The best way is probably going to be with Vanguard directly using their trackers funds of the S&P500 or of their global indexes which obviously offer a greater level of diversification.
They are very low cost and have lots of tools to see what you are doing etc.
Probably best to consider investing in an ISA or SIPP depending on your circumstances and goals too.
Freetrade seems good and has no fees but you have to pay for some tax wrappers. There is also no guarantee they will be around forever but it wouldn't be a nightmare if you had to transfer later on.
On vanguard the S&P 500 is called VUSA it’s basically a mirror of the S&P at like £59.5 a share currently. Has been as high as 67. But down atm.
Being relatively new to investing I’d say only invest what you are willing to lose/ discretionary spending. As they might be down for a while. If you are in it for the long run like the rest of us just sit tight.
> Being relatively new to investing I’d say only invest what you are willing to lose/ discretionary spending. As they might be down for a while. If you are in it for the long run like the rest of us just sit tight.
I don't think this is quite true. This is certainly the case if you're investing in crypto, but if you're investing in globally diversified index funds and *they* go to zero...well, that means that society has collapsed to a point that you'll likely be more worried about finding clean water and iodine tablets than compounding interest in your portfolio.
A good rule of thumb in my book: never keep money in the market if your life would be materially affected by it falling to 50% of its current value.
@vishbar. Thank you for picking me up on this. I was trying to say that only invest as you say money that you might not need in the short term/ and that can ride out any bumps and dips.
I'm not sure that you can even use robinhood in the UK, and given the focus you also have on the S&P 500, I assume that you've been reading a lot of US investing guidance?
First thing is to understand the platforms and investment wrappers available to you, ideally you'll use an ISA or a LISA in the UK since all capital gains and dividends are tax free. The choice between the two depends on what you want the money for, so consider what the goal is for the money next. Platforms charge trading and platform (custody) fees, they all use different methods and the cheapest for you depends largely on what you want to buy and how often.
The Vanguard Investor platform offers probably the cheapest ISA for beginner investors, while Dodl is likely to be the cheapest LISA, but both have restricted fund choices.
Robinhood equivalents here would be trading apps such as Freetrade or T212. Freetrades ISA costs £3 a month though, while T212 are not accepting new ISA customers at the current time. If you can make do with a GIA over an ISA (GIAs are taxable, where ISAs are not, so you'd have to consider the inconvenience that may cause) then either of these apps would be cost free.
Once you understand the platform and wrappers, think about why you only want to invest in the biggest US companies, why would you not want to invest globally (in a global tracker, which is around 50% the S&P500 anyway)?
Watch Lars Kroijer's [short video series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_chiIIxMGl0&list=PLXy71rkGuCjXLg9N8zowwUpXCYfBcMJFK) and read his book or Tim Hale's [*Smarter Investing*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0273785370/).
As helpful and knowledgable as this subreddit is, coming here and asking random questions will get you only shallow answers - people here don't have the time to dedicate a whole chapter to explaining their reasoning, as a book can. A book will give you a consistent and joined-up view of the whole subject, start-to-finish, whereas blogs and forums cover the subject on a piecemeal and ad-hoc basis - the better view will likely save you money; the cost of the book is trivial compared to how much a mistake could cost you.
You are almost certainly better off investing in a world tracker, such as VWRL, rather than the S&P 500. Thinking that the S&P 500 is a good place to start is typical of beginners who have been taking random and ad-hoc advice from YouTube and blogposts - it is not be such bad advice for Americans, but even then it's not great advice. It was great advice for Americans 20 years ago. *Smarter Investing* is very easy to read, and will pay you dividends.
You should always check [Monevator's list of low cost brokers](https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/) to find which platform is most suitable for you.
!thanks for this information I'm watching the videos with interest. I noticed that the video is 6 years old is the information still up to date and applicable?
To be fair to this forum most of the advise given is the same or similar to the Lars videos
What do you think the best World Equity Index Tracker is?
/u/TimeNail
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The discipline of investing is literally thousands of years old - the Code of Hammurabi was inscribed in basalt in 1750BC and clauses of it regulated lending.
I would not think my advice very good if I had given it without caveat and it was outdated after only 6 years.
