Do any of you play the stock market? ?

Anyone who 'plays' the stockmarket, deserves the to lose the money they lose.

Investing in the stockmarket with knowledge and a good spread of shares is a better way of getting a good return and capital growth than almost any other form of investment. Especially when interest rates aare so low.

Like anything in life from brain surgery to installing a washing machine, you need to know what you are doing.

Ours too Teacheranne but for some reason, that wasn't an option!!

Smileless2012

We also have investment ISA's and our pensions are managed by an investment company.

We had to complete a questionnaire to see whether or not we liked risk. We came out as cautious but only I think because there wasn't an extremely cautious or cowardly alternative!!

My risk level is “ prefer to keep under mattress,”

I never `played` the stock market, I went to TA (technical analysis) courses in london. I read graphs, had 3 screens and based decisions purely on the graphs. There is a lot to learn and women are often better than men. I did well, managed my husbands company pension. Buy low sell high. Only ever use money that you can afford to lose

I don`t `do` the stock market any more, it is about risk/reward and at my age, I need to minimise risk now

Msida

Sometimes I just need a cuddle It's so hard to live without a loving cuddle It actually feels like pain so it must be bad for your health

Stock Market?
Shares?

DH inherited shares from an aunt who invested in the shares. They had fascinated her, ever since she learnt the basics in maths lessons at school, and when her first husband died and left her a house and a little nest egg, she began dabbling, buying, small quantities, with no more advice than the business pages of the Daily Telegraph.

She probably only ever made a couple of purchase/sell decisions a year and once she had made what was proving a good investment, she just brought more. She died in the mid 1990s, a wealthy woman and her estate was worth over half a million. Most went to charity bu DH got some shares.

He started investing in penny shares, a couple of hundred pounds at a time and did well on some, lost on others.

In my last job I got profit related pay each year in the form of shares in the company and I too bought a few shares here and there, but have done best with my employers shares.

The basic rules, apart from not investing more in one share than you can afford to lose, are to invest in shares in companies whose industries you understand. Do not invest in high tech unless you really understand the industry and who the main players are. The same would apply to more mundane industries like food production as well. Do not respond to salesmen with a good line in patter, never ever buy anything from anyone who cold calls you with a wonderful investment

Read the business pages in your daily paper assiduously and keep an eye on international affairs. For example, personally I would be wary about buying shares in a company, even a UK company, heavily invested in Ukraine at present !!

A lot of it is common sense and remember the bigger the return, the bigger the risk. You get owt for nought and that especally applies to stocks and shares.

Apart from that, tuck everything, or as much as you can into ISAs and always set a small sum aside for playing ducks and drakes with. Most of those ugly ducklings will sink without trace, but some will turn into beautiful swans.

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Sometimes I just need a cuddle It's so hard to live without a loving cuddle It actually feels like pain so it must be bad for your health

Some of my pension pot is invested in stocks as are a couple of ISAs. My financial adviser handles the details though, so I can’t say I play the markets. It isn’t a large proportion of my pension savings.

I know who to send my begging letters to ...
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We don't "play;" we have a very good IFA. He knows all our investments must be ethical and after that, we leave it to him. He's become a good friend and we have him to thank for having been able to buy this house we moved to in December.

No, not me ... but ... my son has done very well out of Bitcoins.

Thanks everyone, some interesting tales on this.

I got an email from Parsley Box asking if I’d like to consider becoming a shareholder as they grow their business. I haven’t an igloo what this involves but just filled out ‘yes I’m interested’ form on line and will apparently be contacted in due course.

When I’m in the Bahamas next year I’ll send you all a postcard ...
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When our daughter was 2 (27 now) we could afford to invest her child benefit. We saved in a child investment trust with a well known provider at the time. At the end of 8 years it had not made a penny beyond what we had put in. We had just got a new Financial advisor (who has been spectacular with all our investments) and placed it in an ISA with a Scottish company. In 12 years it grew from £6,000 to £22,000 when we handed it to our daughter. She kept it and has now used it towards a house purchase. Couldn’t have worked out better but would have been even better if we’d invested with the 2nd fund manager in the first place.

It is, SuzyB.

I kept saying that I'd sell my shares when they went reached a good price but hung on too long and missed that window of opportunity.
I only have the minimum, maybe enough for a meal out when lockdown ends!

Callistemon
I purchased my shares over the 30 year period I worked for Barclays. We were able to buy them at a reduced price and had lovely family holidays when I sold some in the 80/90’s. Just before the financial crash in 2008 they reached £8 per share. Oh how I wish I’d sold the rest then. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing. ?

Suzyb

I have quite a substantial amount of Barclays Bank shares which I purchased through their save as you earn scheme. They’ve been in a downward spiral for many years and have just started to improve. The price in December 2020 was £0.90 and today has reached £1.68 so a good profit for anyone who bought in December and sold today.

