Investing

Looking to get into a bit of small scale investing for our long term savings. I know the basics of the stock markets and how they work in general, but would like to learn more about them so I can try and invest properly.

Does anyone have any sources of good information? I’m more of a YouTube/podcast man than a reader to be honest.

I know there’s plenty of dodgy actors in this space who shouldn’t be trusted so it would be good to be recommended a channel from someone who’s experienced it.

cheers in advance.

 

Enjoy watching this fella

https://www.instagram.com/shiftingshares?igsh=NHl4Y24ycDF1ZGsz

 

These are quite basic but you can share them:

 

Pensions. If long term. 20% tax relief. (£100 invested costs you £80) To start with. Higher if you earn over a certain amount.
But as in any market funds can go down as well as up. My Financial has Served me well tbf. The highs far beating the lows.
ISAS some offering 5+%.

 

Cheers mate I’ll subscribe on Youtube and have a look. I don’t do Insta.

 

Aye got a fair amount going in my pension every month with contributions from work but want something outside of that.

 

Financial advisor is obviously the best advice but this guy talks some sense.

https://youtube.com/@damientalksmoney?si=Q69E6f9Fi7zgR6qQ

 

General advice you'll get from most financial advisors is not to expect that you know enough to beat the market. Typically investors are encouraged to invest regularly in global index funds with as low a management fee as possible, as this is perceived as the safest default option.

Personally I've had some great success picking specific 'undervalued' shares, normally starting by looking at those with a low P/E ratio or significantly down over a 12 month period against their historical highs; though I've also had some companies I have invested in go under and lose money (two due to accounting irregularlties/fraud meaning the accounts were lying, and one due to sanctions on businesses operating in Russia). If you go this route, which you probably shouldn't, spend some time digesting the financial accounts and management statements to see if you have confidence in the business model and business performance.

If you want to invest the time in it you can potentially get higher returns, so long as you know what you're doing and don't lose it! If you've less time to commit, take your 8% a year and be happy. Try and find a tax efficient way of making your contributions. I do much of my passive investing through salary sacrifice pension contributions, which is preferable to having to submit a tax return specifically to get the tax back via another means.

 

I’d just get a stocks and shares ISA with one of the free providers (I use invest Engine) and stick with a low cost global fund.
I started out trying the whole picking individual stocks but it’s too difficult for most professional investors to beat the global stock market never mind us normal folks.
It’s much easier just dripping money into a fund with 2500+ stocks consistently over time and you’re less likely to tinker.
Obviously none of what I’ve said should be classed as financial advice as I’m not a financial advisor.

 

Send your money to my off shore account and I will invest it wisely for you. Quite fancying the Maldives for a little break.

 

Very much this. As an amateur you don't have the time and resource to make informed decisions.

I invest on eToro. It allows you to 'copy' a profession investor and all the trades they make. Chap I'm mainly following is up 30% each year on average and doesn't invest in anything risky like Crypto. Would recommend exploring the model and seeing if it's right for you.

 

Brian Dennehy from FundExpert and David Stevenson's Adventurous Investor Newsletter on Substack are sources I've found to be helpful in understanding the markets. Other sources I enjoy are, the Felder Report (a weekly newsletter from Jesse Felder) and Klement on Investing via substack.

 

That looks very interesting

 

Out of interest who is it you're following?

 

A guy called Thomas Parry Jones. He was in the green during 2022 which was an awful year for trading. Finished up 10%, been 30% plus up ever since.

His latest update is below. Sadly as he is so popular eToro are placing a minimum follow amount on him for new copiers. So a little urgency with following him:

Subject: Portfolio Performance Update Dear investors, This week brought long-awaited clarity in the Israeli-Iranian conflict. With the risk premium evaporating, markets rallied—more on this in my earlier market post. A quick reminder: from 7th July, my portfolio will be restricted to new investors with a $20,000 minimum (currently $200). This change comes as eToro classifies the portfolio as a premium product and to manage platform risk. At the start of the week, we deployed our cash and closed our position. As the market rallied, our risk-on positioning helped the portfolio outperform the $SPX500. This week: +5.3% June: +7.1% YTD: +31.3% By comparison, the market rose +3.3% this week, bringing its June performance to +4.1% and YTD to +4.4%. That puts us +26.9% ahead of the market, a significant jump from last week’s +23.5%. It’s a strong example of the value of patience and holding cash during uncertainty. Looking ahead, the next key market driver will be the Fed’s actions in the coming months—though this year has shown that anything can happen. I’ll dive deeper into that next week. Thanks, TJ

 

Just on that note Paul .
I was paying into a private pension,as were at an age where we are starting to draw off,to top the MPS up.
I got my first lump sum tax free.
I've just drawn 20k off and as I've already earned or used up my 12k entitlement.
Just got stung with 20% tax on it.
So my othe investment was in tax free ISA .
It's safe from tax at the minute .
Until Starmer starts on this one next.

 

Very good advice thank you. I don’t have the time to be scouring the market in loads of detail to be honest but wouldn’t mind having a bit of a play with a small % of my pot. The overall aim of this is to make more money than it would do sat in the bank so we have more to draw down later in life.

 

Hope it helps

The only other nudges I’d give you if you’re going against the global index advice are:
1) Be conscious if investing in specific non-UK companies of possible currency effects - when the pound appreciates in value the relative worth of your foreign currency holdings falls, and vice versa
2) Never ever buy penny stock/AIM index oil companies - most of these fail or continue to issue shares so your holding becomes worthless and you just get wiped out
3) Be very careful buying into anything with a P/E over 15 (ideally 12) as it’s already priced very optimistically potentially, and past performance isn’t an indication of the future
4) Consider the impact of AI and what will potentially be disrupted. Not every business will survive and many will be changed significantly.
5) Historically I’ve bought shares in banks and miners as a bit of a hedge against one another, as one industry type often does well when the other suffers - going forward I think there’ll still be demand for raw materials, far more so than potentially service companies or those that might become vulnerable technologically.
6) You should generally invest for the long term and not in small chunks where trading fees are significant. That said, if you look at the daily risers and fallers you’ll sometimes see shares in a tick-tock pattern - up 5-10% one day, down 5-10% the next for quite a while; or down in the morning, recovery in the afternoon etc. When I first started trading and was particularly enthusiastic you can get quite confident at seeing this and using it as an opportunity for day trading.

 

I’ll third that !

 

Some decent offers with cash ISA at the moment tie up for 12 months and returns of around 5 % no risk.
My private pension been earning around 7%, then the advisors/ pension commission to come off ,and also 20% tax to pay when you draw off.
It's not great trying to secure your future.
It's much easier if you don't work and get everything paid for by benefits .
Unfortunately those that save and try get tax to the hilt.