New to Shares, Brokers etc. Advice needed

debt_collector

Get rich quick!! Wouldnt we all like to??!! Ive been reading the forums and links re shares and investments and would like some advice. If I was considering shares, investments and the like to get rich quick", where do I look (apart from marrying a millionaire)!. Who do I invest in, how much, profit etc or am I dreaming?!

Regards

cheerfulcat

Well, first of all I would urge you to get rid of the " get rich quick " idea. Equities have historically returned far more than cash but they are a long-term investment. Yes, it is possible to make a large amount of money in a fairly short time but generally speaking to get a really spectacular return quickly entails taking quite a lot of risk.

As to where to invest, that has to be up to you. There are tip sheets, and no shortage of people willing to tell you what shares are going to " rocket " but nothing replaces doing your own research; you have to understand why an investment is worthwhile.

How much? Just as much as you are willing/can afford to lose. Not because you are likely to lose the whole lot, but because you will make better decisions knowing that you don't need the money for next month's mortgage payment.

Profit - do you mean how much is it possible to make? It depends in part on how much risk you can stomach. A small AIM traded company has far more potential to go up than a large blue chip but could equally go bust much faster. For a prime example, look at Chariot, the Monday Lottery group - floated in February IIRC at ~117 pence, went to 213p quite quickly and now languishes at 6.25p . £1000 invested at launch would have been worth over £1700 in early April. It would be worth around £50 right now...:eek:

Have a good look around the Motley Fool website. There are some excellent articles in the Fool School and Learn to Invest sections; the discussion boards are also first class. There is a good reading list discussion here, and a Books about Investing discussion board which is worth looking at.

Incademy has some good general investment courses ( free ).

HTH

Cheerfulcat