Page 4 | New to Stocks and Shares ISA- Profit Query

Dobbysocks · 2026-04-12T11:06:27+00:00

I’m new to stocks and shares ISAs this year. Having used my cash isa to save for most of my adult life over the last 15 years. I’ve kept an emergency fund in the cash isa and transferred the rest into a trading 212 stocks and shares. (£24k) I have been investing £500 per month and can afford to continue doing so. But I’ve seen very little gain due to the volatility as a result of events in the Middle East. I know all the basics of keep it in, keep investing, don’t crystallise the loss by moving when it’s down. But my question is do you not start to ‘see’ the gains until around 5 years since investing. Or do you see some gains along the way, market dependant? I’ve got another £37k in premium bonds and wondering whether to move these over too. (I’m currently on £1000 profit in 2026 on premium bonds vs £60 in my stocks and shares isa) But feel atm I may as well leave them where they are seeing as they’re gaining in the meantime.

Original poster

Dobbysocks · 05/05/2026 21:16

dreaminglife · 05/05/2026 11:16

I'm holding off investing my entire year's pension in one go, due to the current political environment - I just have got the nerve to dive straight in and place a massive punt on Trump.

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Things have rebounded the last few weeks but can obviously go up and down. For context, my husband has 1/5 of what I have invested and is at 50% of my total profit on a much smaller number. Because he ‘bought on sale’ when it was all dropping.

OP posts:

dreaminglife · 05/05/2026 22:23

Dobbysocks · 05/05/2026 21:16

Things have rebounded the last few weeks but can obviously go up and down. For context, my husband has 1/5 of what I have invested and is at 50% of my total profit on a much smaller number. Because he ‘bought on sale’ when it was all dropping.

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For me - I couldn’t get the money in early enough due to transferring my pension - so the rebound had happened by the time my cash was sitting ready to be invested in the Sipp. We deal with the cards we are played!😩

Costinrye · 05/05/2026 22:49

On Trading 212 you can place a limit order, so you can set the maximum price you're willing to pay. You can set it so it doesn't have an expiration date, so you can keep the order sitting there in case the stock drops below a certain figure. It has meant I've been able to take advantage of market volatility without actually sitting and waiting for the numbers to drop.

Personally I do check my portfolio most days and it's not a bad thing in itself. I don't check on the actual trading app, but a portfolio tracker, so it's purely for looking at and I wouldn't be able to press sell in a panic as it isn't linked directly to my ISA. I'm a long-term holder and I won't sell except for a planned exit, I just like checking what's happening and doing it frequently won't make the numbers change in either direction, so it has no effect on how your investments perform. It's pointless in a way, but in much the same way as checking my SM feed or the daily news really, it's part of my daily routine and it doesn't make my investments perform worse than someone who checks once a year.

Original poster

Dobbysocks · 05/05/2026 23:10

Costinrye · 05/05/2026 22:49

On Trading 212 you can place a limit order, so you can set the maximum price you're willing to pay. You can set it so it doesn't have an expiration date, so you can keep the order sitting there in case the stock drops below a certain figure. It has meant I've been able to take advantage of market volatility without actually sitting and waiting for the numbers to drop.

Personally I do check my portfolio most days and it's not a bad thing in itself. I don't check on the actual trading app, but a portfolio tracker, so it's purely for looking at and I wouldn't be able to press sell in a panic as it isn't linked directly to my ISA. I'm a long-term holder and I won't sell except for a planned exit, I just like checking what's happening and doing it frequently won't make the numbers change in either direction, so it has no effect on how your investments perform. It's pointless in a way, but in much the same way as checking my SM feed or the daily news really, it's part of my daily routine and it doesn't make my investments perform worse than someone who checks once a year.

I didn’t realise this was a feature but great to know. Now just need to learn the ‘good’ prices so I can set those.

OP posts:

dreaminglife · 06/05/2026 06:52

Costinrye · 05/05/2026 22:49

On Trading 212 you can place a limit order, so you can set the maximum price you're willing to pay. You can set it so it doesn't have an expiration date, so you can keep the order sitting there in case the stock drops below a certain figure. It has meant I've been able to take advantage of market volatility without actually sitting and waiting for the numbers to drop.

Personally I do check my portfolio most days and it's not a bad thing in itself. I don't check on the actual trading app, but a portfolio tracker, so it's purely for looking at and I wouldn't be able to press sell in a panic as it isn't linked directly to my ISA. I'm a long-term holder and I won't sell except for a planned exit, I just like checking what's happening and doing it frequently won't make the numbers change in either direction, so it has no effect on how your investments perform. It's pointless in a way, but in much the same way as checking my SM feed or the daily news really, it's part of my daily routine and it doesn't make my investments perform worse than someone who checks once a year.

Haha! I check my portfolios on a daily basis too, unless it’s going down - then I don’t feel quite so keen to check in on bad news - I’m not going to sell as a consequence anyway so don’t feel any need to upset myself! I don’t see my daily checking as a problem.