Trading 212

[Koffee123786]

After being on the waiting list for trading 212 for over a year I have now been given the go ahead and created an account.

This is my first time investing and I'm reading all the books and gathering as much information for me to make an informed decision.

Would anyone recommend trading 212 as a platform for investing over vanguard?

I'm looking to invest in the S&P 500 as a starter.
I'm thinking to put a lump sum of 1k and invests roughly £100pm. It's not a lot but this is what I can afford to invest currently. But it's a start and will likely increase in the future.

Further guidance would be great or shared experience. Yes I am aware that this isn't financial advice and I should seek that from a financial advisor and yes I am aware of the risk of losing money too.

I don’t know much about trading 212, but I would have a close look at any fees or transfer charges you may incur as you invest monthly. You want to keep your fees as low as possible, as over time high fees will eat into your returns.

You need to make sure you are tax efficient. Does trading 121 have an stocks and shares ISA? Your money will grow there tax free. This is probably the number one advantage over just a brokerage account. I would invest up to the £20k isa allowance and then any surplus in a brokerage account.

If you are investing for the very long term (retirement), then a SIPP is an option and you get a government top up there too.

Well done on starting! Another tip that works for me: don’t try to time the markets. I dollar cost average 2x a month, every month, no matter what the markets are doing (if you are along term investor, you will see a lot of bear/bull markets, recessions etc…). As an aside, if you are contributing to an employer pension plan, then I would have a good look at the funds you are invested in. Often they are too conservative for younger investors and they usually have higher fees. I always switch my employer contributions to funds with the lowest fees and a risk profile I am comfortable with.

I've not tried Trading 212.

I've used InvestEngine for funds, easy to use and fees seemed reasonable. They appear to have sign up offers every so often, when I invested they added £30 to the first £100. They also have referral offers if you refer friends and family (may be of interest if there are a group of you investing).

Have also used Freetrade and Shares apps for shares, both seem easy to use and also have referral offers if you refer friends and family.

For reading up on shares and investing try Hargreaves Landsdown, Interactive Investor and Motley Fool.

Good luck with your investing!

Well done for starting your investing journey!

I have been using Trading212 since 2019 and it's now my main and only platform, it's just so easy and quick to use. I would recommend it 100% from my own experience of use over the past 3 years.

Trading UK ETF's on T212 such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF incur no fees to buy/sell, so that's a great bonus.

Deposits have always been instant, and withdrawals hit back into my bank within 1-2 business days. 95% of times it's been the next day.

Personally, I wouldn't use a financial advisor myself for anything less than £25k, as their fees could eat up a portion of potential profit. So I normally just research the available ETF's myself and diversify my funds over 3-5 of them in order to minimize the risk of one dropping in value.