Do any of you play the stock market? ?

Does anyone remember the British gas and BT shares that were offered to the public in the 80's ? We didn't do so badly when they were cashed in.

It’s one of my DH hobbies! With a background in banking, he knows what he’s doing and tends to invest in things which increase our monthly income, or he’ll take profit from things which go up dramatically. I haven’t a clue, but quite happy to spend the increased monthly income!

Yes, I am invested in one of these self managed share things, my youngest son manages it for me. He's a 'gamer' and has had a lot of fun recently and so far I've not 'lost' any money - by which I mean I could sell the portfolio for more than I've invested so far. Currently I'm up over 10% since we started last spring but there have been times when it's been considerably more than that and likely as not there will be times when it is considerably less. It's never more than I can afford to lose and it's been great fun. I would not bet my house on it though.

Yes I invest a bit £5k through the Halifax online system and have fun with it . It has certainly improved my knowledge of certain industry specialisation. Currently 5% up which is better than I would get on banks interest rates etc. My max profit was 25% and I really should have taken it but was too late selling. I now topslice instead and keep the original investment in.

I inherited some shares and as it wasn't my capital, I have been happy to collect the dividends without bothering about rising or falling prices. This year has not been as good but previous years have beaten the banks interest rates greatly. I would not risk "my" money but intend to pass these shares on anyway eventually.

We have some stocks & shares investments in an ISA "wrapper" which will (fingers crossed) provide some income later. But we only put in what we can afford to lose. After getting out fingers burned by investing in SAGA ("ageing population - how can we lose"?? Value now down 90% in 5 years!) I wouldn't invest in individual shares again.

Our shares have mainly been obtained by building societies de-mutualising and companies being privatised.

Unfortunately when Halifax and Bradford & Bingley building societies went bust, we lost a considerable amount of money when the shares became worthless.

We did alright with the privatisations for a while, but most companies have now been taken over, and we have few shares left.

Even though savings interest rates are dire these days, at least we know the money is safe. Our only 'gambling' is through buying Premium bonds, and we know the money is safe.

I inherited some shares with a few companies from my mother. They are held by a management company but they do not trade with them. I looked into whether any company would manage them and dabble on the market for me. I was repeatedly told that no company would be bothered with me unless I had £50,000 or more to play with. As a rather financial risk averse person I chose not to invest further and just leave the ones I have where they are.
Sadly whereas once the dividend would be reasonably substantial it is now a pittance and hardly worth bothering about.

We have an advisor who does it all.

All I have now is an ISA---yielding coppers. At least the Yorkshire BS has increased its interest.

In the 80's H and I invested in a company known as Hansen's for stocks and shares---excellent with good returns/ profits more often than not. After H's death in the 90's I pulled out.

The shares were spread about in different companies and it was interesting at the time to read in the Financial Times how these companies were doing---or not as the case may have been. Hansen's were a well tried and tested stock market company.

At the time, there'd been a goodly amount invested which was trust money left to the 4 children from Pa-in-law that would be encashed to them on the death of my H---which it was. I'd travelled to Oz that year with a large cheque for my D and I can remember her being thrilled, especially when it appeared double the amount commensurate to the Aussie Dollar in 1994.

You have to be so careful about high profit shares that are on offer as there's usually a catch. Your bank is the best place to discuss stocks and shares initially. I wanted a high-yield investment but the bank wasn't keen on my gambling scheme.

I invested £2000 during the last lockdown, curiosity and something to do.

After 2 months I had made £234 but found it stressful as I did not really understand what I was doing.

I ve never had what I consider spare money because it has to be spare as it could go down
I too have no understanding of how it works and not having a particular mathematical brain couldn’t be bothered to find out I certainly wouldn’t have any cash to pay someone to do it for me I am so disinterested in wealth that the thought of looking through the papers every day would be torture

My daughters friends son in his early twenties is close to a millionaire through bitcoins he started when he was about 14 again I have zero interest and zero understanding so it’ll never be rich

I suppose most private pensions are paid from investment in the stock market - not many people have inflation proof pensions these days.

I'm a bit like Kitty Leicester's* husband in that I use the stock market to invest for capital growth. Instead of cash dividends take payment in shares to increase the size of my holdings. Over the years I have built a useful portfolio of mixed risk shares all held in a self managed ISA.

I have never invested more than I can afford to loose in high risk shares and I tend to sell the value of my initial investment once the price has doubled. That means that most of my capital invested in shares is pure growth. I track the prices daily and read the financial press avidly.

With savings rates so low it's hard to make money outpace inflation without being in the market. The key is not to gamble or play but to understand risk.

I invest in premium bonds - entirely sufficient frisson for me.

My feelings exactly Luckygirl

I have some shares in the bank I used to work for. These shares resulted from a share scheme I was in at the time, whereby you saved a certain amount of money from your salary each month and then you could even take the money plus the interest after a certain time or use it to buy bank shares. I chose the shares as most of us bank employees did. I still have those shares, 25/30 years later. At the moment, their value is quite low, but I’ll hang onto them. Generally though, I wouldn’t get involved in stocks and shares as I’m far too cautious and DH even more so. I’m not advising against it - it just depends on your attitude to risk.

I invest in premium bonds - entirely sufficient frisson for me.

OH had an interest in investments but we did not have the money to do this and I felt a bit squeamish about it anyway, not knowing what we might be propping up with our money. In the end we agreed a small sum that was his to "play" with. He never made any money on it.

If you are going to “play the market” you need to know what you are doing and not buy whatever is “in fashion”, very often the opposite. To buy at a low point and sell at a high point, specializing in a certain area gives you an advantage, you can practice using company share prices, quoted in newspapers and see how you do.

Yes, I used to dabble regularly. Nowadays I just study form daily on those shares I have retained. Good fun and gets the old heart racing when the volatility kicks in.

Urmstongran

I shan’t be doing it I can’t afford it, but I was curious about it. Thank you for answering.

For those who do invest I bet it brings a frisson of excitement now and again. A bit like ‘have I won anything this month on the premium bonds?’. I haven’t got any of those left anymore either.

Perhaps I’ll just place a bet on the Grand National later in the year!
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The shares in which DH invests our money have days when they move a lot and he always disappears at about 5.30 to check how much we have made - our initial investment has gone up five fold. I say 'ours' - my input is asking how we are doing!!

He really enjoys studying anything and everything to do with his pet topic.

We can’t risk savings as we won’t be able to replace losses. However, when my grandson asked us a few years ago if we minded if he used the savings we had been putting away for him since he was quite young to be put into shares we encouraged him to do so. He is a very thoughtful young man and when he went to university to students financial economics we left it to him. I believe he is doing okay and my SIL has also been buying shares and I hear from my daughter about apparent ups and downs but overall sounds good. Being old fashioned and not prepared for risks I always wonder how safe these amounts of profit might last. I do think to put aside an amount you can afford to lose and then have a go is probably the best way forward.

I don't personally play the stock market. However, my savings are managed by a company who specialise in it and they seem to do quite well. Ups and downs of course but they're carefully managed to even out. I also had to do a questionnaire on my attitude to risk and say whether I wanted capital growth or income.

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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!!