Your Portfolio (5 Viewers)

skyblue1991 said:

I've heard about Money Box

From my high level understanding its an app that is linked to your Credit/Debit card that rounds up any payments to the nearest pound and banks the different.

E.g. a £3.50 coffee would cost £4.00 and the delta 50p gets saved.

On the face of it, it looks a great idea to encourage saving, but is there a catch to it (i.e. monthly fee)?

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tom88 said:

You are correct but there is more to it. Yes it rounds up your purchases like you said, however this needs to be done by you in the App so you don’t have to round it up.

I round up everything and set up a small weekly deposit of £2 (can be more or less) and then I have a “Pay Day Boost” which is £200 a month Direct Debit. Again this can be more or less depending on your circumstances. On average around £250 a month I save

You can choose what type of investor you want to be. Cautious, Balanced or Adventurous.

There are no catches, read reviews online I think trust pilot has 5*. There is a small fee of around £1 a month which is taken out of your investment pot

I am crap with saving money, being 32 now and just moved into my forever family home, now is the time really.

I hope this helps

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skyblue1991 said:

Thanks for this, good summary.

When you say investor, is this into some kind of ISA or bond? What have you decided?

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dubed said:

In my experience, above all else understanding your own and the market's behaviours to (either positive or adverse) price movements - controlling yours, and predicting others' - is the key to successful trading/investing. Possibly the two most important cognitive behaviours to understand and work on are loss aversion and confirmation bias.

Of these, even after a good number of years of trading/investing I still find myself either taking some losses or else cutting short my profits due to loss aversion. The fact of loss aversion - that we prefer to avoid losses to acquiring equivalent gains - is the reason why trying out 'virtual' portfolios is actually not a great idea. When there's nothing to lose, why not slap a hundred quid on a share to see what it does? And if it comes in, slap the profit around and see if those multiples really grow. If the bet comes off you're a genius; if not, no matter, there's no pain.

When it comes down to gambling on the markets for real, loss aversion means that you are less likely to slap that hundred quid on that share, but instead a tenth of it. Yes, it may come good, but your profits grow are much slower rate (which can get frustrating so lead to more risky behaviour) - vs. if the share halves, such is the felt loss aversion that you sell it. Not only that but loss aversion means that your next bet is just 5 quid, not 10, but now you have to get back not only the tenner you lost but also try to find profit on top.

In real life what this merry go round teaches you is to be patient. If the reasons why you bought the share still hold, then hold. But then you might fall into the loss aversion paradox of 'doubling down' - buying more shares in the company at a lower price, to lower your average price paid per share, but more of them and so more risk. You're now starting to stretch that investment pot such that you don't have much you can be elsewhere to catch profits elsewhere. And so on.

You might start of with the intention of buying a passive fund that tracks the market, so earning a few percentage points over the rate of interest over the long term, or buying a share in a ftse 100 that waxes and wanes and waxes slowly, whilst you pick up a small divi from it. But then the hunger for quicker profits comes in, so you hear about the Alternative Investment Market (AIMS) and the money to be made on penny shares, many of which are run by shysters who simply rinse the punters year after year. That game can be won by understanding how other private investors react but again, you'll have to keep your loss aversion in check. If a punt doesn't come off, don't double down or perhaps just hold the share for the next pump and dump that comes round yearly, and so on.

Unfortunately, there is no substitute for real experience. And it can costly getting that experience. I think you have to think about whether you simply want to own some trackers or maybe some blue-chip and let it ride long term, or else dip into the massive amount of online help and knowledge is there is around to begin understanding the markets, and maybe put a little aside to gamble, say, on a AIM market share. By following your blue chips and/or AIM share, you'll learn loads both about the company but also about market behaviours, as well as learn a lot about yourself. The latter is the most important. If you can understand your reactions to share losses and profits and are able to begin to rationalise these and act accordingly, then you'll dramatically improve your chances of success.

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clint van damme said:

To summarise - buy low, sell high

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tom88 said:

You are correct but there is more to it. Yes it rounds up your purchases like you said, however this needs to be done by you in the App so you don’t have to round it up.

I round up everything and set up a small weekly deposit of £2 (can be more or less) and then I have a “Pay Day Boost” which is £200 a month Direct Debit. Again this can be more or less depending on your circumstances. On average around £250 a month I save

You can choose what type of investor you want to be. Cautious, Balanced or Adventurous.

