To want to dabble in stocks and shares

[chillimartini]

I know nothing about this area but really want to learn! Can anyone give me any pointers? Reliable websites etc.
I don't have much to invest...just penny shares / low cost shares really!

what do you mean dabble?

If you want to start trying to make money from buying and selling I reckon that would take a vast amount of research and skills acquired to do that.
If you want to invest long term however, then start by researching index funds, I have a fste 250 index fund which is basically a little of every company in that index.

I also have vanguard funds and nearly all my research came back to Vanguard I have 2 life strategies, one in my SIPP and one in my ISA, you can expose yourself to less or more risk generally based on how old you are.

Risk is balanced between equities and bonds, eg 20% bond 80% equity is higher risk,

I don't view vanguard personally as high risk because these funds are a little of everything all over the world so very balanced .

I am not a fan of fund managers like Lindsell train or Fundsmith however I do hold some of their funds. But they are my take a punt funds - although I think the stocks they hold are good quality.

I started by reading about index funds, cross reference what you read.

• the general advice is to spread your money and investments across world and sectors and watch out for the spot the dogs, my dad was a huge fan of M and G recovery fund and it performed well for years but it became a lag and he didn't ditch it because he loved it so much and thought it would bounce back.

Index funds don't have the immediate excellent returns as some of the other funds but they are generally fail safe, steady and have low fees.

Mr Money mustache is also an interesting read.

I'd like to do this too.

Funds all the way.
I’m not sure how the fees compare but Interactive Investor might be worth looking at, at the very least they have some decent research pages on their website.

This is all really interesting. Can anyone enlighten me as to how to go about putting funds etc in an ISA. Do you set up an ISA first and then buy funds into it (bascially I haven't got a clue here - I have lots of cash ISAs which are a total waste of time now - can I move the cash into funds?).

Agree with PP who have suggested Vanguard’s Lifestrategy funds. They’re a good place to get started. 80-100% if you’re investing longer term and happy to take a risk, or the lower funds if you’re not.

Vanguard are fairly cheap to use, and you can choose not to invest a set monthly amount. I manually add money each month depending on what I can afford - anything from £20-200. The platform is pretty straightforward to use.

Mamafurfur has some really useful videos on YouTube and I’d recommend watching a few before taking the plunge.

Also, it goes without saying that it’s a good idea to put your efforts into building up an emergency fund before investing, if you don’t already have one.

@MrsFogi

This is all really interesting. Can anyone enlighten me as to how to go about putting funds etc in an ISA. Do you set up an ISA first and then buy funds into it (bascially I haven't got a clue here - I have lots of cash ISAs which are a total waste of time now - can I move the cash into funds?).

Your best bet is going to Vanguard and setting up the Stocks and Shares IS directly with them. They can set this tax 'wrapper' up for you and then you can chose the funds within that, such as LifeStrategy 80/100 etc

Thanks @Jizzle do you have any idea about existing cash ISAs my understading is that I could move the cash into shares/funds - any idea how to do that?

@MrsFogi

Thanks *@Jizzle* do you have any idea about existing cash ISAs my understading is that I could move the cash into shares/funds - any idea how to do that?

When you open another ISA, or S&S ISA, ie with Vanguard, you have the opportunity to do an 'in specie' transfer, which brings across any existing ISA's whilst keeping them inside their 'wrapper' for tax purposes.

Baillie Gifford is magnifcent, Hargreaves Lansdowne is expensive. Individual shares are risky.

In the first instance I'd avoid managed funds as they charge fees to do the managing.

I'd start with a simple FTSE tracker (probably FTSE100 - that's the 'big' one). You can buy them through banks, brokers such as Hargreaves Lansdowne, etc. As they're doing the same thing, check their fees carefully.

Have a good read of the money supermarket type websites, and The Motley Fool, the Telegraph money pages, specially at the weekend, not necessarily to take their advice but to have a good feel for what people are saying.

And yes, number one, don't invest more than you can lose!

I'm using the Etoro app. It's like social media...you find someone who has a great investment record and can put as little as £200 on them. The app invests your money in what THEY invest in.
You can search profiles and spread your investment in people with different strategies.
I'm significantly up already.

@Ladesiderata
Don't they trade in dollars so you get screwed over on the currency conversion?

Bear in mind most people who buy individual stocks loose money. As others have advised a balanced fund is a good place to start. Get yourself on youtube and start watching personal finance vlogs, Meet Kevin posts about a dozen times a day on what the market is doing although his style is more than a little full on, for a fuller market picture try Graham Stephan.