How to Buy Tesla Stock (TSLA)

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  • You can buy Tesla stock by creating an account with a broker or online investment platform.
  • Before you buy Tesla stock, it’s important to do some research about the company to determine if it’s right for you.
  • After you have bought Shares, you must choose an investment strategy and monitor your investment regularly.

Tesla has long been a popular stock. The Elon Musk-led company has revolutionized the automotive industry with its range of futuristic electric vehicles. And despite numerous price fluctuations, it’s seen quite a gain in value since the stock’s public debut in 2010. In fact, the 10-year average annual return is currently more than 65%.

Fancy some action? There are a few ways to do this. If you are not interested in the ways of financial advisors or investment firms, you can buy shares yourself by opening an account with an online broker or investment platform.

1. Set up a brokerage account

If you haven’t started trading yourself yet, you need a brokerage account to buy shares in Tesla, according to Cassandra Kirby, partner, COO, CCO and private wealth advisor at Braun-Bostich & Associates.

“You can buy Tesla stock by setting up a brokerage account through a trading platform like TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, or Charles Schwab, to name a few,” she explains.

Broker accounts are digital vehicles that you can use to buy investments like stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds, and more. You can invest in Tesla through taxable individual or joint brokerage accounts. You can also use IRAs, although retirement accounts may not be the best move for the stock due to their volatility.

“Make sure you do your due diligence on the platform you choose and be aware of transaction costs so there are no surprises when you start trading,” says Kirby. “Alternatively, you could hire a financial advisor.”

The best brokerage accounts offer features like commission-free trading (meaning you don’t pay a fee every time you buy a certain type of asset; you’re only responsible for the share price of that asset) and fractional shares.

If you’re thinking of investing in Tesla stocks, you can buy stocks with no commissions, depending on which broker you choose. Also, its current value on September 27, 2022 is more than $285. If this price per share is too high, you can buy part of the full share price. For example, once you get to the point of placing an order, you can choose a dollar amount to invest in Tesla as opposed to a stock amount.

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2. Research Tesla’s finances

This step is required for each investment that you add to your portfolio. And luckily, it doesn’t have to be a purely speculative process. Several resources — including quarterly earnings reports, balance sheets, income statements, and expert analysis and research reports — are all useful for evaluating a stock like Tesla from both a historical and current perspective.

Both lenses are necessary to determine how many shares to buy and how long to park your money in them. In addition, you should stay current with news about the company, its industry, and the economy, as all factors influence investor demand and can directly impact whether Tesla’s value rises or falls.

Additionally, Tesla has a proven track record of volatility, so it might not be the best thing for investors looking for a fairly stable asset, and probably not a good idea for someone nearing retirement either. In general, Tesla stock is best suited for those who can endure drastic price movements.

3. Decide how much you want to invest and place an order

When it comes to buying shares in a stock for the first time, there is no one-size-fits-all initial investment amount. Both the investment amount and the number of shares will vary depending on each trader’s personal finances, risk tolerance, investment goals and time horizon.

When investing in a stock for the first time, Kirby explains, it’s important to consider the stock’s risk and its potential to make or lose money. “Make sure you don’t allocate too much of your portfolio to one stock,” she says. “We typically recommend no more than 5% of your total investable wealth in any single stock.”

Here are a few other considerations when deciding: How much risk are you comfortable with? How long would you like to invest? What are your target returns?

It’s important to make sure you have both an emergency fund (or a fund that will cover three to six months of living expenses) and a budget before choosing both your investment amount and frequency of contributions.

Once you’re ready to place an order, you’ll need to select it type of order You want to. New traders should note that order types generally give you some control over the price at which your order is filled in the market. There are generally four types:

  • market order: These orders are usually filled immediately, but you have no control over the price at which they are filled. This could be a disadvantage in rapidly volatile markets as you cannot set your desired order execution price.
  • limit order: Limit orders allow you to set a price limit on your purchase and tell the exchange that you only want to execute at that price or better. If the exchange cannot meet these criteria, the order will not be filled.
  • stop order: Also known as stop-loss orders, these orders instruct the broker to execute a trade only if the shares reach a certain price (i.e. the stop price). Once the stock reaches that level, the order becomes a market order and is executed immediately.
  • stop limit order: Like stop orders, stop limit orders allow you to set a stop price for your purchase. Once or if the value of Tesla stock reaches that price, the order will become a limit order and will be filled at that price or better.

After you’ve allotted an appropriate amount to Tesla, you’ll need to develop an investment strategy to both hold and grow those holdings.

4. Review your purchase and monitor your investment

Unless you’re day trading, you don’t (and shouldn’t) need to monitor your stock price 24/7. However, it is important to regularly review performance while developing a wealth accumulation strategy that is tailored to your financial situation and investment goals.

You can approach the Tesla investment process in general through a few strategies:

  • Buy and keep: This strategy allows you to invest a lump sum in Tesla and hold it for the long term or for a period of time before selling and cashing out your shares.
  • Dollar cost averaging: This approach is great for those looking to invest in Tesla on a regular basis. With dollar cost averaging, you set both an investment amount and the frequency (e.g., days, weeks, months, or years) at which you regularly buy more shares.

These simple steps can help you protect your investment and generate returns, although it’s important to understand that your stock’s value is likely to fluctuate due to factors beyond your control.

If you ever feel like selling is best for you, you can do so by going to the “Trade” section of your investment platform’s website or mobile app (or if you don’t have a signal, you can use your Call broker to let him trade (agent-assisted trading for a fee). You can usually sell either a number of shares or a dollar amount. However, be aware that capital gains taxes will apply to the assets you sell.

The final result

If this is your first time buying Tesla stock, you must first set up a brokerage account. It’s also wise to carefully review Tesla’s finances and performance before deciding if the company is a good fit for your risk tolerance and investment goals.

While you can buy shares of the company either directly, through individual stocks, or indirectly through index or mutual funds that include Tesla, it’s still important to trade with a strategy that suits your skill level and goals, as well as your emergency funds and easy on your budget.

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