There are no catches, read reviews online I think trust pilot has 5*. There is a small fee of around £1 a month which is taken out of your investment pot

I am crap with saving money, being 32 now and just moved into my forever family home, now is the time really.

I hope this helps

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tom88 said:

I have chosen balanced investor, this can be changed to cautious or adventurous when ever you want. Here is a screen shot on how the balanced investor is divided up

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skyblue1991 said:

Well you've convinced me to sign up!

£50 a week on an adventurous level Stock and Shares ISA

Look forward to monitoring the results!

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tom88 said:

Fair play. The only downside is the time it takes to take your money and invest etc.

it would be nice to hear more on your progress mate

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skyblue1991 said:

I'm playing the long game with this one. Will hopefully see an increase in the scok market whilst things are starting to normalise following a huge decrease due to Covid

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Brighton Sky Blue said:

The app shows you how each part of your investment has fared over time. Many went off a cliff when Covid kicked off but have all recovered to varying extents

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fernandopartridge said:

Kier under valued? Really? I'd suggest you look at Carillion

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skyblue1991 said:

Are returns generally better if you choose your companies you want to invest in or leave it to the people that manage your Stocks and Shares ISA?

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dubed said:

That entirely comes down to your skill/luck in picking stocks yourself vs. what the likes of Moneybox are suggesting you invest in as a starter option (whether you go for a cautious mix of stock market trackers and cash fund or actively managed, more adventurous funds).

If starting out, I would default to what Moneybox suggests for each type of profile. Most experienced investors would probably have a mix of funds as well as individual stocks, which brings more risks but potentially much greater rewards. The stats actually suggest that the large majority of individual investors lose, but I suspect that's skewed by the many who dip in, get burnt and never return, rather than those who have persisted and gained a bit more experience in the art. I ain't no genius for sure, but over the last 10 years I've earnt a fair / interesting side-income/pension by focusing on a limited area of the market.

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dubed said:

It seems that Fidelity Index World is a tracker made of large and mid-cap equity performance across developed markets. It's top 10 sectors are:

Software & Computer Services 10.64%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 8.67%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 7.44%
Retailers 5.37%
Banks 4.57%
Industrial Support Services 4.09%
Investment Banking & Brokerage Services 3.52%
Non-Renewable Energy 3.48%
Medical Equipment & Services 3.40%
Telecommunications Service Providers 3.27%

It's top 10 holdings are:
Fidelity Offshore Institutional Liquidity - US Dollar Class A 3.70% (an income bucket that includes Warren Buffets' Berkshire Hathaway, Pilzer, Nestle, Johnson and Johnson etc)
MICROSOFT CORP 3.12%
APPLE INC 3.11%
AMAZON.COM INC 2.43%
FACEBOOK INC 1.14%
ALPHABET INC 1.01%
ALPHABET INC 0.98%
JOHNSON & JOHNSON 0.96%
NESTLE SA 0.77%
VISA INC 0.76%

Its performance has been healthy enough in most years. Good luck, and keep saving!

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Greggs said:

Should be good buying opportunities today. Good luck

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jimmyhillsfanclub said:

If your using your LISA to save for a house, I'd stick to the cash version if I were you....even if its 0% interest, you're still guaranteed your 25% bonus....
Stocks and shares are anyone's guess over the next few years....but if you max out your cash lisa each year, coupled with a house price drop which is surely gotta come soon, you could be sitting pretty with a tidy deposit in a couple years time.

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jimmyhillsfanclub said:

If your using your LISA to save for a house, I'd stick to the cash version if I were you....even if its 0% interest, you're still guaranteed your 25% bonus....
Stocks and shares are anyone's guess over the next few years....but if you max out your cash lisa each year, coupled with a house price drop which is surely gotta come soon, you could be sitting pretty with a tidy deposit in a couple years time.

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clint van damme said:

you'd think so though the market is holding up quite well at the minute. That surely can't sustain with the shit storm that is going to hit us in the next year can it?

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skyblue1991 said:

Early MoneyBox deposits have taken a minor hit...

Guess that's why investing is a long game rather than a short one!



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jimmyhillsfanclub said:

Fuck knows mate....housing bubble should've have popped after the last time capitalism failed in 2008.... but our consumer spend economy is propped up by folk spending money they ain't got cos its "backed" by their equity.....house of cards innit

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