Trading 212 Help

Lightning360

My brother wants help with how trading 212 works.

He is in his third year of a 4 year uni course and has some savings he wants to invest. He likes the sound of it but is a bit confused with parts of it as he is completely new to investing so he has a few questions:
Can he invest really small amounts e.g. around £10 or £20?
What are the differences between Invest, CFD, and ISA on the Trading 212 website?
Does he have to pay tax? His only income is money from our parents, student finance and a few quid from a survey site (I use the same one, it's the Curious Cat app). How would he go about paying tax?
Are there any tips for him?
And last but definitely not least, is investing worth it?

Note - He is aware Trading 212 has currently stopped new account registrations.

Albermarle

He is very confused , so the advice is to keep his money in his wallet until he has a higher knowledge level .
You should never put money into something you do not understand .
The most important thing to know is this >>
Saving means putting money in a safe savings account with a bank or building society . Interest rate is low but money is safe . Suitable for short to medium term.
Investing means buying shares , bonds or more usually funds that contain a mixture of these. Your money is at risk of going down in the short term , but long term the trend is nearly always up . Long term means ten years or more . A Stocks and shares ISA is a way of holding investments so you do not have to pay any tax on gains.
Trading is very short term buying and selling of shares , CFD's etc . It is very risky and around 75% of traders lose money , especially inexperienced ones . So to be avoided unless he wants to throw his money away.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/investment-beginners/
https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/

benbay001

If hes got money left over then he should stop taking handouts from his parents.
That doesnt sit well with me.

Shankers

Heed the advice of others here and tell him to stay away.
If he wants to think about his future then something like a cash LISA would suit him well as he'll get a 25% bonus (maximum deposit 4k per tax year, meaning a 1k bonus if the full 4k was added), which he can put towards either his first property or his retirement (nothing else without incurring a large penalty). This would allow his money to grow without the risk of losing it all. Once he knows more about investing (rather than saving) a stocks and shares ISA would make more sense for the long term, but he needs to learn much more and be earning his own money for this to make sense.

Lightning360

benbay001 said:

If hes got money left over then he should stop taking handouts from his parents.
That doesnt sit well with me.

Bit rude. You don't know our situation. It doesn't sit well with me that you are judging others when you know next to nothing about them.

Lightning360

Albermarle said:

He is very confused , so the advice is to keep his money in his wallet until he has a higher knowledge level .

This is what I thought, to be honest, yet he still wanted me to ask for him. I'll pass this on to him

HansOndabush

Tell him to buy a few books and learn about shares, bonds, markets, macro before blindly trading; it will be money much better spent.

benbay001

Lightning360 said:

benbay001 said:

If hes got money left over then he should stop taking handouts from his parents.
That doesnt sit well with me.

Bit rude. You don't know our situation. It doesn't sit well with me that you are judging others when you know next to nothing about them.

Public forums probably arent for you then.

Thrugelmir

Lightning360 said:

My brother wants help with how trading 212 works.

Suggest he directly asks questions himself. We all start at ground zero. 

DireEmblem

I would suggest they open one of the Trading212 practice accounts.  No risk that way.

What I would also say - is what is currently happening in the markets with GME etc, and platforms allowing for 'small trades', is putting a lot of strain on systems.  Perhaps give it a week or two and then try one.

The first thing you need to understand with investing, is how easily or quickly do you need to be able to access your funds.

If you might need them next week, month, or even a couple of years, then you want a low risk investment - Premium bonds are probably the way to go right now.

If they are happy leaving things for at least 5-10 years, then that should be long enough to ride out most hiccup's in the financial markets, and end up with a profit.  In this sense, google the statistics on how many private investors, or even fund managers can actually beat a simple index fund over time.  If they are keen on investing, then I would suggest for starters, look at VWRP - the Vanguard FTSE All World Index ETF.

Then last of all, is what type of account you open.  If they are certain they won't need to access the funds in the short term, then they could consider a LISA.  Effectively a tax free savings vehicle for your first property or pension, where you can deposit up to £4k a year, and the Government will add 25%.  Note there is a penalty if you need to withdraw for another reason.

Finally I will point out that I have had a couple of beers this evening, and these are just ideas - it is not to be taken as gospel or advice

Eyeful

Savings: money in a safe account, with a bank or building society which you will need within 5 years.
Trading: is very short term gambling, with little chance of making a profit.
Investing is long term gambling, the longer the better (10 years at least) where you will not touch it for that time.
From your description, he not have knowledge even of the basics.
You should never invest in what you do not understand! 
Nothing to do with money is free, no matter what the advertainments say. Someone somewhere has to pay for things. Also there is always risk, its just the type and degree of risk which changes. 
It sounds as if your brother does not have a job, an emergency fund to cover at least 6 months living expenses. Or a pension.
I would suggest that he does some in depth research on the basics of what to do with money first.


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