Idiots Guide To Shares / Investments

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Please can you point me in the direction of any article that will not scare me to death - I have just read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' which has inspired me and want to invest around £25-£50 per month in SOMETHING that might give good returns. I am prepared to 'forget' about that money for quite some time.

By the way, the above is extra money I have - we already have ISA's and normal savings account with other money put away that we won't use for shares etc.

I have never bought a share and just about managed to fully understand ISA's - please be gentle with me.

Paul_Herring

http://www.incademy.com/pages/home.htm?ginPtrCode=10002

EagerLearner

Thanks Paul - will check it out!

cheerfulcat

Hi, EagerLearner,

The Motley Fool has a good set of investment guides as well.

EagerLearner

Thansk Cheerful - between these and Donglemouses' thread re spread betting, lots for me to read!

EagerLearner

Hi everyone,

I don't see any way of finding this out unless I ask those in the know here in MSE!

I want to invest £30 a month in a company that will buy and manage shares for me. Is there a 'top 10' list of such companies?

I just want them to DD this amount each month.

Joe_Bloggs

I am a shares idiot. I know if you buy some shares there may be dividends,capital growth/loss and also 'perks' to share holders. For example if you buy shares in a confectionary company you may get free chocolate vouchers. There may be concessions to the products in many other fields. If you buy into what you use you may get a chance to say what you think and get some freebies.
Who gets the perks when the shares are part of a managed investment portfolio ? If nobody then there is more left over for the rest.
J_B. ( Clearly a shares idiot.)

Saucepot

The intelligent investor by Ben Graham.

top book.

EagerLearner

Thanks Joe-Bloggs and Saucepot - I guess there's a temptation to buy 'what I like' in that case re perks!

What I'd really prefer is for a compnay that knows what they are doing to do it, rather than me... and I just get a yearly statement showing what they've done with my £30 per month?

cheerfulcat

EagerLearner, a global investment trust might suit you. ITs are companies which invest in other companies. If you buy shares in an IT you will participate indirectly in the investment return ( this is different from unit trusts where your money is directly invested ). The main thing with ITs is that because of the structure the manager isn't obliged to sell shares when someone wants to cash in their investment, unlike UTs. More here and here. You can find records of performance on Trustnet as well.