Getting Started with U.S. Stocks

Getting started with U.S. stocks is much simpler than you might think.
Just follow the steps below.

1. Open an account
- You need to open an account that allows overseas stock trading.
- It is convenient to apply for such an account at a Korean securities firm.

2. Make a deposit
- Deposit Korean won into the account you opened.

3. Exchange currency
- U.S. stocks can only be traded in dollars.
- You need to exchange the won deposited in your account into dollars.

4. Choose a stock to buy
- Find the stock you want to buy in your securities firm's trading app (MTS or HTS).
<Major U.S. Stock Exchanges>
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): focused on large companies
- NASDAQ: made up mainly of technology companies
- American Stock Exchange (AMEX): a market for small and medium-sized companies

5. Buy
- Tap the stock you selected and enter the quantity and price to buy.

6. Withdrawing after selling U.S. stocks
- Funds can be withdrawn 3 business days after the sale.
- For Korean stocks, withdrawal is possible 2 business days after the sale.

7. Reinvesting after selling
- After selling, you can immediately buy another stock.
- For example, you can sell Tesla shares and then buy Apple shares.

8. Taxes on U.S. stocks
- Capital gains tax: 22% levied after an annual deduction of 2,500,000 won
- Dividend income tax: 15% withheld at source by the securities firm before you receive it

9. U.S. stock codes: tickers
- When trading U.S. stocks, you will come across the term ticker. A ticker is an abbreviation that makes long U.S. stock names easy to display. Korean stocks are identified by numbers called stock codes, but U.S. stocks are shown as GOOG for Google and AAPL for Apple.
As you can see, the process of investing in U.S. stocks is simple.
However, there are various institutional differences, so please familiarize yourself with them thoroughly in advance.