I’ve always been interested in the stock market ever since I could remember. However I’m no expert, not even close. I like to call myself a lifestyle investor — someone who doesn’t look at stocks every single day and doesn’t want the hassle of buying and selling everyday, but would like to put there money in and see it grow.
Freetrade came along a few years ago and I think it might just be the perfect app for investing in the stock market. It is only available to UK residents though. Unfortunately there is no one app for the world as there are different markets and laws in each country which have to be followed.
This app has made it easy for me to get started as the interface and user experience are easy for anyone to understand. It’s also constantly being improved which has been impressive over the last few years that I’ve been using it.
You can have a stocks and shares ISA account where you can put in up to £20,000 a year. Any money that you invest is completely tax free! So as an absurd example, if you put that whole £20,000 into Tesla in December 2019, it would now be worth around £130,000 in December 2020. You can then withdraw all of that money and not pay any tax, it’s all yours!
The app also offers a standard trading account where there are no limits to the amount of money you can put in and take out. But you are of course subject to pay any taxes when you withdraw any earnings.
There is also Freetrade Plus which for £9.99/mo gives you some extra features, such as:
- 3% interest on any unspent cash, up to £4000
- Stop loss — which lets you set a price to automatically sell at if the stock starts going down
- Triggered order — you can trigger to automatically buy a stock when it hits your desired price
My investment philosophies
Invest long term — Most of us don’t have time to check the stock market every day and keep track of what companies are doing all the time, I know I don’t anyway. So I like to make investments in companies which I think will grow over the next 2-5 years of 5-10 years.
Diversify — When you get started it’s easy to think about investing in one company, like Tesla. But it’s always safer to spread your investments and purchase shares in multiple companies.
Invest in companies you use everyday — I like to think of products that I use regularly that are essential to my life or benefit in my life. So for example, I use Apple products like the iPhone, iPad and MacBook for everyday work. I’m very happy with the way these products work and I anticipate continuing to use them for years. If I’m willing to spend money on their products, I should also spend it on buying some shares.
Think of companies with huge profits — When investing in stocks, unfortunately the companies which are doing good for the human race, aren’t the ones that are going to make you money. Companies currently making the COVID vaccine aren’t growing at rapid rates because the vaccine isn’t highly profitable. You’ve got to think what companies make and sell products and services that are highly profitable.
Invest money you can afford to lose — The way I like to see this is if I have £100 left over at the end of the month, I obviously didn’t need that money that month. So I’ll throw it in to stocks. I know that I otherwise would have spent that money on clothes, eating out or whatever else.
Invest in ETFs / Index Funds if you have no idea! — If you don’t follow companies or business in general but want to invest your money anyway, ETFs are what you should be buying. For example the S&P 500 is a stock that measures the performance of the largest 500 US companies. These are the safest stocks as they’re an average of the stock market.
But wait, what if I lose all of my money!?
This is the biggest concern most people have when they invest in stocks. And yes you can lose money in the stock market. However historically, if you have a diversified portfolio or only invest in ETFs / Index Funds, you’ll make money. If the stock market were to completely collapse then your money will be the least of your problems, as the world itself would literally have to be doomed. Money itself would literally be worthless. And as we’ve seen, even with a crazy virus like COVID, the world hasn’t stopped and the stock market has grown significantly this year.
If you’re interested in getting Freetrade, hit the button below so that we can both get a free share.