Does anyone know anything (anything at all) about Shares??

[tiredemma]

DP joined a 'Share save' scheme at work whereby he had £250 per month taken out of his wages for three years. This finishes in September so I am assuming that this means he can sell the shares?? (which have gone up in value)

We don't really understand it all to be honest- he made a few enquiries at work today and was told that he has to let the shares 'mature' (???) for approx 6 weeks and then find a 'broker' in order to sell them?? Who do you sell them to? what if you can't sell them - what happens to your original money?? (I'm sorry if this all sounds stupid- really don't have a clue)

any advice would be great

Natwest offer a share broker account that my dad uses, think its about £15 per transaction when he buys or sells shares, so it's all done for him.

The share save scheme I used to have basically reserved a share price at the start of the 3 years at slightly under market value (say £1 a share). You save £250 a month into it, so at the end of the term you have £9000.

You can either take the money and walk away, you can buy shares at the £1 value you reserved and either keep them or sell them immediately.

If the share price has increased, say to £2 a share, you can buy then sell immediately and take the £18,000. However, if you think the shares will keep going up in value, buy them and hang onto them for a while longer.

My dh has contributed to a sharesave scheme for the last few years and has always made quite a bit of money! It is as Rockchick states, at the end of the 3 years you have 3 options.

1. (usually if the shares have gone down in value) you can take out all the money you have paid in.

1. If you don't need the cash or if you want to speculate, you can just use the money to buy the shares at the price quoted at the beginning, and then keep the shares until some future date when you choose to sell.

or 3. Use the money to buy the shares at the original price (as in example 2) but then to immediately sell them. Only do this if the share prices have gone up though! We usually get the cash paid straight into our bank account within a week of the sale date. And then I go out spending

Dh's scheme do most of the organising, he just has to make the decision and inform them (online or by text). It is all done on his behalf. I have never heard of a scheme that you have to find your own broker, unless you choose to keep the shares and then sell at some point in the future.

My experience is the same as crazycarol. The company should provide all the details on how to retain or cash in the shares, usually there's a nominated broker that will administer the shares at a relatively low cost, and he shouldn't have to find his own.

Really, really helpful information from all of you! thanks so much.

He brought the shares at £5.06 three years ago and they are now worth £9.70 so hopefully should be able to sort out teh bathroom that is falling down around me.