Best online broker for small time investor?

chrismills6989

Can anyone recommend some online brokers that are suited to small time investors? Im only 18 and have been given some shares by my Uncle. Im planning on selling them and starting my own small portfolio.

I have also been advised not to use a self select ISA because it won’t benefit me? Is this correct.

dunstonh

I have also been advised not to use a self select ISA because it won’t benefit me? Is this correct.

We dont know your circumstances so cant really say. It depends on your tax position, how much is involved and how long you intend to be doing this over.

There may be little short term gain but if you plan this long term then the ISA benefits could be valuable then.

cheerfulcat

chrismills6989 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend some online brokers that are suited to small time investors? Im only 18 and have been given some shares by my Uncle. Im planning on selling them and starting my own small portfolio.

Selftrade is fairly popular - if you get someone to refer you, you will both get a £50 bonus ( look here ). I also use the Halifax sharedealing service - if you are dealing in small amounts, their Sharebuilder is very cheap though as it's a batch-dealing service you will have no control over the price at which shares are bought.

I have also been advised not to use a self select ISA because it won’t benefit me? Is this correct.

No, it's not correct, assuming that you are UK resident for tax purposes. One of the major benefits of using the ISA wrapper is that you don't need to report dealings to HMRC. As dh writes, over the shorter term this may not come into play but over the long term it could save you an awful lot of bother.

chrismills6989

I am planning to build up this portfolio in the future. So long term. I’m currently a student and in part time work, so I don’t get taxed. The amount is only a couple of thousand pounds. That’s the current value of the shares being given to me at the moment.

I was advised not to open a self select ISA because the chances of me paying CGT were very small. And management fees would only chip away at any profits.

Would you suggest I open an ISA then because I wish to build on this £2000 in the future?

cheerfulcat

chrismills6989 wrote: »

I was advised not to open a self select ISA because the chances of me paying CGT were very small. And management fees would only chip away at any profits.

The chances of your getting caught by CGT may be small now, but what about in ten years' time? As to fees - the annual fee for the Selftrade ISA is £25. Alliance Trust offers an ISA wrapper with no annual fee.

Would you suggest I open an ISA then because I wish to build on this £2000 in the future?

I would suggest that you sit down and calculate how long, under various scenarios, it would take before you personally would find an ISA useful.