Total novice help please

DiamondLil

Op, I was about your age when I first thought about investing as opposed to saving. I started off very small - £20 monthly into Perpetual High Income fund (sadly no longer in existence). I read everything I could lay my hands on in order to learn and it just kind of grew from there. There's no law that says you have to dive in with everything you've got - start small and see how it goes.

bostonerimus

Brie said:

I did some share trading for a number of years via a site called Motley Fool.  The great thing about it was that no only did it have a buy/sell tool it also had links to the stock exchange so you could get updates on prices, dividends etc.  They also had a forum like MSE with lots of intelligent and helpful individuals who could explain about various investment strategies.  Unfortunately the site closed in the UK a few years ago but I'm sure there must be other similar ones.  

When investing I made a few rules for myself - no weapons and no tobacco - both of which can be quite profitable.  And if I didn't understand a company I wouldn't buy shares.  I did rather well over the 4 - 5 years I trickled money in (£100 a month - so like you not a lot) and really enjoyed reading up and making decisions about what to buy.  I had some great success - one company got taken over and there was a share buyout that gave me nearly £200 for the £30 worth of shares I had purchased.  Marstons Brewery did quite nicely too.  Unfortunately I also bought shares in a company that ran care homes - aging population so I thought it was a real winner.  Ho hum - it went under and I didn't listen to one of the boffins who saw the signs and warned me to sell.  £100 lost but then a couple of years later I did get a letter to say the residual value of my shares was worth .000001p!

These days I stick to buying shares through a work scheme so I'm investing in my employer - lots of guarantees that I can't lose my money plus incentives as the employer matches my purchases thus meaning I'm buying at half price.  So far I'm up 100% on what I've put in so that makes me happy.

Share incentive schemes can be very attractive, but they have the same problem as all single share investments ie lack of diversity. I have a colleague who worked for Polaroid for 30 years and he owned a lot of Polaroid stock in his pension and also an employee share buying scheme. When Polaroid went bust so did his retirement, so please make sure you invest and save outside of your company.

bostonerimus

happymum37 said:

steampowered said:

I very much disagree with most of the other posters. I doubt the uncle's gift is about the money. It might be an attempt to get you into the habit of investing.

Understanding the basics of investing is a really really, important life skill. It's right up there with numeracy and literacy skills. A basic understanding of investing can make hundreds of thousands of pounds of difference to your lifetime wealth, compared with someone who just puts their money into a savings account.

The act of opening a stocks & shares ISA and putting some money in is really really important. You then know where to put your spare cash beyond your emergency fund. Go and do that. 

What is all of this nonsense about "having a punt"? While choosing a diversified investment fund such as a Vanguard fund is the lowest risk approach, even if you do choose an individual share rather than an investment fund, that is hardly comparable to choosing a horse down the bookies. Choosing a sensible blue chip company is highly likely to generate a good return over the long term.

Thank you

Like I said my uncle is quirky. His exact words were " have a punt and see if you can make it big'"

He knows our plans until now have been to pay off the mortgage early.  He's eccentric enough to genuinely expect me to burn it on shares but It has genuinely now made me think - think about investing 
X

Investing should not "be a punt". If you make it a long term considered strategy to invest in the macro economy rather than a single company stock you have an excellent chance of "making it big" - but it will take you 30 years. Paying off the mortgage early will save you interest and give you the security of owning a home outright, but what will you then do with the spare cash. 
FYI if you are contributing to a company pension you are probably investing already so make sure you understand that as well.

Cus

To me it sounds like uncle thinks that you should take some risk as at the moment you just save, not invest. As you can afford to lose it, buy shares in a company you really believe will grow and be the future. Watch it and enjoy, learn about investing, then put regular money in something more standard.

DireEmblem

Find a referral link, and sign up to Invest Engine.  You can pick between a selection of ETFs, and get a £75 bonus from a £100 deposit.

Then pick another platform and use your £100 to buy some stocks if you really want to do that.

Most people are terrible stock pickers as they cant take emotion out of the equation, but you have to learn that for yourself if you are one of them!

daz378

I started   a  stocks and shares isa in may  with an app called moneybox   put 200 to start off with and 40 pound a month...not particularly recommending  it   but i chose a balanced  tracker fund..and let it do its thing     think profit up to now  about 25 pound...realise its a bit of a gamble  but should work out long term

SharpShooter

1. Use a commission free broker i.e trading212/Freetrade. Most people on this forum are old school and prefer paying commission to HL et al, afraid of risk.

2. Buy an investment Trust i.e Alianz Tech- add your monthly £50 contribution for a year atleast while researching the market.

Good luck.

Alexland

SharpShooter said:

1. Use a commission free broker i.e trading212/Freetrade. Most people on this forum are old school and prefer paying commission to HL et al, afraid of risk.

On a small account within the FSCS limits it might be fine to go with one of the new entrants in particular if they are offering a signup incentive such as InvestEngine.
I don't think any of the forum regulars would advocate using HL on uncapped percentage charges as that's a very expensive option. That tends to be the new posters turning up who haven't realised yet.
The middle ground that most of us have accepted is paying a modest amount for a reputable established provider to hold our investments especially where the account types are not offered for free elsewhere (LISAs, SIPPs, etc), the account valuations are large or we might not want the inconvenience of waiting for assets to be recovered from a failed platform.

sevenhills

SharpShooter said:

1. Use a commission free broker i.e trading212/Freetrade. Most people on this forum are old school and prefer paying commission to HL et al, afraid of risk.

With Hargreaves Lansdown and other platforms that charge fees to trade, you can set a price to buy at or buy at any time of the day, which is the same when selling.

Many new traders make the mistake of overtrading and don’t realize that there are specific times of day to trade(prices can vary 1%-2% per day) that are better than others. 9:30am est to 11:00am est is the best time of day to buy stocks because that’s when the market is most liquid.

Freetrade place deals when they choose, often at 4pm.

So the cost of trading is very similar, there is no such thing as free.

cloud_dog

@happymum37 google Lars Kroijar, he has an easy to digest Youtube channel, website, and book (Investing Demystified).  There are other good sources for investing information but I think Lars is clear and easy to understand.

My only comment would to stick to using OEICs/funds and not ETFs or ITs with the amounts you are talking about.