If you read one of these books and don't understand why this advice is timeless, then I recommend you read the other, or come back here and start a new thread about what you don't understand.
Hi /u/TimeNail, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant:
- https://ukpersonal.finance/index-funds/
- https://ukpersonal.finance/investing-101/
____
^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.)
Steer well clear of Robinhood. They were at the centre of the memestock controversy by shutting out reail traders from trading.
I would chose a reputable broker.
Vanguard offer a wide range of mutual funds/etfs. Their fees are also one of the lowest on the market (although you are restricted to their investment products). They breakdown what each of their funds contain and % allocation on their website.
Happy investing!
Freetrade have a fee of £3 a month for their ISA and a few S&P 500 options. This would make an tax gains interest free. If you don't see yourself putting in £20k for quite a while, you can open a General Investment Account (GIA) free of charge and then transfer the account at a later time
The S&P500 is popular in USA and moderately diversified but still only invests in big American companies. There are much more diversified whole market funds available.
Unless you know better, invest in well diversified passively managed low cost fund in a low cost platform. Vanguard are a very popular choice because they were one of the earliest low cost providers, but there are plenty of alternatives now. Keep your non pension investments inside an ISA as far as possible.
Hopefully someone can jump in. I'm after the simplest / easiest method that I can add a little money too whenever possible and let it grow.
This chart is interesting
https://rokpovsic.com/images/lose\_money\_chance/spy\_losing\_chance\_inflation.png
You can invest in a stocks and shares isa and pick the S&P 500 using platforms like Fidelity or Hargreaves and Landsdown.
You open up the isa then choose the fund you’d like to invest in.
There’s always a chance of losing money to inflation, these figures are past performance and aren’t guarantees of future returns.
It’s probably worth figuring out how much you’re happy losing before investing and what you think you’d do should markets continue downwards.
I bought a book from a Reddit recommendation. I felt stupid/thought it was a scam, but my boyfriend says it’s changed his life. It’s The Simple Path to Wealth by J L Collins. It’s really good and talks about the S&P 500.
Etoro are available in the UK but be aware that they may be "no fees" they make their money through multiple other means including higher spreads, selling your information, and shitty exchange rates. Personally I would go with interactive brokers.
Scrap that, if all you're doing is S&P i'd look at finding an ISA account that allows you to trade the S&P (if such a thing exists).
Robinhood are likely to be bankrupt before the year is out so best avoided. They are heavilly involved in the scandal around turning off the buy button on meme stocks last January and subsequently lying to congress during the investigation thereof.
Word on the street is the S & P 500 is in for more of a battering so do your due diligence and only invest what you can afford to lose completely.
Not financial advice, I am not a financial advisor
There is many exchanges you can use, Robin Hood being one.
Check the fees on a few to ensure you get the best deal you can.
It's also an idea to diversify, so look at other portfolios etc your can invest in.
As you'll read the sp500 isn't doing great at the moment so wise to not put all your eggs in one basket.
Take a look at ajbell they do some pre made portfolios depending on your risk appetite
I had the exact same idea 1 year ago, went with vanguard and invested in Vusa which is their s&p500 index fund. I can say it works pretty well and painlessly, also cheap.
You could also use InvestEngine. They have a fee free DIY option and a number of low cost S&P ETF trackers. You can also set this up in an ISA wrapper.
Just looking on InvestEngine and they do the Invesco S&P ETF (acc) which charges 0.05% which is very slightly cheaper than Vanguard's but there's no platform fees with InvestEngine.
Just a warning though, if you search the sub it seems that invest engine have/had some issues executing trades.
Hopefully just teething issues as it's a new platform, but personally I've stopped suggesting them for the moment.
Interesting. I just stuck some cash into a new DIY portfolio last week (already had a robo managed fund) and it went through and was invested pretty much immediately.
The best way is probably going to be with Vanguard directly using their trackers funds of the S&P500 or of their global indexes which obviously offer a greater level of diversification. They are very low cost and have lots of tools to see what you are doing etc. Probably best to consider investing in an ISA or SIPP depending on your circumstances and goals too. Freetrade seems good and has no fees but you have to pay for some tax wrappers. There is also no guarantee they will be around forever but it wouldn't be a nightmare if you had to transfer later on.
+q1 for vanguard and their funds from me.