I've still got my free Barclays shares from when they took over The Woolwich. Also a few Santander ones which were free from the Abbey National.
I like to live dangerously.

In terms of investment I think property is a better proposition than stocks and shares. Yes property prices can drop but not to the same extent as the stock market.

Even over this past year with job losses and so much uncertainty about the future, property prices have continued to rise.

If you buy the right property at the right price and let it, the rent should cover the mortgage with some left over.

Apart from some dips over the years property only goes one way and over the years it’s possible to make a substantial profit. Our population is rising and people have to live somewhere.

I have quite a substantial amount of Barclays Bank shares which I purchased through their save as you earn scheme. They’ve been in a downward spiral for many years and have just started to improve. The price in December 2020 was £0.90 and today has reached £1.68 so a good profit for anyone who bought in December and sold today.

This is what I do for a living as I'm an independent financial adviser. It's also something I'm passionate about as one of only a small handful of women in my profession! My daughter works with me and is halfway through her exams with the aims of becoming a fully fledged adviser in my practice too.

It's not just about risk but the strategy you're looking for and any specific requirements around religion and ethics too. Risk should never be just 'low, medium or high' as that's a very simplified and old fashioned notion that a few companies use. Sometimes it's used to avoid the 'proper' conversations but it also assumes that clients don't know better. Educating people is vital to avoid fear of the unknown - if you're going to lose sleep over something then don't do it.

There are lots of other considerations including objectives, beliefs, experience, costs and tax - others too but you get the picture.

For people thinking that your money is safer in a bank account, inflation is running higher than interest rates, and has been doing so for a few years now, so your money is losing its buying power year-on-year. With investments, the only time you truly lose money is if you withdraw or surrender the holdings when the markets have fallen.

Not one of my clients is sitting on a lower value than pre-pandemic levels and some have done incredibly well by adding funds over the last twelve months.

You don't have to be wealthy to hold investments. I have a 22 year old client who started with £1,500 and adds £100 per month. They also have money available in a savings account which is essential to avoid accessing this in an emergency should the markets have dropped.

At the other end of the scale, a 70 year old client has referred her parents to me for advice. They're in their 90s and wanting help and guidance to counter low interest returns.

The stock market always seemed a men’s world and a mystery to me, so in my early 50’s I searched out a women’s investment club, took the plunge and applied to join. I had to pay an initial amount to buy my share of the club’s current portfolio and then pay a monthly amount at our regular meetings so as to contribute to our pot of funds that was available to buy shares. The group was structured and followed the guidance offered by one of the banks, who also allowed us to use their board room for our monthly meetings.

From basically little to no knowledge of how to invest I slowly learned the importance of research, how to read a company balance sheet, how to buy shares, when to sell and the risks and benefits involved.

I stayed a member of the group for about 3 years until I felt confident enough of the process and my ability to continue investing in the stock market on my own. Initially it was a steep learning curve for me, but I never regret taking that step. It has made a significant difference to my financial position now I’m retired.

Many years ago I had a friend whose husband was a bank Actuary. His advice on shares/stock exchange has stuck with me ie never invest unless you can afford to lose. You have no-one to blame other than yourself if you do.

When the sell-offs of state run industries happened, my Mum and I bought some shares. Any of the ones we managed to get hold of rose dramatically before falling like a brick. She still has some Rolls Royce ones which have been very disappointing.
My grandad bought shares which was fine all the time he had the ability to respond to all the paperwork which goes with them. Unfortunately, by the time I got involved, companies had rebranded with different names, sell-offs had happened and a host of other things made it a nightmare to sort out. The worst thing was, on the day he died, the share prices were high and that was what his inheritance tax was based on. Within a month, before we had the proper paperwork, shares prices hit the deck. Unfortunately, the original tax calculation was the one that had to be paid and there was nothing we could do about it. Consequently, a larger proportion of his money went to the taxman. To add insult to injury, if we had received more than the original value, we would have been expected to pay additional tax.
We won't be playing the stock market.

Halifax do a share builder scheme where you can invest in shares of your own choice. You can invest a minimum of £20 a month or can miss months. I’ve been doing that for about 15 years. It’s a bit of interest and don’t think I’ve lost any money, However they are changing terms now and charging an annual fee so I may be stopping!!

I started with a tiny amount as an experiment and managed to grow it, then sold, reinvested and sold again, kept repeating. Just using very modest gains to keep it growing.

After a year, the modest gains themselves were enough to invest and keep growing - so in a way I suppose it is a little like targeted gambling.

For example, if it’s say a major (resilient) uk company, there is some bad news in the press, the price dips suddenly when the markets open at 8 a.m. - that’s when I might buy.
Recovery can be as early as the same day, the next morning or later in the same week.
Sometimes I sell once, then buy it back again then sell again.
More as a hobby, to keep my mind active, as an interest.
Worked well twice when Royal Mail had temporary bad news and recovered, but not so well with some others!

I restrict use to the very modest amount of initial money plus the gains since then.