Investing guide for a beginner

iou_3

Hi all

I'm interested in investing and would like to learn more. Could someone point me to a good guide to investing and give any recommendations as to which areas I should consider if I wanted to invest about 5–10K somewhere that carried a low risk in order to see my money grow nicely over several years. ty

debbie42

iou wrote: »

Could someone point me to a good guide to investing and give any recommendations as to which areas I should consider if I wanted to invest about 5–10K somewhere that carried a low risk in order to see my money grow nicely over several years. ty

Unfortunately, low risk investments don't grow as well as you'd always like. If you stick some money in, say, a building society account, and it doesn't keep track with inflation then, effectively your money isn't worth as much as when you put it in.

Conversely, if you stick it in, say, a stocks and shares investment then it could rise above inflation, but there again it could crash miserably. S&S should definitely be considered a long term investment.

Also, have you used up your ISA allowance, if a tax payer?

There are some good posts and articles on MSE regarding different investment approaches. I'd start reading here and think about what level of risk you are comfortable with.

chesky369

a stocks and shares ISA is probably the best way to go - you can put in £7k per year - Invesco do a good one.

debbie42

chesky369 wrote: »

a stocks and shares ISA is probably the best way to go - you can put in £7k per year - Invesco do a good one.

Stocks and Shares aren't normally considered "low risk", though it depends on your meaning of the phrase.

iou_3

I don't have any savings accounts at the moment, only a current account with Lloyds TSB (Under 19's account). I'm waiting a couple of weeks to see what happens to interest rates then I will ditch, switch and start a 'savings fountain'. My choice of savings ISA may affect my choices of investing later on. By going through a few threads it seems the best place to start learning rather than earning would be a low risk, long term investment of some sort. I would appreciate a good source of information for investing.

chesky369

Anyone who's young enough to have an under 19s account should be able to take the sort of risk that a stocks and shares ISA involves, over the long term.

dunstonh

Risk is not on/off. It is a sliding scale and there options to invest in which cover most risk profiles. If you stick all your eggs in one basket then you will never do well. You may for a time but these things work in cycles.

A spread of funds, even £1000x7 = £7000 for your ISA and utilise different areas, including non stockmarket funds but average it out to match your risk profile. If you cant do the research yourself, then get an IFA to do it or use a fund of funds.

amcluesent

Have a read of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator for a taste of the thinking of an investor driven be fear and greed; if you're not buying you must be shorting

Then a A Random Walk Down Wall Street, but think very critically about what is being discussed