Friday, April 29th marked the end of an era. For over one year, I have been taking advantage of up to 20 free stock trades a month. (The brokerage, called Freetrade, was a little known division of Ameritrade. I heard about it from a family member.)

But now, Freetrade is gone. It has been officially replaced by Ameritrade iZone. From now on, that 20 trades will cost me $100 per month.

I realize that this is still a good deal. But I was spoiled! It is far more expensive than free. In the past, I took some liberties with buying and selling because the trades cost me nothing. Times have changed.