Do any of you play the stock market? ?

We have an advisor who does it all.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ?

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!

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.

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

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.

I know who to send my begging letters to ...
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