have you invested in stocks. if not why

ok I get it if you have no money but everyone else should. that's what I've been told. so I put my extra money in stocks after all living expenses.

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Reply 1

username4499734

I have money, don’t know how stocks work nor can I be bothered to learn ☺️

It's essentially gambling and I just can't be arsed.

Reply 4

MidgetFever

I have an addictive personality, it's probably best for me to steer clear of anything like that.

Reply 5

Cantab_UCL

For me the stock market is too risky no matter what anyone says.

I have personal savings of around £33, 000 and a further £15, 000 owed to me, but I would not dare risk a single penny. That said, I do invest in bank bonds but the interest rates are so pathetic, I'm making around £17.00 per month (£200 +) a year. I guess it's better than nothing.

I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I invested in stocks and subsequently lost out.

Reply 6

kkboyk

Original post by Igotbbcalevel

ok I get it if you have no money but everyone else should. that's what I've been told. so I put my extra money in stocks after all living expenses.

Everyone definitely shouldn't. There are a finite number of publicly traded companies. So increasing the demand for their shares, with more people wanting to buy those shares, leads to share prices going up very very very high. A collapse in share prices has the potential to cause widespread economic disruption. China 2015-18 is a very good example to learn from.

Reply 7

ch0c0h01ic

Original post by Drewski

It's essentially gambling and I just can't be arsed.

Yes - if you're speculating, over a short timescale and/or in a relatively small number of stocks.

No - if you're investing in an educated* manner, over a long timescale in a broad range of diversified stocks.

*Unfortunately the vast majority of people who think they are investing in an educated manner (eg; property, crypto, forex, precious metals, randomly selected stocks) are speculating/gambling.

(Original post by Cantab_UCL)
For me the stock market is too risky no matter what anyone says.

I have personal savings of around £33, 000 and a further £15, 000 owed to me, but I would not dare risk a single penny. That said, I do invest in bank bonds but the interest rates are so pathetic, I'm making around £17.00 per month (£200 +) a year. I guess it's better than nothing.

I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I invested in stocks and subsequently lost out.

There is a strong argument that the vast majority of people cannot afford not to invest over the long term, particularly when it comes to retirement.

Inflationary risk is just as dangerous to someone like yourself as not investing.

As an example...

Let's assume you're saving for retirement in 30 years time and you calculate that you will need £500,000 for a comfortable retirement.

You would need to save roughly £1,000-1,250 A MONTH for the next 30 years at an average interest rate of 1-2% to hit your target.

However...

When you factor in inflation (average 1-3% a year) you would need to save another 25-45% to hit your retirement target.

So this already high £1,000-1,250 a month figure becomes even more unattainable for most.

On the other hand...

If you invested in broadly diversified stocks (eg; global index trackers) for the next 30 years, even factoring in inflation, you would only need to invest £500-800 a month (assuming an average return of 4-6% after inflation). Or you could continue to save your £1,000-1,250 a month and retire 5-8 years earlier.

---

Sure, investing in stocks always carries risk, however the more you diversify and the longer you timescale, the lower your risk.

Most people lose money by a mixture of overconfidence/speculating and panic buying/selling.

If you have the discipline to educate yourself, tune out the majority of stock market bull**** in the media and on the internet, and ride out the highs and lows the risks are "relatively" low and the upside is significant over the long term.

(Original post by kkboyk)Everyone definitely shouldn't. There are a finite number of publicly traded companies. So increasing the demand for their shares, with more people wanting to buy those shares, leads to share prices going up very very very high. A collapse in share prices has the potential to cause widespread economic disruption. China 2015-18 is a very good example to learn from.

Yes and no.

From what I can glean (as an outsider) the Chinese 2015-2018 stock market volatility was triggered by a mixture of widespread short selling and a flood of inexperienced investors with a significant home bias, panic buying and selling Chinese stocks.

It is a very strong argument for diversification (not just nationally but globall), avoiding short selling and/or leverage, and avoiding panic buying/selling.

Buying and holding stocks during periods of volatility can be an effective means of increasing your investment return further :wink:

Reply 8

Etomidate

Original post by Cantab_UCL

As has already been comprehensively posted above - by holding cash you're actively losing value each year to inflation and rising living costs. People seem to forget this risk as their money rots away in a 0.5% AER savings account.

Reply 9

Cantab_UCL

Original post by Etomidate

I do agree with you but lack the courage to venture into stocks.

I personally think I do a good job of battling inflatiion. My overheads are remarkably minimal because of my simplistic lifestyle. My mobile contract with 3 is still £5.00 a month (300 minutes, unlimited text messages and 3 gb of data). Weekly shopping bill: £20.00 (I don't drink alcohol or coffee nor do I smoke).

I'm getting 1.5% on one of my accounts which brings in about £17.00 per month or £200.00 per year (lousy, I know). About 10 years ago, I used to get around 4% which would help pay for my annual holiday but long gone are those days :frown:

Reply 10

Etomidate

Original post by Cantab_UCL

Nationwide offer a 5% (up to £2500) current account as long as you can drop (and immediately withdraw if needed) £1000 a month into it. TSB have a 3% account (up to £1500) and Barclays HTB ISA offers almost 2.5% (but can only pay in £200pcm).

Reply 11

Cantab_UCL

Original post by Etomidate

Thank you for that. I do keep a very, very close eye on what the banks offer.

I'm currently renovating a 6-bedroom property that has a HMO licence and If I can get the monthly rent I'm hoping, the offer from Nationwide looks extremely attractive indeed.

Some banks drop to lower percentages once you've banked a specific amount.

Investigating...

Reply 12

3121

I invested in ITV earlier this year, £1k at 1.08, growth has been 25%, dividend of 2% (5% to come next season) so a total gain of £250 + £20, £270 in the space of like 3 months…

I’ve also got £500 in Sirius minerals at 3.60p, making a fair loss at the moment but if they pull through the returns will be insane. They have a solid business plan so hopefully the cash flow is fixed soon.
I wish I was into stocks in November18-January19. All Tech socks fell hugely and were bargains

Reply 13

Quady

Original post by Igotbbcalevel

that's what I've been told.

So not original thought then?

Reply 14

Quady

Original post by kkboyk

So what? A proportion of people should have a higher state pension to compensate them?

Reply 15

Quady

Not being allowed to invest for dividend income.

Reply 16

Quady

Really?
How else is someone to get passive income in retirement?

Reply 17

Napp

When i was in the UK i never bothered with them theyre too much effort to learn about, invest in and monitor to be frank. Never mind the outrageous fees brokers charge(d).
On the flip side since i moved ive discovered a plethora of handy companies that let you invest in companies on the exchange and international funds :smile: