ISA - Stocks and Shares

dunstonh

slenderkitten said:

What about Hargreaves Lansdown, Wealthify and Moneybox any thoughts on using them?

They are different types of provider catering for different target markets.   You need to narrow it down more in what you are after as there is a lot of difference between a whole of market platform and a robo.

Tonski

slenderkitten said:

Thanks i'll look at the videos, I think I would only spend a small amount to begin with to get used to it and understand it.  Do the accounts allow you to pick your own or do you have someone do it for you (i would imagine the latter option would have more fees associated with it)?

Yes, you can pick your own or pay extra to have it managed for you. Around 85% of actively managed funds don't beat the market (a simple market weight index fund) in a given year and this percentage gets higher over longer time periods. The fees are also a lot higher so i would highly recommend picking your own. Invest engine for example is free to pick your own or 0.25% a year for them to do it for you, others will be significantly higher.

Sea_Shell

slenderkitten said:

Thanks i'll look at the videos, I think I would only spend a small amount to begin with to get used to it and understand it.  Do the accounts allow you to pick your own or do you have someone do it for you (i would imagine the latter option would have more fees associated with it)?

That's probably the right approach for you.    Stay small ££ until you gain a better understanding.

I know you said you don't want to save JUST for a house, but if that is on the cards in the next 5 - 10 years, then you still need to be saving in cash too.    

The bigger deposit you can put down the better, usually, whilst not leaving yourself short of day-to-day savings for running costs and things that crop up when you're a home-owner.    

The usual rule for "emergency" savings, in cash, is to have a least 6-12 months of your usual income or expenditure, available.    So when you do come to buy, bear that in mind when assessing affordability.

Having a quick look at mortgages at the moment, as a rule of thumb, it appears that monthly rates amount start from ~£280 per £50k borrowed, but of course your individual circumstances will apply at the time.

slenderkitten

Albermarle said:

slenderkitten said:

Petriix said:

Knowing nothing about buying shares, I've just opened a Stocks and Shares ISA with Trading 212. I got a free random share worth £44 by using a referral link. They give 1% cashback (which you can't withdraw for a year) on any ISA deposits and pay 5.2% variable interest on anything held as cash. They also seem to charge no commission on any trades.

I'm sure more experienced people can tell you the potential down sides, but this seems pretty decent in comparison to other platforms. 

That sounds interesting but how are they not charging fees as you say, how are they making money? Are they a legit company?

Yes they are legit.
They will lose money gaining market share, and then either start to introduce charges for premium service, or get bought out for the customer base. ( especially if they still losing money after a couple of years)
Also they have a larger part of their business which is trading in CFD's. This is more profitable and much more risky for the punter ( it is just gambling really).
I suspect by getting customers for ISA's, they hope to tempt then into the CFD side.

I looked on trustpilot some people saying the company makes it difficult to move the money elsewhere, this puts me off, what do you think about this?

slenderkitten

Anyone here invest in Gold, if so how would i go about it and again what i need to know, thanks?

Sea_Shell

slenderkitten said:

Anyone here invest in Gold, if so how would i go about it and again what i need to know, thanks?

No, I don't.   I've wondered about it though.

Could never decide between buying physical gold, or just buying units in a Gold fund within my ISA.   I might have some within other funds, if I drilled down into the holdings.

What makes you think gold is a good bet at the moment?   It's looking overpriced to me, if you look at the value charts for the last 5 years.

Now, if you'd bought in March 2021...😉

Albermarle

slenderkitten said:

Anyone here invest in Gold, if so how would i go about it and again what i need to know, thanks?

Yes some regular posters do, but normally as only a small % of a portfolio.
In the past we had some 'gold bugs' who had most of their assets in gold, due to distrust of financial markets/systems but they have been quiet for a long time now.

You can buy Gold ETF's that you can keep in a pension/ISA, and they follow the price of gold. They are backed up by an amount of physical gold kept in a bank vault.
iShares Physical Gold ETC | SGLN
Or you can buy physical gold from a bullion dealer, but then you have to store it safely, insure it etc .
You can buy small amounts of gold as sovereigns, kruger rands etc.
Just for info ( not a recommendation) you can deal with a dealer like this one.
Sell Gold and Silver UK | Sell Coins and Bullion | Chards

Petriix

slenderkitten said:

Albermarle said:

slenderkitten said:

Petriix said:

Knowing nothing about buying shares, I've just opened a Stocks and Shares ISA with Trading 212. I got a free random share worth £44 by using a referral link. They give 1% cashback (which you can't withdraw for a year) on any ISA deposits and pay 5.2% variable interest on anything held as cash. They also seem to charge no commission on any trades.

I'm sure more experienced people can tell you the potential down sides, but this seems pretty decent in comparison to other platforms. 

That sounds interesting but how are they not charging fees as you say, how are they making money? Are they a legit company?

Yes they are legit.
They will lose money gaining market share, and then either start to introduce charges for premium service, or get bought out for the customer base. ( especially if they still losing money after a couple of years)
Also they have a larger part of their business which is trading in CFD's. This is more profitable and much more risky for the punter ( it is just gambling really).
I suspect by getting customers for ISA's, they hope to tempt then into the CFD side.

I looked on trustpilot some people saying the company makes it difficult to move the money elsewhere, this puts me off, what do you think about this?

I'm not sure about transfers, but withdrawing cash seems pretty standard. I've just asked for a £1 withdrawal to my linked account and it says it will take 3 working days to arrive. 

slenderkitten

Petriix said:

slenderkitten said:

Albermarle said:

slenderkitten said:

Petriix said:

Knowing nothing about buying shares, I've just opened a Stocks and Shares ISA with Trading 212. I got a free random share worth £44 by using a referral link. They give 1% cashback (which you can't withdraw for a year) on any ISA deposits and pay 5.2% variable interest on anything held as cash. They also seem to charge no commission on any trades.

I'm sure more experienced people can tell you the potential down sides, but this seems pretty decent in comparison to other platforms. 

That sounds interesting but how are they not charging fees as you say, how are they making money? Are they a legit company?

Yes they are legit.
They will lose money gaining market share, and then either start to introduce charges for premium service, or get bought out for the customer base. ( especially if they still losing money after a couple of years)
Also they have a larger part of their business which is trading in CFD's. This is more profitable and much more risky for the punter ( it is just gambling really).
I suspect by getting customers for ISA's, they hope to tempt then into the CFD side.

I looked on trustpilot some people saying the company makes it difficult to move the money elsewhere, this puts me off, what do you think about this?

I'm not sure about transfers, but withdrawing cash seems pretty standard. I've just asked for a £1 withdrawal to my linked account and it says it will take 3 working days to arrive. 

I've responded to your invite in PM, thought I would add this here,  why do they get bad reviews https://www.mywot.com/scorecard/trading212.com I have to admit it is alarming, thought from what i have read so far they seem to have invested huge amounts which I wouldn't be doing.

slenderkitten

I've looked other forums some say Vanguard is a good platform, I've looked at video saying InvestEngine is cheapest in fees.  Any thoughts on these?