RancidPunx Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 TLDR- I want to invest money in shares, where is a good place to start   I had a relative that passed away before xmas that wasn't married. It looks like i will be getting pretty close to 10k from his will.  I don't have a wife/kids or mortgage  or any loans to pay off and i do have savings in the bank so i am not struggling. I'm not particularly well off more so that i don't have any huge overheads so i don't find it impossible to save every month. I'm 35 also so have been working for a few years now.   I was thinking about maybe investing my 10k into shares.  I realise that you should invest what you can afford to lose and at the moment i could afford to lose that 10k.  Obviously the goal is to make money but i'm not going to blame anybody but myself if this goes tits up. I've always said i would like to invest money if i had it to spare and it looks like i  will never have a better time.  For example, i see Apple shares are at $94 currently. If i wanted to pump 5k into Apple shares with a view to leaving them there until they steadily rose again , how exactly would i go about it ? Do i need to go through a broker ?   If the shares rose spectacularly for a day or two, how quick/easy is it to sell them before they start sliding down again?  Obviously i am just using Apple as an example and part of the appeal for me is researching the balls out of companies and making educated decisions.  Has anybody got experience with this or a portfolio of any sort ?  I wouldn't be looking at this as a 10 year investment but more of a short term speculation thing.  Any advice is appreciated    Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 When you say short term speculation, how short are you thinking? Years, months, weeks, days?  If it's more the speculation that's appealing to you than actually investing for the long term then check out trading CFDs. They're 'contracts for differences' - essentially, you're not owning the share as such, but you're speculating on whether the price of companies/stocks/commodities will rise or fall.  You can trade these in a similar way to how people trade and speculate on the foreign exchange/forex markets.  It'll take a while to get your head around it. There are plenty of places that let you begin by trading 'demo' money but aside from figuring out how the platform works, you won't learn anything by doing this. You can start with investing £20 or £50 and charting your progress for a few months.  One thing I will say loud and clear is to never throw more than £100 or so (so definitely not that £10K) into anything like this until you're 100% confident you know what you're doing. So, still a few months from now at least.  If you've got a good head for this type of thing then you can make money but you need to be disciplined and if you're likely to fall into a trap then it's easy to lose your money.  Focus on one or two (ideally no more than three) instruments (say, Oil, Gold and GBP:USD) and study the shit outta them. If you start looking at 50 different commodities or companies to trade on then you're going to lose money quickly.  Investopedia is a great site to check out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancidPunx Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Cheers man, Â I would be quite happy to leave the money in for up to 2 years but not much longer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Do you have a mortgage? If yes wouldn't it be better to put that 10k into the house and overpay your mortgage by 10k for one month. Â Obviously if you currently don't have a mortgage then ignore what I have said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted February 3, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted February 3, 2016 I don't have a wife/kids or mortgage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingofSports Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I'm not sure that now is a particularly good time to be venturing into the market and nobody is ever 100% sure of what they're doing in that 'arena'. Don't think that's the way it works. I'd be tempted to sit on it for now + you never know what's round the corner. Ten grand might sound a lot, but it isn't. Not wishing it on you by any means, but 6 months ill health could blow that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 3, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted February 3, 2016 No, he said early on he doesn't have a mortgage. Â How about using the 10k as a deposit and investing in property? If you look around, get the right property and a decent rate then you can more than cover the monthly mortgage repayments with the rent you'll be bringing in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancidPunx Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Re: CFD's  Why would you not want to own the share exactly?  I assume a broker is needed for anything share related ?  Cheers guys for the other advice.  I've generally sat on other money for long periods of time with not so much interest.  Ive played it safe before and just want to push the boat out a bit, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 If you're trading frequently and with a smallish amount of money then they can be a good way to trade, but if you're looking to invest over a couple of years then you want to be going with a broker and not bothering with CFDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted February 3, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted February 3, 2016 I've generally sat on other money for long periods of time with not so much interest. Â Â Â Yeah, that does sound very boring. Â Â Edit: On a serious note, I'd echo what Steak said above regarding getting a broker if you're intending on a long term/heavy money deal. Despite being evil, they generally know what they are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancidPunx Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 I wouldn't be against the idea of a broker at all. Â I assume they work off commission so there is a fee involved. Â Do i tell them what shares I want to invest in and they advise accordingly ? Â What are the pros and what are the cons? Â Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted February 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 3, 2016 Yes, you'll pay them a fee. But they do it as a full-time job and know what they're doing. They'll have some initial meetings with you and ask you what you want - risk appetite, how long-term you want it, if you need access to the money, etc., and then set up something that is tailored to your needs. Â It's the most sensible and simple thing to do, I think, given your situation. Â If you're really interested and keen to learn and willing to devote the time and effort into it though, by all means do it yourself. But you need a genuine interest and the time and energy for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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