Investment Beginner

ninetynine
ninetynine Posts: 44 Forumite
in Savings & investments
I am looking to start investing £50pm but as a complete beginner, I'm not sure where to start looking.
  • I contribute to a pension that my employer also contributes to.
  • I have an emergency savings fund that I can easily access if needed.
  • I have a medium-term savings goal that I am saving towards each month. Once I've reached it (hopefully by the end of 2014) I aim to invest a larger monthly contribution.
  • I have no debt.

Any advice/help/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 44,399 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    You might like to buy/borrow from the library "Smarter Investing" by Tim Hale which is often recommended.

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=64837484#post64837484 See post 4 and 5.
  • ColdIron
    ColdIron Posts: 9,044 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    smilerx - Well that was uncalled for. Looking at the OPs posting history she seems quite pleasant unlike your previous posts

    Here at MSE we are asked to be nice to newbies but in your case I'll make an exception and have reported you for abuse. Let's hope it's the last we see of you
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 44,399 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    have reported you for abuse

    Likewise - how very unfortunate it is that people have nothing better to do than be rude and sarcastic to those seeking information.
  • youtellme90
    youtellme90 Posts: 54 Forumite
    sophia1989 wrote: »
    I am looking to start investing £50pm but as a complete beginner, I'm not sure where to start looking.

    I'm about to start investing with Nutmeg. They provide an ISA you can put £50pm in (£1000 minimum deposit, so might not suit) and they'll invest in various investment funds on your behalf. Reviews from others on this forum seem to see it as expensive (they charge 1% + fund fees) but for me as a beginner also it seems an easy place to get started.

    Even if you decide not to go with them there is lots of useful information on their website. I also found Monevator useful (I think there are some links if you go to where Xylophone linked previously)
    Better to keep silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

    All views expressed here are my own and do not represent those of my family, friends or employer.
  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    sophia1989 wrote: »
    I am looking to start investing £50pm but as a complete beginner, I'm not sure where to start looking.
    • I contribute to a pension that my employer also contributes to.
    • I have an emergency savings fund that I can easily access if needed.
    • I have a medium-term savings goal that I am saving towards each month. Once I've reached it (hopefully by the end of 2014) I aim to invest a larger monthly contribution.
    • I have no debt.

    Any advice/help/tips would be greatly appreciated.

    The problem with small regular contributions is that they can be expensive due to fixed fees on contributions, meaning a high percentage of your savings are eaten up by charges early in your investment life.

    Some investment trusts have regular savings plans that you can invest into at low or no charge with them directly, so worth looking into. They are companies that just invest in other companies, so choosing a large and diversified one might be good for you, some accept regular contributions of £25 or even £10 a month so you could split your contributions.
  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    smilerx wrote: »
    Got another job that paid just as well as the one I left. Still got the wife and nope, never had kids. I value my assets. Don't want kids to wreck it all. I'm quite happy, thank you very much.

    You don't seem very happy, so presumably you're still selling those dodgy second hand cars.

    You've not changed any of my assumptions anyway.
  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    smilerx wrote: »
    Whatever. Think whatever you want.

    Is this bugsy back again?
  • Azza_1
    Azza_1 Posts: 74 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Start here - http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

    Particular attention to this - http://monevator.com/how-to-invest-on-a-budget/

    Have a read of the other articles and in particular the weekend readers as they link to some other very good websites and personal blogs.

    And get yourself a copy of Tim Hales book that's linked above.
  • ninetynine
    ninetynine Posts: 44 Forumite
    Thank you very much for your helpful advice. I'll add the books and links to my reading list.

    Thanks also for reporting the response from smilerx - completely uncalled for and offensive.
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