| 02:59pm, 19th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
Sonal
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32414
|
you could go for an isa - the ones that require you to invest over 3k usually invest in stocks and shares for you - you get a certain amount of control over it but not the specifics from what i know.
try speaking to an independant financial advisor.
i was thinking of dong the same thing a few years ago but just went for an isa instead as i don't follow the markets closely enough to know when to buy/sell! 
i think there are a few people that frequent main board that know alot about shares/stocks... |
|
|
| 03:42pm, 19th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
sammie
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32417
|
hey
it mtie be worth looking at the MAIN board and a thread by Sandeep 'My shares' the guy Rizcenzo gives some pretty sound advice (though a bit to difficult to understand if ur not used to tht sort of thing- but dont imagine that it would take long to get to grips with it)
so its def worth doing ur research but gd luck!
|
|
|
| 03:49pm, 19th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
paki_from_mars
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32418
|
try advice thread,
theres mentalist thread on stocks and shares... some1 called indy and some next guy |
|
|
| 08:52am, 20th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
oOo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32454
|
thanks for your help guys.
i'll let you know if i make any progress! |
|
|
| 10:23am, 20th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
rizcenzo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32458
|
oOo,
I'm with Sonal on this one. An ISA sounds appropriate.
An ISA is an individual savings account.
* The sole advantage of an ISA is that you won't be subject to the evil tax man on a) your profits and b) your dividends.
Dividends are normally taxed at your income tax rate.
Profits are capital gains and are tax-free up to £7000. If you exceed this limit in any financial year (they start April 5th) you pay 40% of any profits that you realise/cash in.
* With the ISA you can go for a mini-ISA (£3000) or a maxi ISA (£7k, or it might be £6k, I can't remember).
* If you just want to invest for the long-term, I recommend setting up a direct debit so the fund takes a chunk of your wonga every month. This is less risky as you don't want to throw all your chips down on the table in one go unless you are confident of where the market is going from that point.
* What does an ISA invest in? Anything you want!..you can have a tech ISA, bond ISA, growth ISA...all sorts...you have to decide on your risk profile and select accordingly. Take a look at thisismoney.co.uk money section for a quick low-down on further details.
* The other thing I would point out is that the guys who have big newspaper ads and ads on the underground may have a good track record, but they are using this to justify charging higher management fees, maybe over 3% a year. But, this doesn't mean theere future performance will also be steller. In fact, the fund managers might be less focussed after having made so much money! Think, you have to make 3% fee this back each year just to break even.
* Because active managers don't outperform the market in the long-term I prefer so-called "tracker funds". These simply mimic the market of your choice...FTSE, Nikkei, Techmark etc. The beautiful thing about these is that the fund managers are not thinking...and because of this they charge very low fees. Less than 1%. Try L&G website for a range of tracker funds...they are okay.
* The other choice is a do-it-yourself ISA...here you select individual stocks and make your own ISA. Some stockbrokers offer this service. Wouldn't recommend for beginner.
* The other thing is to really benefit from the ISA tax advantage you have to hold the investment for a long time...this is good though.
Hope this has been of some use.
good luck..its really easy when you know how (referring to the process of investing, not making money!!!) |
|
|
| 11:25am, 20th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
oOo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32473
|
rizcenzo, thank you for that long explanation. i think i understood most of it because i have done some research but what im asking here is- how do i physically do this?
give me an example.
e.g - 1. go to the bank and speak to them about getting an isa
2. hand over the money
3. wait for the money to come rolling in
see, i'm clueless, so step-by-step please?
and if you can recommend any specifics, that would be helpful too  |
|
|
| 12:18pm, 20th Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
rizcenzo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32482
|
nooo, don't go to a bank..they'll rip you off.
Do it on-line or over the phone:
http://www.legalandgeneral.com/invest/cashbackisa.shtml
That's the page for L&G. They are pretty good.
Its simple as you say:
1) Go on-line or telephone the fund company direct. Get the forms required, or you can even do it all on-line.
2) That's it. They'll send you statements etc, you'll be able to log-in and check your balances etc.
Also, I wouldn't go to financial advisors...these guys often get a percentage of commission and don't always give the best advice,espcially if they are tied to selling a set range of products.
