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Posts: 4
With small share holdings circa. £1k, fees can adversely affect the gains on such small purchases/ sales.
I'm currently paying £11.95 per transaction which I'm sure I can do much better. I have been looking at some of the free/ low cost options out there and wonder if anyone has any recommendations, FINECO, ETORO, PLUS500, TRADING212, FREETRADE, etc.
Grateful for any help or guidance.
Posts: 951
I use interactive investors, which is if you pay subs 19.99 a month UK trades are 3.99, you get 1st 2 free, other trades are cheap too. I am sure there are more out there similar fee's. You can pay less subs at ii and pay more for trades, you have plan options.
I worry about some platforms that claim to be free, but perhaps they are.
I looked at Fineco recently and though I can't remember what it was something was too complicated about it, I think as it was not UK based. But look at them before you decide it might just have been me.
The last tab on this site shown as trading, has many brokers listed with an idea of what they charge, so is worth a look.
Posts: 951
One more thing to mention. I recently transferred a portfolio from EQI to ii, it was an ISA and took a while, it was a pain. There are times in this process where you cannot trade as things are not always aligned. In the end it was all sorted out and okay but was not easy on the mind. I suspect this is the same most platforms so just be aware it will not be speedy.
Maybe if you not in an ISA will be better?
Posts: 1,227
Sorry if I appear to be ****ing on your enthusiasm, but the cost of executing a bargain under £1,000 is going to be expensive relative to the size of the bargain executed. FWIW, my own affairs are managed on a discretionary basis but I look after those for my children (and some minor accounts to keep my eye in). I therefore have some sympathy with the difficulty in building a portfolio without the benefit of capital and soley reliant on surplus income.
When I began investing in the late 1970's things were very different. We had newspapers that provided information and to execute a bargain simply walked into local bank, placed an order to "buy" or "sell" and for the domestic punter this was always "at best". Yer paid yer money and a few days later you received a certificate.
Nowadays, there is electronic dealing at very low cost and there are all sorts of instruments that van be used to build capital from income that include trackers and investment trusts. If you have just £50 month to invest, then this equates to £600 annually so you can probably afford to place 1 bargain every 18 months directly in an equity. There is greater probabilty in having a positive return from a tracker than there is in an individual holding where the amount invested is under £1,000 (IMO).
So as investing is not a race it is a marathon, understand the reason why you are investing. For me it was for a comfortable retirement (and I am now just a few years away from that). Next listen to the long term advice - that the longer the period of investment the greater the risk that can be taken. Now, this is not an excuse for recklessness, but the general feeling is that higher risk results in higher rewards or higher losses.
And once I retire, then how long will I live after that? 5 years, 10... 30. And of course, I don't know. Where life expectancy IS known than appropriate risk can be made. If diagnosed with a terminal illness aged say 50 with a life expectancy of 5 years, then a low risk is likely to be better. If aged say 50 and no underlying illness, fit, active, no health issues and parent alive in their 90's, then there is a better than even chance that you too will live for another 40 + years. A high risk portfolio is just the ticket, surely?
Trackers have (based on the performance of the major indices (DOW, London Stock Exchange etc)) grown at a solid 7% annually. That will double your capital every 14 years. Fees will erode this with frequent trading. FWIW, with the exception of regular buy orders for monthly savings, I place roughly 10 sale order and 12 buy orders each year. Average wealth invested per holding is £!7,000 and have between 65 and 75 holdings in portfolio including cash. My target is simply to beat the index.
So fees can be reduced by looking