Stocks & Shares/ Investing recommended reading for beginner

Atlas234

I am looking to open an S&S ISA and start investing, but as I am totally new to it, I would like to gain a decent grasp of the fundamentals before I start.
So I am just looking for some suggestions on reading material that people have found worthwhile, books, websites, articals, anything really that might help a beginner starting out. 
Thanks

Another_Saver

A few in the forum suggest monevator.com, Lars Kroijer, Jack Bogle's Little Book of Common Sense Investing as decent starter resources. The main site has a beginner's guide (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/investment-beginners/) and a constantly updated article of the main S&S ISAs (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/).

eskbanker

I usually point newbie investors towards sites such as:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/investing-beginners-guide

https://www.hl.co.uk/beginners-guides/investing

http://www.monevator.com

http://kroijer.com/

http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/

https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

as well as highlighting a number of key points of principle:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
   
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
   
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
   
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
   
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
   
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

Alexland

https://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

csgohan4

avoid the speculative threads until you are more confident and more experienced. Best not to invest in individual stocks for now

noclaf

I recently bought a couple of investing guides/books on Amazon and have started on this one which I'm enjoying as it's quite short but clearly set out in layman's terms: A guide to simple but effective low cost investing by John Edwards.
A few points to note: some books are more skewed to the US markets and financial jargon so bear that in mind when reading and that brings me onto my next point: read more than 1 book as each will be different/possibly cover slightly different content..useful to get a broad perspective etc

Thrugelmir

Read the financial press, listen to business radio programmes and podcasts.  Immerse yourself in the subject and find your niche. 

coastline

A decent summary from the exchange itself with useful videos thrown in.
 Personal Investing Hub | London Stock Exchange
Without buying any books again there's plenty to go at online. A simple google of " investment for beginners UK " should throw up some ideas.

Atlas234

OK thanks for the replies everyone, time to start studying! 

Thrugelmir

Atlas234 said:

OK thanks for the replies everyone, time to start studying! 

You'll never stop learning. 

Albermarle

I am looking to open an S&S ISA and start investing, but as I am totally new to it, I would like to gain a decent grasp of the fundamentals before I start.

It is quite refreshing to see such a common sense approach . Many investor newbies who post on here try to run before they can walk.

Also many posters seem oblivious to the fact they are already invested in the markets via their pension in many cases and often there is a lot more money at stake than in an ISA.