I'm pretty sure a web-site such as thisismoney.co.uk/com? will have loads of details on ISA's...happy hunting. |
|
|
| 08:45am, 21st Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
oOo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32516
|
huh?
what do you mean dont go to the bank or use financial advisors...?
i know they will rip me off but i dunno anything abt this business so if i try doing it myself i might do something wrong... and i dont really want to mess abt with my money, you know what i mean... i need to have SOME clues as to what im meant to be doing...
unless your offering to be my personal financial advisor rizcenzo  |
|
|
| 08:45am, 21st Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
oOo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32517
|
huh?
what do you mean dont go to the bank or use financial advisors...?
i know they will rip me off but i dunno anything abt this business so if i try doing it myself i might do something wrong... and i dont really want to mess abt with my money, you know what i mean... i need to have SOME clues as to what im meant to be doing...
unless your offering to be my personal financial advisor rizcenzo |
|
|
| 09:05am, 21st Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
oOo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32518
|
OK i had a look at the legal and general website and i want to know this rizcenzo, on this page:
THIS PAGE
http://www.legalandgeneral.com/invstmnt/fundprice1_index.jsp
please explain what the headings:
Fund Name
Initial Charge
Selling Price (p)
Buying Price (p)
Net Yield (%) *
mean?
i have no idea...
thanks! |
|
|
| 10:35am, 21st Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
rizcenzo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32525
|
Hey oOo..I think I was a bit harsh..go to a bank, or speak to financial advisor by all means...but use them in the same way that many people use carphone warehouse...ie: get them to explain the basics to you...but whatever you do, don't buy any products off them. Just say you need some time to think about it and be on your way.
; )
* Okay, a quick explanation:
Fund name: L&G have many different funds that you can invest in. Some are based on region (eg: Japanese index invests in Japanese stocks). Some of the other funds focus on different things...they do what they say on the tin (eg: Global Pharmaceuticals invests in...you guessed it..global pharm's). I used to have some of the ethical range...different ethical funds have different ethical criteria but most stay away from the evil companies eg: weapons manufacturers. I can imagine that the US and UK funds in the list will be very popular just because people feel more familiar with these markets.
* Initial charge: This is why I like L&G. Many of the other funds charge some 1-3% just to let you in to their club, and then they charge annual management fees on top. You can see for L&G that the initial charge is zero for all ISA funds...nice.
* Selling price/buying price: just as when you trade in normal shares there is a slight difference between the buy and sell prices...think of this as a broker commission. Eg: If Vodaphone shares were trading at 120-122 then I could buy at the worse price (122) and sell at the worse price (120), losing 2p..this is what they call the spread..the difference between the buying price and the selling price. In the case of the L&G funds, I can't see a difference between the buy and sell prices, which means the spread is very narrow...which in turn means there isn't a fat inbuilt fee when you want to sell.
* Net yield: This is important. When you buy stocks you hope they up in price. However, many stocks also pay dividends back to their shareholders on a regular basis. The net yield is how much you can expect to be paid back every year (expressed as a %). You can see for the high income funds the yield is the highest.
A point to note is that companies paying solid dividends are usually solid stable companies such as BT, utilities, banks etc..the old reliable stocks. But the trade-off is that the share prices of these companies may not go up so much, because a lot of the markets they operate in are mature. You have to decide if you want an income focussed funds or a growth funds (these contain tech companies or internet company or other high growth potential stocks eg:genetics etc). The growth funds are higher risk as you would expect and you are unlikley to get much in the way of dividends. Growth companies would rather reinvest their profits to generrate faster growth rather than give the moolah straight back to the shareholders.
Look at the FAQ section for some additional titbits:
http://www.legalandgeneral.com/faq/faq.jsp?cat=investisas&quest=invest_isa_faq1.html |
|
|
| 10:55am, 21st Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
oOo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32526
|
rizcenzo, you're like my new best friend.
thanks for all your help! that thisismoney site really helped!
and that example u gave abt using advisors like u would a salesperson in a shop is excellent advice!
thanks again x |
|
|
| 11:19am, 21st Apr 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
rizcenzo
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 32527
|
no probs oOo...glad to help to help where I can.
caio
:) |
|
|
| 04:09pm, 11th Aug 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
finetrader21
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 39439
|
My tips for 11 August 2005
---BAE Systems (BA.)
---BT Group (BT.A)
---Dairy Crest (DCG)
---Hanson (HNS)
Enjoy |
|
|
| 06:38pm, 12th Aug 2005 |
INVESTING, STOCKS, & SHARES... |
liquid_eyes
[Profile - Diary]
Msg no: 39493
|
iv done mine with legal and general as well, but i did it with a financial advisor at alliance and leicester, all of their long term and protection products r with legal and general...
u can have 2 minis.... 3k in a mini cash isa and invest another 4k in a stocks and shares i think?
or u can have 1 maxi, with 7k.
id def go 4 the isa as well. |
|
|
