Do any of you play the stock market? ?

Yes I was a whizz at the stock market. I went on courses in London and was asked if I would like to become a technical analyst, TA uses graphs. I used to have three computer screens and a very fast programme that brought up the graphs and information

I took over my husbands pension pot after he retired and doubled it. I kept my steady head after my DH died. I cashed in all my shares and too the sensible risk-averse route, now my pension pot, which was his sipp does not need attention

Dabbling and playing are amateur words, dabble and play only with money you can afford to lose. Buy low, sell high and be happy with the middle, never trying to scrape the top nor the bottom, be methodical and realise that the wrong psychology has caused many to lose their homes.

Doh, an old thread, wait for the spam to appear

No. I’m far too financially risk-averse. I inherited a large sum recently and it’s all in high-interest savings. Better safe than sorry as far as I’m concerned.

To make money you have to take risks and if you make a wrong choice you can loose a lot, it’s gambling, your broker takes a commission on every trade too.
Even if you are a professional it’s not easy to make money, everyone will tell you about the wins they make, forgetting the losses. You will get taxed on the profits which is why Reeves wants you to take shares ISAs, past gains are no indication of future gains.

Currently 4-5% on a cash ISA tax free is a pretty good risk free investment, that’s where my spare cash goes, most allow couple of withdrawals during the year too.

i just found this old thread and i had problem which i can discuss here that's why it showed up again

thanks for all your kind replies!

I do not play the stockmarket, but I do invest in shares.

The first shares I acquired, I acquired when my employer, British Gas was privatised. I got about 100 free shares and could buy another 2,000 at a preferential rates, so I did.

Those shares have served me very well. The company was later divided into 3 seperate companies: oil and gas, transmission and distribution and domestic distribution (Centrica). The first two were taken ove and bought my shares and I still have my shares in Centrica.

Since then I have bought shares in four or five other companies, all of them big international companies in robust markets. I also have investments in different funds, these are a basket of shares chosen by the fund managers, much as pension funds invest our pension savings.

There is nothing mysterious or magic about investing in stocks and shares. You just need to take an interest in current political and world affairs and get in the habit of reading the business section in one or two newspapers.

One DH's aunts, a teacher married to a chicken farmer, started doing this after she was widowed in her 40s. The £20,000 capital she received from the sale of the farm business after her DH's death, had grown to over £500K by the time she died 30 years later, plus of course dividends. All done by reading papers and being aware of what was happening in the world around her.

Yes.

If it’s all so easy why do many of the professional traders manage to do so badly, they must try really hard, or maybe they are just crooks.
Fact the FTSE has gained about 30% in the last 5 yrs by the time you’ve paid the broker and paid the tax it really isnt that clever, you might be lucky, you might not!.