First time investor

Millyonare

Open a SIPP personal pension and start feeding in monthly payments, 12 months a year. Invest in a passive global tracker, such as VWRL. Watch the magic of compound growth.

eskbanker

Nick9967 said:

Adyinvestment said:

As long as its money that isn't an issue to be lost I don't think it is a bad idea, I am all for the getting stuck in approach

I would use a platform like eToro where you don't pay a trade fee so making lots of small trades is not an issue, it is also very slick and easy on the eye with individual stock research and news easy to find. I would show them the basics (encourage using Google) and then let them get on with it answering questions as you can, probably will lose but the experience may teach a few valuable lessons that could be invaluable later down the line.

That’s my view as well, the money is his, he has worked for it and is interested in the whole subject, what better way to learn I think, he has today put 25 quid on shorting GM on etorro because he's read up on it! We'll see tomorrow what happens, he is learning already and your post confirms my own thoughts so thanks a lot! You know what he if makes a tenner he'll be hooked, if he looses at tenner it won’t break his heart, he’s a clever lad and will make it one way or another! Thanks for your replies! 

Shorting a stock and awaiting an outcome the next day won't teach him anything about investing but may start to illustrate the pros and cons of day trading, which is an entirely different matter!

wmb194

Rather than eToro if I were him I'd try Freetrade as IIRC eToro's fees are higher. It probably won't be worth much but it has a free share, refer a friend offer.

https://freetrade.io/free-share

adindas

Nick9967 said:

Adyinvestment said:

As long as its money that isn't an issue to be lost I don't think it is a bad idea, I am all for the getting stuck in approach

I would use a platform like eToro where you don't pay a trade fee so making lots of small trades is not an issue, it is also very slick and easy on the eye with individual stock research and news easy to find. I would show them the basics (encourage using Google) and then let them get on with it answering questions as you can, probably will lose but the experience may teach a few valuable lessons that could be invaluable later down the line.

That’s my view as well, the money is his, he has worked for it and is interested in the whole subject, what better way to learn I think, he has today put 25 quid on shorting GM on etorro because he's read up on it! We'll see tomorrow what happens, he is learning already and your post confirms my own thoughts so thanks a lot! You know what he if makes a tenner he'll be hooked, if he looses at tenner it won’t break his heart, he’s a clever lad and will make it one way or another! Thanks for your replies! 

Shorting is not investing but it is a trading.
Trading is for a short term while investing is for long term.
Both trading and investing will need a different set of skills, although it is not mutually exclusive. For trading it is mainly learning technical analysis and for investing, it is a fundamental analysis. But both skills are needed.

Just a word of cautions most traders are losing money. But this is not to suggest people should not be learning it. But if you just throwing your money without equip yourself with the skills needed, that is just trying your luck. Which is actually gambling, 

Once of the approach is to open a paper account with fake money on eToro (as you mentioned it) and see how he is getting on in a few months, while keep learning both fundamental and technical analysis