's customer service department is a lot like fire insurance. You may never need it, but if you ever did, it had better be the best.
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