Buying Shares as a one off

johnrobinson1

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a one off lump of shares to sit on (only a few hundred pounds) for a set period of time but im discovering that the share investment platforms are a minefield or different costs, new words and information.
As you can guess im very new to this so i was looking for some advise what platform would be most suited for my needs? and what costs i will have to pay? some i have noticed have annual fees, are these inevitable? ideally i didn't want ongoing costs as i just want to buy in once and wait. I have looked at barclays investments but i couldn't find the shares i want to buy on their platform.

Thanks in advance for the advice, and please be kind, as i said i am new to this.

AnotherJoe

Hargreaves Lansdown. TBH though seems pointless a few hundreds worth.

Edi81

What shares do you want to buy?
You realise that single company shares are high risk?
Would you be better off with a fund of some sort that you could forget about for a few years?

EdGasketTheSecond

x-o Jarvis. No annual fee; £5.95 for a trade. I think its £50 to close the account. Open an ISA if you can then if you are lucky and make huge gains, they are tax-free. Or iWeb, no annual fees, £5 a trade but £25 to join.

SeniorSam

Dont risk a share in the hope that it may grow. It could as easily go down and not up. If you SPREAD the investment by buying a FUND, that is invested in lots of shares. A good fund may be Lindsel Train Global Equity or Lindsel Train UK Equity both of which have done very well. Look them upo to see what I mean. Ypou have leas rish with a FUND rather than a Share.

benbay001

SeniorSam wrote: »

It could as easily go down and not up.

Only if you pin all the ticker symbols to a dart board and stand well back before throwing.


Some people enjoy researching and choosing companies themselves.

johnrobinson1

I was looking to buy shares in tesla, i realise everyone is going to have a personal opinion on whether this is a good or bad idea but are cheapish at the moment and i feel like its a good idea, which made me want to buy around £400 pounds worth.

@anotherjoe, I dont have a great deal of money and there is no way i can afford a large sum, but its money i can set aside at the moment, even if its a small amount as it is then if there is an increase in share price i will feel like a lot for me.

I know its a high risk putting shares into one company but i feel like its worth the risk.

I have read about funds but i wasnt aware they gave a great return for such a small amount, and i thought it would need a much larger investment to make it worthwhile.

Thank you all for the replies and advice.

webjaved

I have read about funds but i wasnt aware they gave a great return for such a small amount, and i thought it would need a much larger investment to make it worthwhile.

You don't need a larger investment, you can add to the fund whenever you can, for example on a monthly basis just drip feed some money into the fund.

gt94sss2

You can buy and hold shares in Tesla via https://freetrade.io/ - from memory it will cost £1 or might even be free (+ a small margin for f/x) with no ongoing fees or charges

https://community.freetrade.io has some threads about the company.

As well as traditional funds you may want to consider ETFs

benbay001

johnrobinson1 wrote: »

I was looking to buy shares in tesla ... are cheapish at the moment and i feel like its a good idea

That entirely depends on your view of Tesla.

Their share price is less than it was but that doesn't mean they are necessarily cheap, they may have been over priced before.

The car industry is very competitive and a lot of rivals are catching up very quickly making Tesla shares a very risky buy.

Im not trying to put you off, but merely make you think, have you really spotted something the millions of other investors haven't?

Edited to add: I personally have exposure to Tesla through Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, at least my risk is split between multiple risky companies.

LobsterMemory

I think it's a crap idea, but I thought the same about Google

And Amazon

So if it's money you can afford to lose, and you're aware this is gambling rather than investing, go for it. The people advising you against it are likely to be right because it's not a credible long term strategy.

But it's a bet. Bets sometimes come off.

And if it does, don't go thinking you're a stock market guru and can just put any profits on your next big idea and expect it to work again.