Buying shares for first time

gc747

hi all, 
Looking at the current state of the ftse100 I have decided that now may be a good time to have a bit of a small dabble, when I say small I mean really small, nothing that will put me in any danger one way or the other.. but I do have a few questions...

from reading previous discussions on here it would appear that Hargreaves lansdown is possibly the best company to use, without the fuss of going into the bank.. would their “fund and share” account be the right account for me investing no more than 150 pounds?

really amateur question, do I just click buy on the share I want, select how many shares and then can I sell at anytime afterwards? Also at what point do I pay Hargreaves landsdown a fee and how much will it likely be? 

I’m sorry to bombard you with questions but I guess I’m just a little bit nervous 😬 

thank you for reading and I look forward to any answers 😀

AnotherJoe

do not buy the FTSE100 !!
and frankly with just  150 it's  not worth the time or effort anyway. 

Albermarle

When you shares on HL they charge about £12 I think and when you sell them , so buying £150 worth you would be hit very hard with charges . There are cheaper platforms but not sure they would let you register for such a small amount .
You would be much better buying a FTSE tracker fund of some sort . No charge for buying it and only a small % platform fee. 

gc747

Thank you both, fair shout about HL’s costs.. I just wanted to buy a few shares in two companies while the price is low (I know the risk involved). What is the best site to use just to buy and then sell shares maybe in a few months ? 

Thank you again 😀

wmb194

For such a small amount of money I'd consider Freetrade. It is a young company but is covered by the FSCS and has no dealing commissions. Assuming the offer's still on, if you look on the referrers board you can use someone's code to get a free share.

Bobby_Bouche

gc747 said:

hi all, 
Looking at the current state of the ftse100 I have decided that now may be a good time to have a bit of a small dabble, when I say small I mean really small, nothing that will put me in any danger one way or the other.. but I do have a few questions...

from reading previous discussions on here it would appear that Hargreaves lansdown is possibly the best company to use, without the fuss of going into the bank.. would their “fund and share” account be the right account for me investing no more than 150 pounds?

really amateur question, do I just click buy on the share I want, select how many shares and then can I sell at anytime afterwards? Also at what point do I pay Hargreaves landsdown a fee and how much will it likely be? 

I’m sorry to bombard you with questions but I guess I’m just a little bit nervous 😬 

thank you for reading and I look forward to any answers 😀

I am similar to you,   but looking to invest £500-£2k but being totally new I am finding it a bit overwhelming at this stage. Bitcoin and similar I understand, but the buying shares angel has me reading tons .

I simply want to invest in a portfolio of companies or a fund etc.
 Any pointers please anyone?
Sorry to hijack the thread but thought it was relevant.

swaledale_one

Albermarle said:

When you shares on HL they charge about £12 I think and when you sell them , so buying £150 worth you would be hit very hard with charges . There are cheaper platforms but not sure they would let you register for such a small amount .
You would be much better buying a FTSE tracker fund of some sort . No charge for buying it and only a small % platform fee. 

If the OP registers for an share isa then set up a DD for £75 a month then he can choose one company one month then the other the following month and that way the buy fee is £1.50.
Ps theres alot of company shares at the moment that have been 2-4pence a share minimum for over 5years and are now around 0.005 pence so worth considering, you dont always have to to spend ££££'s to make it worth while, although admittedly sometimes you do for say something like Games Workshop aka Warhammer they've been a steady £60 a share minimum infact they've regularly gone over £70 but they slumped to £35ish little over a month ago now look at them..

mollycat

Bobby_Bouche said 

I am similar to you,   but looking to invest £500-£2k but being totally new I am finding it a bit overwhelming at this stage. Bitcoin and similar I understand, but the buying shares angel has me reading tons .

I simply want to invest in a portfolio of companies or a fund etc.
 Any pointers please anyone?
Sorry to hijack the thread but thought it was relevant.

I know @bowlhead99 is a helpfull, generous poster with his lengthy explananations, but that description might have even him blushing!

CrimsonBear

I'm new to investing too, and opened an account with Hargrieves Lansdown - I opted for the Stocks & shares ISA, then opted for 3 funds within the ISA - You could open a tax free fund account with £150, then £25 a month and minimal charges.

MaxiRobriguez

Before you dive in wanting to buy shares, consider whether you've got the correct wrapper. If your investing horizon is 20+ years plus you'll probably find a pension is better than an ISA, even more so if you can get salary sacrifice contributions and/or you're a higher rate taxpayer.