≡ Menu

Investing

Late always beats never when it comes to saving for your retirement…

{ 44 comments }

The complete guide to investing in a stocks and shares ISA including how it works, the rules, your allowance, tax breaks, costs, eligible funds and inheritance wrinkles.

{ 19 comments }

How to spot a bear market bottom

Legendary investor Jim Slater lived through the 1970s stock market crash: the worst slump since the 1930s. The London share index was at a 21-year low in 1975. If you find yourself in the midst of a bear market then clearly Slater’s seen a thing or two. Let’s hear what he has to say. (My [...]

{ 3 comments }

The 22 maxims of Sir John Templeton

Like always, these investment principles from Sir John Templeton are incomplete and self-contradictory. But I’d rather read his maxims than those of almost anyone else.

{ 35 comments }

Investing for beginners: Why do we invest?

Here’s the first part in a new occasional series of articles aimed at absolute beginners to investing. Apples for teacher appreciated.

{ 37 comments }

Forget peak oil and other abstract catastrophes, you need to grab motivation juice from the personal financial disaster lurking around the corner.

{ 45 comments }

Every investor has to start somewhere, and your start won’t come much better than buying an index fund.

{ 16 comments }

The nuts and bolts of choosing an investment platform – the accounts to pick, the fees to avoid, and other pitfalls investigated.

{ 59 comments }

What is the equity risk premium?

The equity risk premium gives a clue to what you can expect to earn from putting up with the ups and downs of the stock market…

{ 0 comments }

How compound interest can save our pensions

Use time, the correct asset allocation and tax breaks to maximise the power of compound interest to see you alright in your old age.

{ 32 comments }

How to dramatically increase your savings rate to match the most stretching of investment goals.

{ 53 comments }

Hearing a few differences of opinion might be confusing in the short-term, but I believe it’s the way to long-term wisdom.

{ 31 comments }

How to buy your first index trackers

A beginner’s guide to buying your first index trackers. Where to go and what to look out for.

{ 68 comments }

Regrets, I have a few. Happily, despite the heady rise in London property prices since I used my house deposit to start investing, not doing so isn’t one of them!

{ 14 comments }

As long as you’re not talking nose-bleedingly stupidly high P/E ratios, a higher P/E ratio for the market is no reason to fear lower returns.

{ 24 comments }

There’s not One True Way, but there are things that successful private investors seem to have in common (besides noughts on their bank account…)

{ 12 comments }

How to invest in an IPO

Want to invest in that bright young thing that’s about to come to the stock market? You probably shouldn’t, but here’s how you go about it.

{ 3 comments }

What is an IPO?

If you have to ask “What is an IPO” then with respect you’re probably not yet ready to invest in them yet!

{ 2 comments }

Plan to invest as shares fall

This special post from Tim of the Psi-Fi blog outlines some ways to buy shares when the stock market is plummeting.

{ 3 comments }

Should we be as worried as the markets are about equities, or should we more fear low bond yields? It really depends on our time horizon.

{ 8 comments }

It’s a torrid time for stock markets, but why would anyone sane prefer to buy government bonds at historically tiny yields?

{ 8 comments }

Some things to think about if you’re getting worried about losing your growing nest egg. In short, don’t worry too soon.

{ 13 comments }

Asset class outlook for 2011

My asset class outlook for 2011 sees equities doing fairly well, government bonds continuing to come off the boil, and a recovery in commercial property.

{ 11 comments }

My first time

Your first time investing may define more than just your first year’s returns. Your experience can influence you for life.

{ 9 comments }

Phil Carret is another famous and successful investor who reached a grand old age. Here’s a video of the great man, plus a youthful Peter Lynch.

{ 0 comments }

A new investor should focus on low fees and an easy to understand strategy when first venturing into the stock market

{ 12 comments }

We’re due a new technology boom – but if you’re a UK reader, you might miss out due to the lack of big names on the London market.

{ 11 comments }

Directors share dealing – particularly buying their stock when it is showing value credentials – can signal superior returns for up to two years.

{ 4 comments }

Nobody ever won a girl or wrote a pop song by thinking long term. But being a little bit boring goes a long way.

{ 3 comments }

Perfect 10 investing

The world of chasing endless beauty queens in the absence of all other kinds of women or relationships isn’t for me.

{ 3 comments }

A bad time to fear the worst

Lots of people have been left on the sidelines by the stock market rally, hunkered down in a bunker waiting for a bomb that’s already exploded.

{ 0 comments }

Even if you’re in debt, you should start learning more about putting investment ideas into practice sooner rather than later.

{ 7 comments }

Borrowing to invest is expensive

The cost of servicing a loan will eat up most of the returns you’re likely to make from borrowing to invest.

{ 4 comments }

I have written about several specific company’s shares here on Monevator over the past six months. How have they done?

{ 3 comments }

Most of the benefits of investing are obvious. Many would say they amount to zero – or rather all the zeros you hope to see at the end of your bank balance! More thoughtful souls ask what successful investing could translate into, whether it be the sports cars and fancy holidays you imagine as a [...]

{ 1 comment }

Like many investors who (perhaps foolishly) invest a portion of their funds into individual shares, I’ve an ambivalent relationship to stop loss investing strategies. If a stop loss ‘did what it said on the tin’, I’d have no complaints. Who wouldn’t want to Stop Losses when investing? It sounds like Nirvana, a one-way ticket to [...]

{ 4 comments }

I accept it’s normal to feel frustrated, angry, or even downright stupid when you lose money on your investments. But what about guilt? My portfolio’s fall from its peak value in summer 2007 to a low in October 2008 represents a big loss for a 30-something private investor like me: at least a couple of [...]

{ 8 comments }

A month into 2009 and the bad news continues. Perhaps I’m becoming immune to the economic gloom or maybe it’s the first sign of spring, but I can’t help feeling we should look on the bright side. Yes, the world economy is undergoing a severe contraction. Millions of people are losing their jobs, and investors [...]

{ 5 comments }

Source: Digital Look I don’t know what annoys me more: That Barclays Bank shares rose 72% on Monday while I was still finishing off a post suggesting they might be worth a punt, or that I didn’t buy any myself. Oh ‘greedy’ side of the fear-greed investing equation, how we’ve missed you. I use the [...]

{ 1 comment }

Bloomberg is reporting that more than 2,000 companies around the world have cash balances exceeding their market capitalization. That’s more than eight times as many cash rich companies as when the last bear market bottomed in 2002. With these companies, a $1 share is worth more than $1, just in terms of the cash held [...]

{ 1 comment }

Dilbert explains stock investing

The incomparable Scott Adams (via The Big Picture)

{ 2 comments }

What do you really want from your online stockbroker? Security? Cheap dealing charges? Low or no annual fees? Special offers? All well and good. After five years of dealing online, however – and especially during the recent bear market – I’ve discovered something else matters. Something you may think sounds silly, but which will make [...]

{ 9 comments }

Debt isn’t just painful because of the interest bill you pay. There’s also the long-term value of that money if you’d saved and invested it instead.

{ 1 comment }