I started with Scottrade and there are no fees for opening an account. They will pay interest on your cash balance (0.01%) so don't get too excited. Seriously, they love you to deposit money and then do nothing. How hard can it be for Scotrade to invest your money and get a better return than 0.01%? Like T Bills.

Shameless Plug: You can use the referral code WRBB1235 to get 3 free trades on Scottrade.

But to answer your question, no you can't lose that $500 just by depositing it into your account. The only way you could lose it is if you invest in a stock that loses some value. But even so, you're not penalized in any way by Scottrade for your deposit losing it's value. Basically, you only need the $500 to open the account, it doesn't matter what happens to it after opening.

You will not lose any part of your $500 sitting in your account

No fees,,, if any,,, it will be on their website,,, if you are going to invest,,, I'm sure you are very good at reading.

You do not lose money just by putting it in the account.

There are brokers that give you welcome bonus with and without deposit

Hello, I am 18 Years old, & after a few months of research I believe I am ready to break into the stock market field. I have $2000 to start with, & I decided to open an account but have one question. The $500 minimum deposit. If I put $500 into a start up individual account, Will it remain 500 dollars? Or will there be fee's or any way of losing money from the $500 dollars for just putting it into a new account? Thank you!