Share dealing - Newbie

trumbo

I am interested in investing between £50-100 per month in shares and have been looking around for an online dealer which is cheap....

Best I have found so far is 'The Share Centre'.... does anyone use these and are they one of the best about.

Also is £50-100 worth investing or should dealing in Shares be for people with Vast sums of Cash? I am interested as I dont mind the risk so much and think it'll be interesting investing in Shares, bit of excitement gained from investing Money

Also I have filled my Cash ISA this year and Plan to fill up Next Years (After April 6th).

Any Views?

Mikeyorks

Think you should read this on the online dealer aspect :

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1117533386,21726,

As regards the value of your monthly investment, don't really feel qualified to comment as it depends on your attitude to risk. And which shares you choose!

Have you considered putting this money into a Stock / Shares ISA - for example one which tracks the FTSE100? Mine has done extremely well over this last tax year - but 'past performance .... etc'! Most allow monthly payments (eg Halifax is min £50 per month). It doesn't exactly get the adrenaline flowing, but it does minimise the risk because of the spread.

trumbo

Given a couple of threads of here a read and tbh some things sound complicated....

i.e The W8BEN forms etc

If I set up an online account with say 'The Share Centre' do I have to:

Inform the tax man or would they know automatically....?

Fill in Forms like the W8BEN if buying shares from companies outside the UK?

Would said forms just be forwarded to me or would I have to actually go looking for these things?

Any other suprizes I should be aware of or would the online dealer take care of all these things behind the scenes?

Just I find it doesn't make easy reading? How is a 'Normal' invester supposed to be able to invest in Stocks & Shares when things sound complicated?

Or am I just over-complicating things myself.

EdInvestor

trumbo wrote:

I am interested in investing between £50-100 per month in shares and have been looking around for an online dealer which is cheap....
Also is £50-100 worth investing or should dealing in Shares be for people with Vast sums of Cash?

Further down his article Martin mentions the Halifax Sharebuilder account.IMHO this is far and away the best one for anyone investing small amounts in shares regularly like you, it is much cheaper than any of the others.

trumbo

Yep, I had seen this but you lose the real time aspect (well you have to pay 11.95 for it).....

Sounds good for what I want but do you still have the complications like filling in W8BEN forms etc?

Seems a good way of getting started in Stocks/Shares..... do you know whether the Sharebuilder allows you to buy shares in foreign Companys? cant see this info on there website.........

cheerfulcat

trumbo wrote:

If I set up an online account with say 'The Share Centre' do I have to:

Inform the tax man or would they know automatically....?

Neither. The tax man only needs to be told when you have realised profits over and above your CGT allowance ( £8500 for 05-06 ). You also have to declare any dividends received but a basic rate taxpayer has no further tax to pay on them.

Fill in Forms like the W8BEN if buying shares from companies outside the UK?

The W8BEN is a US, not a UK, tax form. It applies to non-US citizens who hold US listed stocks. BTW for a novice it's probably best to stick to the main UK market ( FTSE ).

Would said forms just be forwarded to me or would I have to actually go looking for these things?

I have mixed experience with this; a good broker will supply you with any forms you need automatically. A not-so-good one will expect you to ask.

Any other suprizes I should be aware of or would the online dealer take care of all these things behind the scenes?

There are things like share consolidations/splits, takeovers, mergers, special dividends and other messinesses; there's plenty of information available but it's not always forthcoming from brokers. Sometimes it's dealt with automatically, sometimes you have to make a decision. But they don't happen that often.

Just I find it doesn't make easy reading? How is a 'Normal' invester supposed to be able to invest in Stocks & Shares when things sound complicated?

They aren't that complicated, really. You open an account, you buy some shares, and away you go - the hardest part is picking the right shares

HTH

Cheerfulcat

trumbo

Cheers for the info.....