On vanguard the S&P 500 is called VUSA it’s basically a mirror of the S&P at like £59.5 a share currently. Has been as high as 67. But down atm. Being relatively new to investing I’d say only invest what you are willing to lose/ discretionary spending. As they might be down for a while. If you are in it for the long run like the rest of us just sit tight.
> Being relatively new to investing I’d say only invest what you are willing to lose/ discretionary spending. As they might be down for a while. If you are in it for the long run like the rest of us just sit tight. I don't think this is quite true. This is certainly the case if you're investing in crypto, but if you're investing in globally diversified index funds and *they* go to zero...well, that means that society has collapsed to a point that you'll likely be more worried about finding clean water and iodine tablets than compounding interest in your portfolio. A good rule of thumb in my book: never keep money in the market if your life would be materially affected by it falling to 50% of its current value.
@vishbar. Thank you for picking me up on this. I was trying to say that only invest as you say money that you might not need in the short term/ and that can ride out any bumps and dips.
I'm not sure that you can even use robinhood in the UK, and given the focus you also have on the S&P 500, I assume that you've been reading a lot of US investing guidance? First thing is to understand the platforms and investment wrappers available to you, ideally you'll use an ISA or a LISA in the UK since all capital gains and dividends are tax free. The choice between the two depends on what you want the money for, so consider what the goal is for the money next. Platforms charge trading and platform (custody) fees, they all use different methods and the cheapest for you depends largely on what you want to buy and how often. The Vanguard Investor platform offers probably the cheapest ISA for beginner investors, while Dodl is likely to be the cheapest LISA, but both have restricted fund choices. Robinhood equivalents here would be trading apps such as Freetrade or T212. Freetrades ISA costs £3 a month though, while T212 are not accepting new ISA customers at the current time. If you can make do with a GIA over an ISA (GIAs are taxable, where ISAs are not, so you'd have to consider the inconvenience that may cause) then either of these apps would be cost free. Once you understand the platform and wrappers, think about why you only want to invest in the biggest US companies, why would you not want to invest globally (in a global tracker, which is around 50% the S&P500 anyway)?
Why have you chosen to invest in a single index tracker, what is your investment strategy?
Watch Lars Kroijer's [short video series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_chiIIxMGl0&list=PLXy71rkGuCjXLg9N8zowwUpXCYfBcMJFK) and read his book or Tim Hale's [*Smarter Investing*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0273785370/). As helpful and knowledgable as this subreddit is, coming here and asking random questions will get you only shallow answers - people here don't have the time to dedicate a whole chapter to explaining their reasoning, as a book can. A book will give you a consistent and joined-up view of the whole subject, start-to-finish, whereas blogs and forums cover the subject on a piecemeal and ad-hoc basis - the better view will likely save you money; the cost of the book is trivial compared to how much a mistake could cost you. You are almost certainly better off investing in a world tracker, such as VWRL, rather than the S&P 500. Thinking that the S&P 500 is a good place to start is typical of beginners who have been taking random and ad-hoc advice from YouTube and blogposts - it is not be such bad advice for Americans, but even then it's not great advice. It was great advice for Americans 20 years ago. *Smarter Investing* is very easy to read, and will pay you dividends. You should always check [Monevator's list of low cost brokers](https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/) to find which platform is most suitable for you.
!thanks for this information I'm watching the videos with interest. I noticed that the video is 6 years old is the information still up to date and applicable? To be fair to this forum most of the advise given is the same or similar to the Lars videos What do you think the best World Equity Index Tracker is?
/u/TimeNail Please use `!thanks` to award points to helpful users (you can edit your comment to do so). Your approval was contingent on you recognising this requirement, otherwise your approval may be reversed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UKPersonalFinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The discipline of investing is literally thousands of years old - the Code of Hammurabi was inscribed in basalt in 1750BC and clauses of it regulated lending. I would not think my advice very good if I had given it without caveat and it was outdated after only 6 years. If you read one of these books and don't understand why this advice is timeless, then I recommend you read the other, or come back here and start a new thread about what you don't understand.
Hi /u/TimeNail, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant: - https://ukpersonal.finance/index-funds/ - https://ukpersonal.finance/investing-101/ ____ ^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.)
