Investing £15K - what would you do?

[J381]

This is my first post in the Finance section so be gentle...

Considering selling my car (535D M-sport) as I am hardly using it. It sits in a car park for weeks at a time when I'm offshore, and then I always end up in the family car (Rav4 SR-180 D-4D).
My thoughts are; sell the 535D for £18K. Get a cheap car for £3K (in reality it's all I need). Invest the remaining £15K.

Had a look online at houses for a buy to let, but not sure if there's something else I should consider first?

I'm easy when it comes to investing for long term or short term. I know nothing, and I mean nothing, about stocks / shares etc.

What would you do?

I should add, although I may not know a lot about safe / wise investments, I won't run away and invest in something without fully researching it because someone on t'internet told me to! :-)

Edited by J381 on Saturday 28th September 07:37

[New POD]

You can afford to loose it ?

Online share dealing is addictive. Over 4 years I've dripped £11K into a SIPP, in a monthly direct debits, and a couple of larger one off payments and turned it into £22K, more by luck than judgement.

I go for safe, large companies where the price is stable and gradually going upwards, but fluctuates daily, and weekly, and buy at the lower fluctuation and sell at the higher, but usually a month or more between transactions.

Got lucky with one share holding, where I had £6K invested, and I failed to sell it before it was worth £8K, but usually each transaction is worth no more than £500.

I target a 5 to 10% fluctuation.

In comparison my other Pensions have made less than 10% in that time. fking Professionals !!!

[vescaegg]

I'd say if you know nothing about either then stay away from both property and the markets. That being said I think property will be less risk but only just.

A buy to let will need a 25% deposit minimum which unless you live in Somalia, I'm guessing £15k won't cover. Are there more savings you have which you could invest? If not £15k won't get you very far.

[New POD]

vescaegg said:

I'd say if you know nothing about either then stay away from both property and the markets. That being said I think property will be less risk but only just.

A buy to let will need a 25% deposit minimum which unless you live in Somalia, I'm guessing £15k won't cover. Are there more savings you have which you could invest? If not £15k won't get you very far.

Given that he was loosing on depreciation on the BMW anyway, I thought the Share dealing risks on money he Can afford to loose, and the potential profit were worth it.

[J381]

New POD said:

You can afford to loose it ?

Online share dealing is addictive. Over 4 years I've dripped £11K into a SIPP, in a monthly direct debits, and a couple of larger one off payments and turned it into £22K, more by luck than judgement.

I go for safe, large companies where the price is stable and gradually going upwards, but fluctuates daily, and weekly, and buy at the lower fluctuation and sell at the higher, but usually a month or more between transactions.

Got lucky with one share holding, where I had £6K invested, and I failed to sell it before it was worth £8K, but usually each transaction is worth no more than £500.

I target a 5 to 10% fluctuation.

In comparison my other Pensions have made less than 10% in that time. fking Professionals !!!

I don't think anyone can really afford to lose £15K. However, I am willing to chance investing it - hence this thread.

Online share dealing sounds interesting. Will PM you after replying to this thread.

[Simpo Two]

What about PTP lending? I haven't tried it but from what I read here it seems that unless you're particulary stupid you make around 5%, maybe more if bold/lucky.

[J381]

vescaegg said:

I'd say if you know nothing about either then stay away from both property and the markets. That being said I think property will be less risk but only just.

A buy to let will need a 25% deposit minimum which unless you live in Somalia, I'm guessing £15k won't cover. Are there more savings you have which you could invest? If not £15k won't get you very far.

There are more savings that can be used.

[BIRMA]

As far as I know all on-line trading accounts allow you to set a sell price on the shares you have bought, at least the two I deal with allow it. Have a good read through the various threads on here to get a good idea of what buying and selling shares is about. I started off with a reasonable stake which has grown considerably over the last two years as I've gained confidence in what I'm doing. I'm very much a seat of your pants sort of person and find it stimulating. As mentioned if you stick with FTSE 100 companies you can't go too far wrong although I have been minus £20K at one stage and now am well over £40K in profit after a two year period.

[J381]

Simpo Two said:

What about PTP lending? I haven't tried it but from what I read here it seems that unless you're particulary stupid you make around 5%, maybe more if bold/lucky.

Never heard of that until now. How safe is that?

[J381]

BIRMA said:

As far as I know all on-line trading accounts allow you to set a sell price on the shares you have bought, at least the two I deal with allow it. Have a good read through the various threads on here to get a good idea of what buying and selling shares is about. I started off with a reasonable stake which has grown considerably over the last two years as I've gained confidence in what I'm doing. I'm very much a seat of your pants sort of person and find it stimulating. As mentioned if you stick with FTSE 100 companies you can't go too far wrong although I have been minus £20K at one stage and now am well over £40K in profit after a two year period.

Any other sites / articles that is worth a read?

That's quite an extreme difference. How much did you start with initially?

[BIRMA]

J381 said:

BIRMA said:

As far as I know all on-line trading accounts allow you to set a sell price on the shares you have bought, at least the two I deal with allow it. Have a good read through the various threads on here to get a good idea of what buying and selling shares is about. I started off with a reasonable stake which has grown considerably over the last two years as I've gained confidence in what I'm doing. I'm very much a seat of your pants sort of person and find it stimulating. As mentioned if you stick with FTSE 100 companies you can't go too far wrong although I have been minus £20K at one stage and now am well over £40K in profit after a two year period.

Any other sites / articles that is worth a read?

That's quite an extreme difference. How much did you start with initially?

I started with £60K in June 2011 then in October of that year my shares took a real dip -£20K so I took a real big gamble and threw another £50K into more shares as some were down significantly. In August of this year I cashed in three max premium bond holdings because over ten years they have proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are crap so cashed them in and bought more shares.
My main shares are RR, QQ, VOD, DGE, LLOY, GLEN, Best are up 70-90% only really bad buy GLEN -30%.
I have found Bloomberg early in the morning to be quite informative.
As a keen newshound and the various dealings I have with large companies I keep an ear out for any crumbs of info/gossip but initially it was just down to me making lucky but carefully judged buys.
I also have my risky portfolio where I take a bit of a wild punt (look at share tips thread)

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 28th September 15:21

[Jimmy No Hands]

BIRMA do you mind me dropping you a PM? Or visa versa.

[New POD]

BIRMA said:

My main shares are RR, plus others

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 28th September 15:21

Ah yes, holding about £10K of shares, (chosen because I'm contracting there and I don't have a great imagination), they seem to have flattened out a bit, over the last month.

[BIRMA]

New POD said:

BIRMA said:

My main shares are RR, plus others

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 28th September 15:21

Ah yes, holding about £10K of shares, (chosen because I'm contracting there and I don't have a great imagination), they seem to have flattened out a bit, over the last month.

I bought a big stake in the June and October 2011 and at one point had doubled and they along with QQ have boosted my figures.

[BIRMA]

Jimmy No Hands said:

BIRMA do you mind me dropping you a PM? Or visa versa.

Do, no problem

[Russ T Bolt]

Simpo Two said:

What about PTP lending? I haven't tried it but from what I read here it seems that unless you're particulary stupid you make around 5%, maybe more if bold/lucky.

Rates have dropped recently but all the money I have put in over the last couple of years is loaned at between 6.8 and 10.6%, every payment on the nail so far.

I spread across all risk levels.

Only downside is you can't easily access the money. So return is over 3 to 5 years, but because it is drip fed I just reinvest it.