Investing in stocks & shares is 10x easier than most people think! I usually buy stocks & shares online. These websites are called trading platforms, they are pretty cheap & very easy to use.
It’s a two step process, first you’ve got to pick what platform you’re going to use to buy your shares from. Then you’ve just got to choose the investments you want to buy.
Keep in mind that making an investment is usually not free, the platform you use will charge you a small fee for each investment (trade) that you make.
Once you’ve picked your platform, make sure you opened up a Stocks & Shares ISA on the trading platform. With the £20,000 allowance the ISA gives you, you won’t have to pay tax on profits you make.
What Trading Platform Should You Use?
The good thing is, there are quite a few pretty good platforms that you can use to make your investments. It all depends on what you want to invest in.
Traditional Trading Platforms – Shares, Bonds & Index Funds
These are traditional investment platforms that let you research & invest in the best shares, bonds and index funds.
My Recommendation: Hargreaves Lansdown
Property Crowdfunding
These allow you to invest in property, you can either invest in a share of a property or lend money towards buying a properly (a loan) & receive monthly interest payments.
My Recommendation: British Pearl
Automated Robo-Investors
Robo-Investors are a really good choice for people new to investing. They make everything really simple. You just choose how much you would like to invest & how much risk you would like them to take, we’re talking low, medium or high. They then take care of the rest for you.
My Recommendation: Nutmeg
Peer-to-Peer Lending
These companies allow you to loan your money to other people for a pretty good interest rates.
My Recommendation: RateSetter
Business Lending
Pretty much like peer-to peer lending, but this time you are lending your money to businesses!
My Recommendation: Funding Circle
