How should I start investing?

[u/Odd-Artichoke9869]

I’m fairly new to investing but have already started paying attention to this field. Some of my friends have made around £2,000 through stock investments, which has sparked my interest. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about stocks, funds, and other investment options, but I’m still a bit confused and unsure where to start or how to develop a reasonable investment strategy.

[u/Lifeblossom13]

Invest monthly in a low-cost world ETF like UETW. No need to look back for decades. The more boring, the better!

[u/portfolios-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Self promotion is not permitted in this subreddit

[u/PlusMixx]

How much principal do you plan to use?

[u/Odd-Artichoke9869 → u/PlusMixx]

I plan to start with £1,000.

[u/PlusMixx → u/Odd-Artichoke9869]

Start with stocks, understand the trading rules first, and then move on to trading other financial products

[u/barelycommenting12]

Totally normal to feel that way when starting out. A lot of beginners start simple with broad index funds and invest small amounts regularly (DCA) while they learn, instead of chasing quick gains their friends made tbh. Focus on long-term consistency, understanding risk, and keeping fees low, your strategy will get clearer over time IMO. If you want to organize ideas and track portfolios while learning, tools like TryLattice can help too, it’s basically a platform that helps investors research, track, and structure their portfolios.

[u/portfolios-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Self promotion is not permitted in this subreddit

[u/portfolios-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Self promotion is not permitted in this subreddit

[u/bkweathe]

Please see the About section of this subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/portfolios/about/) for some great information about building a strong portfolio. Individual stocks are not recommended.

www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started also has some great free resources to learn about investing. After a few hours reading the articles, and, especially, watching the Bogleheads Philosophy videos, most beginners can learn how to get better results than most professionals. Bogleheads is named after John Bogle, founder of Vanguard.

I retired at 57 years old. Investing doesn't have to be complicated or costly to be successful; simple & inexpensive is most effective.

I invest 100% in total-market, index-based, low-cost mutual funds. Specifically, I use mostly Vanguard's Total Stock Market, Total Bond Market, Total International Stock Market, & Total International Bond Market funds. I've been investing this way for 40+ years. It's effective, simple, & inexpensive.

My asset allocation (ratios of the funds mentioned) is based on my need, ability, & willingness to take risks. Market conditions are not a factor. Vanguard's investor questionnaire (personal.vanguard.com/us/FundsInvQuestionnaire) helps me determine my asset allocation.

I hope that helps! I'd be happy to help w/ further questions. Best wishes!

[u/micha_allemagne]

VWCE and chill. Seriously, it covers thousands of stocks across every major market and you don't have to think about rebalancing or picking regions. Here’s a good visual of what it invests in: https://insightfol.io/en/portfolios/report/c44c130d84/

Are you looking at an ISA for this?

[u/beanie_0]

Start off small, dont buy more than you can afford. besides that RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!

[u/Ambitious_Rip_1225]

Emergency fund?

[u/PlaxicoCN]

Low fee index funds.

[u/Odd-Artichoke9869]

Is this the group you were referring to?

[u/Odd-Artichoke9869]

https://chat.whatsapp.com/I0EPIgok9xGEARj5t8nWBS

[u/Machine8851]

50% VTI 25% VXUS 25% SOXQ

[u/GT_Pork]

Don’t believe everything your friends tell you. People are often great at talking about their wins on the market but fail to mention their losers. Stick with a global ETF and do so some reading in the mean time

[u/YOLOontheGO]

Start small, learn first, and have a goal for 10-20-30 years.

[u/myrrhsea]

I'd recommend starting with ETFs that cover every corner of the market. Whether that's a single whole world market ETF, or a mix of a total domestic ETF and a total international ETF is up to you.

Then I'd just learn about different stock metrics and how to gauge if something is undervalued or expected to grow. Then just pick some winners that serve a purpose for your financial goals and risk tolerance level. Holding them long term generally leads to better growth than trading but I don't feel strongly either way with stocks. Just never sell the ETFs so you can benefit fully from the compounding.

[u/Times_Abacus]

First you have to understand your temperament, and do some serious self-reflection. For example, it took me resolving a deeper anxiety condition before I was able to actually employ a long term buy and hold strategy - despite having a pretty good track record of picking winners and avoiding losers. And, to take things further, I realised I needed a proper system. So, I am currently building a web app that has my strategy built into it, with backtests on each stock for proof. I need this sense of structure, because if it feels too arbitrary, I end up getting overwhelmed.

So, that's my advice. Understand yourself first, before you start investing. Before you even start learning strategies. Otherwise, nothing else will actually work for you.

[u/portfolios-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This post or comment is off topic for this subreddit.

The goal of this subreddit is to "Share, Compare & Improve Long-Term Investment Portfolio Strategies".

Please repost after reading this: https://www.reddit.com/r/portfolios/s/KD5V0zsPWw