I’m new to this, I read a book years ago that mentioned this site/collective (mostly adhering to compounding interest), never had the resources to invest in anything. Let’s say a £100 per week, if that. What is the greatest move I could make, (please remember that I’m physically working (exasperated) for six days, one day off to sleep/recouperate, only using an iPhone). Your guidance is appreciated in advance.
I can’t give individual investing advice.
That said, a solid investment strategy that delivers market-like returns with little effort is to regularly put money into a broad-market-based, low-fee index Exchange Traded Fund.
Vanguard is a well-respected provider of such funds in the US, but your use of the £ currency symbol tells me you’re outside of the US (Potentially in the United Kingdom).
In addition to keeping the operating costs of an investment low, it’s also important to keep trading costs low. Many US brokers have adopted a commission-free model for stocks and ETFs, but I’m not sure if the same is true worldwide.
Back when I had to pay regular commissions on stock investments, I would wait until I had enough to keep my commission below 1% before buying a stock. My broker at the time charged $7 commissions, so my goal was to save up until I had at least $700 to make a purchase.
Regards,
-Chuck
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Welcome to Fooldom, it is a vast place with SOOOOOO many different approaches. What this site has done for me (been here for multiple decades) is force me to drop emotion from my investing.
It wasn’t easy, and emotions like fear of missing out (fomo) still crop up, but I am much better at recognizing it and removing as much of it from my investing as possible.
Now, just want to point out that you are posting on the “Options” board and that is DEFINITELY not the simple or relaxed way to invest. Options, when you promise to sell or buy, at a future point, some large chunk of stock. For that promise you get tiny bit of money up front. (Example - for me, I recently promised to buy some $4500 worth of stock in a week (depending on stock moves) for a measly $79 up front. ((The plan being stock never passes that price and I keep the measly $79 just for making the promise)) But, if you are not active, a lot, then the promises can go horribly wrong. )
What you sound like you are looking for is passive investing. There are LOTS of ways to do that. Find the boards for index investing, or dividend investing. Those are great starting points to learn so many things. If you start with low effort investing, then you can learn the rules without a lot of stress. (Example - GF just inherited some dividend stock (haliburton) and that few hundred dollars her mother socked away many many many years ago has compounded SO MUCH that it’s a big enough chunk now we have to make tax/inheritance plans of our own. SHEESH).
My brokerage is Firstrade, been there a long time, they allow partial purchases recently. So, you could just buy $100 of Microsoft for a quarter of a share. Keep doing that and you start to end up with real shares…lol. Also, make sure your dividend stocks are reinvesting, that means every time they pay you some pennies, you automatically buy a few pennies more of that stock, it is a process you just set up and it does it…well for ever as long as tht is a good stock.
Look around, find the boards that meet your needs and allow you to invest while sleeping at night. Eventually you could pay for some services to learn more. (Like, I paid for the Motley Fool options service until I felt I knew what I needed for the simple options.)
Good luck and good investing.
I’m not in the UK and I’m no authority on investing but I did a quick internet search and found other individuals in the UK asking for essentially the same advice. Interestingly the best advice (In my humble opinion) was the same as I would give to someone in the US. Vanguard from the US is well known for their low overhead well managed funds and they have UK sites.
Stocks and Shares ISA | Vanguard UK Investor
There are youtube videos where UK financial advisors recommend not investing in any one country but choose a diversified low overhead international fund.
Check out the UK Bogleheads UK Investor – Basic Questions site. A site made up of individuals just like yourself trying to help each other make the best decisions.
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