Stocks & Shares ISA’s for beginners

[ChilledProsecco]

I have a cash ISA already (which I use for my emergency fund) but would like to start investing.

I have never invested before - a complete novice.

I’ve got 20k to put in a Stocks & Shares ISA.

Thinking of opening a trading 212 account- is that the best way?

I was thinking of transferring one of my 1 year fixed cash ISA's into a S&S ISA as i've used my allowance this year. I opened it a few months ago, so i'm not worried about losing any interest.

I'll be looking at the Rebel Finance Course this weekend as I signed up, but have not had time to watch the videos until now. I always steered away from Stocks and Shares ISA's but i'm ready to take the plunge and am aware of the risks. I just need to find one that is low cost and am happy to invest some in a high risk fund and forget about it.

You don’t need to invest in a high risk fund - for a start these tend to be highly managed to fees to match. Rebel Finance School shows you how to invest in passive global index trackers.

I thought you could have a split of funds i.e 40% in low risk tracker, 30% in medium risk and 30% in high risk?

I'm hoping to do the course tomorrow which will give me clarity

Nothing wrong with Trading 212 - I don't use it but that's for historical reasons. I have tried a few of the platforms (think banks that hold you investment account) not keen on either Vanguard or Investengine's software. Vanguard will charge you a fee. But you don't have to use Vanguard's platform to access their investment funds. Make sure you chose an accumulation fund as opposed to distribution fund- that way any any dividend go straight back into your investment - less need to manage you fund.

One of the cheapest (doesn't mean poorer quality or lower profits) funds global trackers available at the moment is Vanguard's Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap UCITS ETF - the code is VALL for the accumulating type - the fee is amazingly low at 0.07% and it's available on Trading 212. If you're confused about how to set it up there will be loads of videos on You Tube to help.

@ChilledProsecco if you haven’t opened your T212 account yet, they currently have their free fractional share promo code offer on.
I won’t post my link because that’s not what the thread is for but, if you know someone with an account, you can use their referral code and get a free portion of a share when you sign up. They get one too. It says up to £100 but I’ve never known anyone get that much tbh.

With the £2k, one thing I found useful when I was getting my head around investing was actually seeing what a portfolio might look like rather than just reading lists of fund names.

I built a tool on my website "AltPath" that lets you split an amount across different stocks and then shows how that combination would have behaved historically. For example, here’s a £2,000 portfolio I put together as an illustration

I wouldn’t copy that portfolio it deliberately mixes global/US equities, bonds and some more income-focused ETFs so you can see how different holdings work together. If you’re just starting, I’d spend some time looking at broad diverse funds (ETF's) first and understanding what they actually hold, their fees and the level of risk, rather than feeling you need five different investments straight away.

The beginner guide makes the same point: many beginners start by learning about broad diverse funds rather than trying to pick lots of individual investments.

And if you’re considering Trading 212, I’ve also got a free UK broker comparison on AltPath so you can compare it with the alternatives before deciding.

Hope that's helpful 😊

Did you make a decision what to do, if so where?

Would like to try and make a bit to fund retirement!

I’m still waiting on the money, so haven’t quite decided yet, but there’s been some great advice on this thread.

I would use T212 if the regulators and my employer didn’t make me report all my trades through a designated broker. It looks like a great platform.

VWRP and chill 😎 with some semiconductor and robotics ETFs for a bit of spice 🔥