2025 Stock Trading Cost Complete Guide: Fee Differences Determine Profits

Many people focus only on stock selection and returns when investing in stocks, but in reality, they often overlook how much stock trading fees can impact their final profit and loss. Especially for investors who frequently engage in short-term trading or trade overseas stocks, the loss due to fee differences can be significant.

Different Fee Structures Across Securities Firms: Know the Details

The costs associated with stock trading are more complex than they seem. For domestic stock trading, there are commission fees paid to the brokerage firm and institutional fees paid to the Korea Exchange and the Korea Securities Depository. For overseas stock trading, currency exchange fees are also added.

In particular, overseas stock fees are much more complicated than domestic stocks. When trading U.S. stocks, in addition to brokerage fees, there are separate fees for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority(FINRA).

Major Brokerage Fee Overview: Which is the Cheapest?

As of 2025, comparing the fee structures of the top 5 online brokerages:

Domestic stock trading fee rankings:

• Kiwoom Securities: 0.015% (based on the “Hero Moon 4” platform, cheapest)
• Mirae Asset Securities: 0.136%
• Shinhan Investment Corp: 0.1391639% + 2,000 won (for trades under 30 million won)
• Korea Investment & Securities: 0.147%
• Samsung Securities: 0.147216% + 1,500 won (for trades under 10 million won)

Overseas stock trading fee overview: All major brokerages charge 0.25% for online U.S. stock trading.

Fixed Fees Can Be a Trap

Even with the same fee rate, the way fees are charged varies by brokerage. Notably, some brokerages impose fixed fees.

For example, assuming 5 million won with 100 trades:

• Samsung Securities: fixed fee alone is 150,000 won (1,500 won × 100 trades)
• Shinhan Investment: fixed fee alone is 200,000 won (2,000 won × 100 trades)

For small-scale day traders, these fixed fees can be a significant burden.

Be Sure to Take Advantage of Fee Promotions

Fortunately, most major brokerages offer fee benefits for new or dormant customers:

• Shinhan Investment: 1 year of free U.S. stock trading for new non-face-to-face account holders
• Mirae Asset Securities: 90 days of free domestic/U.S. stock trading
• Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, Kiwoom Securities: 3 months of free overseas stock trading

By understanding these benefits in advance and timing your trades accordingly, you can save a lot of costs.

Actual Impact of Fees: A Calculation

Assuming 1 million won is traded 10 times with a 10% return per trade:

This difference grows exponentially as trading amounts and frequency increase. For active investors with large capital and frequent trades, reducing fees is extremely important.

Choosing the Right Brokerage for You

The optimal brokerage varies depending on your investment style:

Small-scale day traders: Choose brokerages that do not charge fixed fees (Kiwoom Securities etc.)

Large-volume traders: Choose brokerages with lower fee rates (Mirae Asset Securities etc.)

Overseas stock traders: Select brokerages with long-term fee promotion periods (Shinhan Investment’s 1-year free offer)

Strategies to Reduce Overseas Stock Fees

Timing of currency exchange is crucial: Since exchange rates offered by brokerages are often less favorable than banks, it’s better to exchange dollars in advance when rates are advantageous.

Check for preferential exchange rate programs: Actively utilize any available preferential exchange rate benefits offered by brokerages.

Optimize trading amount and frequency: Avoid unnecessary split buys/sells, plan your trading schedule to reduce the number of transactions, and save on fees.

Final Thoughts

Stock trading fees are a key variable that can determine your investment performance. Even if you invest the same amount in the same stock, your net profit can vary greatly depending on which brokerage you choose. Carefully select a brokerage that suits your investment style and trading volume, take advantage of fee promotions, and reduce unnecessary trades—these are the first steps toward improving your long-term returns.