How do I invest in the S&P 500

[Ladyoftheapple]

Please talk to me like I am a dummy! Where do I open an account? Hoping to put 500 a month away for 10 years 🤞

A quick google gives this list of options, :

https://www.finder.com/uk/better-invest-in-sp-500?futm_medium=cpc&futm_source=google&futm_campaign=20335363602~153453785920&futm_term=invest%20in%20the%20s%26p%20500~e~g~kwd-336708417343&futm_content=~~EAIaIQobChMImpSQgsTolQMVZptQBh1krjgXEAAYAyAAEgI3fPD_BwE&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20335363602&gbraid=0AAAAApWPrkCzqgw9rXXWoloacLalwOlCt&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImpSQgsTolQMVZptQBh1krjgXEAAYAyAAEgI3fPD_BwE

I just do a simple world tracker are you just wanting to invest in the US?. No idea how comprehensive this list is. Hargreaves lansdown and A J B ell offer it.

Sign up for a stocks and shares ISA. There's apps that sort it out for you - Vanguard, Wealthify etc. They make you do a quiz and then they start investing the money in a portfolio. Then just set up a direct debit and leave it alone for ten years.

I can recommend Trading 212 cause they don’t have fees. I’ve just set up an investment in the Vanguard Global. My DS is studying Economics at uni and he’s been able able to give me quite a bit of advice

I use Trading 212 also because no fees. You can pick your own stocks and shares and do a monthly direct debit. It's best to diversify and not put all your eggs in one basket. I made a pie and popped the stocks I wanted into it. I picked 12 on the basis of some are down the others might be up to balance it out. Then forget about it for 6 months.

Trading 212 is a good platform
Download the app. Make sure you invest in stocks and shares ISA do not invest outside of an ISA if you can help it. Any gains within an ISA won't be taxed.
You can invest with an etf that tracks the s&p500. Bear in mind the S&P500 is America only so if america goes through a rough time your investments will go down, obviously if America does well it'll go up. It may be worth looking at whether youd rather spread your risk with an all world ETF which tracks the biggest companies across the world, its still about 60% America but spreads your risk a little more
I would recommend looking up damien talks money on YouTube. He does good videos on investing and even some specific ones about how to use trading 212

So I just downloaded the trading 212 app and now I have run away because it looks too overwhelming.

Is a direct debt of £100 okay or is that silly?

Are you looking to invest in individual companies or the full index? Individual shares will be higher risk. For the latter you will need an ETF or tracker fund that invests in the US. The funds/ETF should have charges less than 0.1% and are offered by companies like Fidelity, HSBC, Vanguard, legal and general, BlackRock. Look at global trackers too. Use a trading platform as mentioned above and use an ISA if possible.

Try watching this video, hope it helps

If you can afford to invest £100 a month and leave it invested got at least 5 years then go for it, it needs to be money you won't need to access in the near future, so not your emergency funds etc
You need to accept investments can go down, as long as you're invested in large ETFs they generally go back up again but you need to be able to leave it alone and don't panic sell when the price falls. Generally keep away from investing in individual companies if you're new to investing

What has made you pick the S&P 500 to invest in ?
It's done well in the past but it's America focussed and may not do as well in the future, and you'd also potentially be exposed to currency fluctuations of the pound against the dollar.

If you are only going to invest in one thing a global fund would be less risky.

Can I use trading 212 app as a non resident uk citizen?

I set up an S&S ISA account with invest engine and started with £50 about 18 months ago. Investing in EFT following S&P 500 and just ignored it. Now I invest £100 per month split between my original fund and others. It’s a long term investment so I mostly ignore it other than checking my funds are applied correctly. Just try it!

Probably but I'd check if you're eligible for an ISA or not if you're not a uk citizen, you might have to get normal investment account. It asks you questions when you open the account about your residency status I think

So I have done it - downloaded and put some money in. It wasn’t very hard all - I decided I would start and figure it out rather than never beginning.

Sorry guys please talk to me like I’m a dummy, I’ve gone on the trading 212 app and bought £160 of this… this is an ISA right?? Or have I done something wrong ? 😬

Just to add, this is what it looks like, is this right?

The markets are closed as it’s a weekend so the order will be executed on Monday.

I actually feel ridiculously pleased with myself. It’s like something that has been shrouded in mystery was very simple to set up on Trading 212. I suppose now I have done it - I will be more interested and inclined to learn more about it.

I have made 12p on one investment pie thing. Which I do not understand.

And managed to go down 9p on the vanguard global Isa.

You really need to try and not look at it every day - that way madness lies. Some days wil lbe up, others down but over the long term (5+ years) on average a stock market investment will outperform savings interest.

I wish I hadn’t googled but there are hundreds of negative reviews on google about people being able to get their money out of trading212, has anyone actually used this app that can be honest about it please?

I've transferred money out and got it within a few minutes

Just a note though if you're selling stocks you'll probably need to wait for markets to open before the sale will complete before you can transfer the money out

I’ve been using T212 for S&S ISA for over 3 years, never had any issues.

The Trust Pilot reviews look pretty good. Reviews

To answer the question you're stuck on: Trading 212 gives you more than one account under the same login — a Stocks & Shares ISA and a general "Invest" account. Your £160 sits in whichever one you bought it from, so open the app and check which account the holding shows under. If it says ISA, you're done. If it landed in the Invest account, don't panic — just sell it and buy the same fund again from inside the ISA. On £160 there's no tax to worry about; the ISA wrapper matters for the years ahead, not this week.

And your plan — £500 a month for 10 years — is the right shape. Same amount every month, rain or shine, then leave it alone. The people who do worst at this are the ones who check it daily and fiddle.

One thing worth a look, as a few posters have said: a global index fund rather than S&P 500 only. You still get the big American companies — they make up most of it anyway — plus the rest of the world as insurance. But either way, you've already done the genuinely hard part: starting.

(And no, £100 a month is not silly. It's a great way to start.)