Simple Man's investing Plan ...

Toastie

I was looking at buying shares (oh yes in the middle of recession).

Maybe not straightaway but i was looking at the Hargreaves Lansdown Vantage share account but it says the minimum investment is £3,000 and it says about tax forms annually? Or am i miss reading this at 2A.M?

Also is there just the flat £9.95 fee for each transaction? and no monthly / quarterly fee?

Thanks for the replies and patience to reply.

opinions4u

There are numerous share dealing services.

I've never come across one that requires a minimum holding, but that's their choice I suppose.

I use Halifax Sharedealing which costs £11.95 per transaction - £5 for deals less than £250. No minimum holding. Others will tell you about cheaper services I'm sure.

Another choice you would have could be something like buying in to a tracker fund. Legal & General have one with relatively low charges (0.5%) so if you're playing with relatively small amounts, or buying monthly, this would spread your risk a little more than throwing all your eggs in one basket (like a did with HBOS - and lost big time!) - you can also get a nice kickback if you purchase via the Quidco loyalty site. Wrapped up in an ISA you can save a little on tax too

If you're dabbling with a significant proportion of your savings, I'd personally see an IFA before doing anything. They can look at all the tax loopholes you can benefit from, a wider range of funds that may be better suited to your risk profile, and find ways to deliver longer term returns for you. Putting part of the money towards pensions may be more appropriate for you.

That said, there is a little bit of fun in making your own buying and selling choices with an online share portfolio! Until you invest in a bank, or Marconi, or Airtours. Some of the crocks that have lost me money over the years!!

Quidco link for £85 (make sure you register first): http://www.quidco.com/legal-general-isas/

twokcc

I invested in a HL stocks and shares ISA put max in at beginning of tax year, left it as cash until recently. Bought shares in 4 companies only one still negative is Tesco! but they are a long term hold for me. Others all bought to get a reasonable dividend which look even more attractive with interest rates going down.
No problems with HL but don't have any experience of other sharedealers so cant compare

halight

Hi i use the motley fool share dealing accout Googal it. and have a look. Iv always found it cheeper than most others but thay give very good service. And there is a resherech part on the site to.

Good luck

cheerfulcat

Hi, there

Toastie wrote: »

Maybe not straightaway but i was looking at the Hargreaves Lansdown Vantage share account but it says the minimum investment is £3,000 and it says about tax forms annually? Or am i miss reading this at 2A.M?

Also is there just the flat £9.95 fee for each transaction? and no monthly / quarterly fee?

As far as I know there's no minimum investment for shares.

The tax forms are just annual statements showing your transactions and any dividends paid.

The commission you pay depends on the type of account you have - if it's the ordinary Vantage account there is a tiered system; it starts at £9.95 and goes up to £29.95, with no other fees. The frequent trader account has a flat commission rate of £9.95 and a quarterly charge of £12.50. There's a 0.5% tax charge on purchases as well but you'll pay that with any broker.

If you intend to trade frequently then IMO the Hargreaves Lansdown account is a fairly good deal, given that their service is more reliable in unstable market conditions than that of cheaper brokers. If you intend to buy and hold then a cheap execution-only broker like Selftrade might suit. If you want to make regular monthly investments then have a look at a batch-traded account like Halifax Sharebuilder or the similar offering from Alliance Trust ( sorry, can't do links at the moment ).

Toastie

I think I've decided on Selftrade, although i prefer the HL website they say they will give me "one consolidated tax voucher every year making your tax return even easier."
However i don't really want to be filling out a tax return form and i think the extra charge kind of justifies it. Unless anyone knows different? (i might not be understanding the selftrade offer very well)

Thank you for the replies, i noticed that there is a Q&A topic opened up.

MiM

I'm with Selftrade and as I understand it they also give you a single certificate for tax, making filling in your return, if you do one, very easy.

They also operate a scheme whereby an existing user and yourself can both get £50 when you sign up.

The referrals board has details of people who will offer this or I can do so if you PM me.

Blah99

Toastie wrote: »

I think I've decided on Selftrade, although i prefer the HL website they say they will give me "one consolidated tax voucher every year making your tax return even easier."
However i don't really want to be filling out a tax return form and i think the extra charge kind of justifies it. Unless anyone knows different? (i might not be understanding the selftrade offer very well)

Thank you for the replies, i noticed that there is a Q&A topic opened up.

Unless you're going to clear your CGT allowance off the bat (in which case congratulations, you'll be the best newbie share investor I've ever seen!) I wouldn't worry about it.