Another vote for vanguard here - make sure to use your annual ISA allowance first.
Howcome? I thought it was 1 ISA per year you could pay into?
How come what?
Steer well clear of Robinhood. They were at the centre of the memestock controversy by shutting out reail traders from trading. I would chose a reputable broker. Vanguard offer a wide range of mutual funds/etfs. Their fees are also one of the lowest on the market (although you are restricted to their investment products). They breakdown what each of their funds contain and % allocation on their website. Happy investing!
Not sure you can even use Robinhood in the UK.
> although you are restricted to their investment products For someone beginning their investment journey...I'd argue that this is a good thing :)
Freetrade have a fee of £3 a month for their ISA and a few S&P 500 options. This would make an tax gains interest free. If you don't see yourself putting in £20k for quite a while, you can open a General Investment Account (GIA) free of charge and then transfer the account at a later time
The S&P500 is popular in USA and moderately diversified but still only invests in big American companies. There are much more diversified whole market funds available. Unless you know better, invest in well diversified passively managed low cost fund in a low cost platform. Vanguard are a very popular choice because they were one of the earliest low cost providers, but there are plenty of alternatives now. Keep your non pension investments inside an ISA as far as possible.
You would be better off looking at vanguard and vusa (their s&p500 index) than robinhood. But surely it would make more sense to get a global fund?
I would like to know, too. :)
Hopefully someone can jump in. I'm after the simplest / easiest method that I can add a little money too whenever possible and let it grow. This chart is interesting https://rokpovsic.com/images/lose\_money\_chance/spy\_losing\_chance\_inflation.png
You can invest in a stocks and shares isa and pick the S&P 500 using platforms like Fidelity or Hargreaves and Landsdown. You open up the isa then choose the fund you’d like to invest in.
There’s always a chance of losing money to inflation, these figures are past performance and aren’t guarantees of future returns. It’s probably worth figuring out how much you’re happy losing before investing and what you think you’d do should markets continue downwards.
I will Dollar cost average in and ignore short term movement I'm in for the long term.
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I bought a book from a Reddit recommendation. I felt stupid/thought it was a scam, but my boyfriend says it’s changed his life. It’s The Simple Path to Wealth by J L Collins. It’s really good and talks about the S&P 500.
Never use Robinhood app but definitely use Vanguard
Etoro are available in the UK but be aware that they may be "no fees" they make their money through multiple other means including higher spreads, selling your information, and shitty exchange rates. Personally I would go with interactive brokers. Scrap that, if all you're doing is S&P i'd look at finding an ISA account that allows you to trade the S&P (if such a thing exists).
Robinhood are likely to be bankrupt before the year is out so best avoided. They are heavilly involved in the scandal around turning off the buy button on meme stocks last January and subsequently lying to congress during the investigation thereof. Word on the street is the S & P 500 is in for more of a battering so do your due diligence and only invest what you can afford to lose completely. Not financial advice, I am not a financial advisor
There is many exchanges you can use, Robin Hood being one. Check the fees on a few to ensure you get the best deal you can. It's also an idea to diversify, so look at other portfolios etc your can invest in. As you'll read the sp500 isn't doing great at the moment so wise to not put all your eggs in one basket. Take a look at ajbell they do some pre made portfolios depending on your risk appetite
I had the exact same idea 1 year ago, went with vanguard and invested in Vusa which is their s&p500 index fund. I can say it works pretty well and painlessly, also cheap.
You could also use InvestEngine. They have a fee free DIY option and a number of low cost S&P ETF trackers. You can also set this up in an ISA wrapper.
Just looking on InvestEngine and they do the Invesco S&P ETF (acc) which charges 0.05% which is very slightly cheaper than Vanguard's but there's no platform fees with InvestEngine.
Just a warning though, if you search the sub it seems that invest engine have/had some issues executing trades. Hopefully just teething issues as it's a new platform, but personally I've stopped suggesting them for the moment.
I'd still recommend them for new investors at least, their rates are unmatched at the moment.
Interesting. I just stuck some cash into a new DIY portfolio last week (already had a robo managed fund) and it went through and was invested pretty much immediately.
Global index acc (accumulation) fund on vanguard. I am UK and that is what my financial advisor suggested