Invest?? Help needed please

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82155313#Comment_82155313

You seem to be digging even deeper into that hole! OP specifically asked "I don’t have a clue when it comes to investing, so I’m looking for some advice, but also direction on where would be a good place to learn more", i.e. they obviously want to study and to understand rather than jumping in without researching, so constructing some sort of strawman of recklessness to argue against is pointless…

Eco_Miser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154698#Comment_82154698

Why would you close your S&S ISA when you retire? I've been retired 17 years and my ISA is still open and still growing. Even if it were shrinking to fund my spending, it would still be open to keep the taxman away.

jimjames

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82155511#Comment_82155511

Totally agree. ISA is even more important in retirement as all income is completely tax free and doesn't use any part of your personal allowance.

Investing is not a quick/easy money scheme, regardless of what youtube says.

Again I agree but I've no idea what youtube says as I never use it for investment advice. Investing is a get rich slow scheme and over the long term will increase your wealth. Over the very long term it could do that significantly.

tom192

Trading 212 has a practise mode where you can invest pretend money, worth running this for a month or so and watch how your investment changes over the month. It will go up and down, what matters is what you buy at and what you sell for everything else you have to learn to ignore.

Definitely worth trickling a small amount in per month and sticking your toe into something though as long as you choose a global diversified fund you minimise risk.

poolboy

I d max out the ISA while you can, I can see it being pulled or limited in future. It really is a valuable benefit.

DRS1

OP If you are used to regular savers then you should know that plenty of investment platforms have regular investment facilities where you can set it up so you contribute a certain amount each month to your ISA (or GIA) and then invest that amount in your selected investment. Often they will not charge you any commission on the purchase of the investment. These things can be flexible so you can change the amounts involved (at one extreme you can just do it as a one off investment of cash held in the ISA/GIA without having to add any money from your current account) and you can change what you invest in each month.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82155559#Comment_82155559

Yes, plus incredibly underrated benefit of Isas is not needing to worry about any tax reporting/Self Assessment returns for them.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82155576#Comment_82155576

How it changes in one month will tell you absolutely zero about how it will perform in future.

Best to invest regularly in an index or multi asset fund, and not look at it for 10 years.

Heedtheadvice

II also has a Research mode where you can just 'play' I.e. do virtual investing. It allows you to 'buy and sell' Stocks and Shares, funds, etc ( without having to do any actual trading/investment) and gives access to market info and research data.

I will allow you then to try out ideas, see what happens and view some historically data of chosen investments. It is free and thus mimics real investment with real data almost in real time with no risk. You can see what happens to your choices in the short term and what has happened in the long term which helps understand the downside risks and the benefits of the longer time in the market. It is a great starter to learn in practice.

I should be used ( as a learning tool ) alongside some of the learning resources mentioned above.

I too agree having a S&S ISA alongside a long term pension and no debts and an emergency fund ( ready cash saving access with some interest to at least offset inflation!) is a great balance.

Certainly S&S investing by whatever method can have some great returns over the longer term, short term ups and downs, and some risk - of a different nature to holding cash so best to get some wisdom before jumping in!

MEM62

Why spend money in something you dont understand?

Because it brings greater growth in the long term. (And understanding it just take a little reading. It doesn't need to be complicated)

Stick to what you know, savings.

And expose yourself to inflation risk. Hardly the best advice.

Investing is not a quick/easy money scheme, regardless of what youtube says

Investing has never been a "quick/easy money scheme". And social media is probably second only to 'the bloke down the pub' as a fundamentally flawed source of financial advice.

The advice in @Albermarle 's post is spot on.