Stocks And Shares

[DarloRich]

I agree with @najaB on this. Also putting so much into your house is like putting all your eggs into one basket, something even a semi clued up investor would never do. I suppose if there was a house price crash what would you do?

I will be fine. I did a very good deal on purchasing the house. I rent a modest 2 bed terrace from the bank in an area short of housing. If prices crash I hang onto my house until such time as things recover, as they will. Worst comes to the worst I move out and rent it and still make a decent profit on top of the mortgage.

You also overlook the fact that I have few eggs and have borrowed a modest basket. I am quite happy with my choices.

That would entirely depend on your choices, but smart investors typically make about double the returns on stocks as people who invest in property.

Not all of us are lucky enough to have the freedom or ready cash to play around with. You assume the funding is available to start the process of earning these wonderful returns. For most working people with standard responsibilities in life this isn't an option.

 

[najaB]

Not all of us are lucky enough to have the freedom or ready cash to play around with. You assume the funding is available to start the process of earning these wonderful returns. For most working people with standard responsibilities in life this isn't an option.

You don't really need a massive starting pot. Like any other investment, putting aside a small amount every month is enough to get you started.

 

[DarloRich]

You don't really need a massive starting pot. Like any other investment, putting aside a small amount every month is enough to get you started.

I agree. However, I chose to save what I could towards buying a house to live in. Hopefully in the future I may have more ready cash to consider putting somewhere to earn a different return.

 

[MotCO]

Presumably you need to factor in the costs of trading shares. your tax liability, offset by any dividends, net of tax before deciding whether or not you are 'up or down'

 

[Domh245]

You don't really need a massive starting pot. Like any other investment, putting aside a small amount every month is enough to get you started.

You do need a fair starting pot if you're going into property though! Stocks & Shares are rather more accessible - it's quite possible to invest as little as £25 into a fund with certain platforms

 

[trebor79]

Of course, the art of dealing in the stock market is knowing when to time your trades!

"Time, not timing" is the mantra I try to stick by.
I've dabbled on an off over the years. For some reason I completely neglected to make any purchases earlier this year when things were at historic lows - valuations of things like food manufacturers falling to a fraction of their previous value was absurd and an obvious low-risk opportunity.
I'm taking more of an interest now. I don't think now is the time to buy/ The market isn't allowing for the fact that it's going to be months before "that" vaccine is deployed, and months beyond that that things return to normal. In the meantime all these struggling airlines, retailers, cinema companies and restaurant groups have to survive, and some of them will not survive, or at least will not survive with their current equity structure. There's also a possibility "that" vaccine hits a stumbling block.
Overall, I think there will be a decline in prices over the next few weeks, and then I will go bargain hunting.
I did buy some shares in a commercial property company over the summer, I expect them to recover once the pandemic is over and the home working fad subsides. In the meantime they are still collecting about 90% of the rents so fairly safe. They did dip below my purchase price but this week have moved back to where I bought them.

Twice I have broken my mantra... I was putting a regular sum every month into a company called Bushveld Minerals, penny stock. I sold out at break even because I needed cash for home renovations and didn't want to take on a loan. Within a year they were trading at ten times the value. Would have paid for the home renovations and a massive chunk of mortgage. Gutted.
Similar think happened with Quadrise fuels, bought bits and pieces over a year or so. Decided they were going nowhere, sold at a small loss. Ten bagged.

 

[najaB]

I did buy some shares in a commercial property company over the summer, I expect them to recover once the pandemic is over and the home working fad subsides.

I'm not so sure about that. Many companies have not just survived but actually flourished with almost a year of home working, which probably has a lot of them questioning if they really *need* as much office space as they currently have.

 

[nlogax]

I'm not so sure about that. Many companies have not just survived but actually flourished with almost a year of home working, which probably has a lot of them questioning if they really *need* as much office space as they currently have.

Which screams to me, 'don't invest in corporate real estate, redirect your investments to cloud tech and pharmaceuticals'.

Nah.. I'll never be a day trader.

 

[radamfi]

Presumably you need to factor in the costs of trading shares. your tax liability, offset by any dividends, net of tax before deciding whether or not you are 'up or down'

Or you could just invest monthly into a low cost fund or ETF within an ISA and forget about it for 20 years.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Nov 2020 ==

I agree. However, I chose to save what I could towards buying a house to live in. Hopefully in the future I may have more ready cash to consider putting somewhere to earn a different return.

But you are (probably) already investing at least 5% of your earnings in the stock market every month.

 

[trebor79]

I'm not so sure about that. Many companies have not just survived but actually flourished with almost a year of home working, which probably has a lot of them questioning if they really *need* as much office space as they currently have.

Short term it's OK, but companies are already starting to realise that creativity is reduced, and there are big problems with welcoming and onboarding new staff. I know several people who were accepted onto graduate training schemes due to start over the summer, they have all been deferred to various points in 2021, not because of any financial difficulties, but because the companies recognise they just can't integrate them into the team and train them properly whilst everyone is working remotely.
Menial office work like processing invoices can be done from home - but those employess are the least likely to have comfortable home working arrangements and a good many of them will prefer to go back into an office rather than sit on their own and work on the kitchen table, sofa or whatever.

 

[najaB]

Menial office work like processing invoices can be done from home - but those employess are the least likely to have comfortable home working arrangements and a good many of them will prefer to go back into an office rather than sit on their own and work on the kitchen table, sofa or whatever.

I work for a large software company whose CEO was previously dead-set against homeworking. Nine months into WFH and our profits are on track to be higher this year than last.

Several of the US offices have been "optional return to office" since the summer, but the majority of staff have continued to work from home at least part of the week. I can easily see this continuing past the end of the Covid-related restrictions since we've proven that it can work.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

All betting has risk and "investing" is betting dressed up with fancy words and phrases.

With a teensy difference that with betting, the odds are deliberately stacked so that overall, the betting company makes money from the customers, and therefore on average, you will tend to lose money. Shares on the other hand have a long history of - on average - slowly gaining value over time, so that on average, you will tend to make money.