Trading 212 users

I just signed up to Trading 212 after reading about lots of available platforms.

Initially I only want a stocks and shares ISA. I’ve got some meagre savings I want to put away for at least 5 years and hopefully start a retirement pot which I can add to on a monthly basis.

That’s all I want. I’m not going to log in every day and treat it like a casino. I’m happy with small gains over a long period of time so I can sack off the Premium Bonds. Eventually I might start investing spare cash in particular companies or indexes.

I’ve been looking at it today for the first time and obviously it’s baffling. I can see green lines pointing up, red lines pointing down, lots of jargon which I don’t understand, lots of chat threads and articles which I’ve been reading.

I’m posting on here because I can’t actually do anything with it until they verify my identity. I can only browse. I have invested £1000 of fake money and I’m £2.49 up.

So I’m just curious about how other people use it. What do you do with it? Are you a numpty or a wizard? Are there any absolute do’s or don’ts for a total beginner?

Trading 212 is essentially a gambling app.

They make money off you on the bid offer spread ie the price difference between what they’ll buy shares off you at, and what they’ll sell them to you for.

The more you trade the more money they make, which means the more you lose. For example I’ve lost ~0.5% interest this month by restructuring my portfolio.

If you are very disciplined it can be a cost effective method of investing.

Depending on your age, appetite for risk and investing goal you would probably be best off in a Vanguard Life Strategy fund to start with – either your retirement date if you want true fire and forget, or one of their XX:XX split funds if you want to be more involved and know a bit more about what you’re doing and your risk appetite.

More involved than that and I’d recommend you start reading up on passive investing and portfolio theory.

Do not buy individual shares.

Do not day trade.

If you’re trading in shares, and don’t know who’s getting screwed over by your trade, then it’s you getting screwed.

Initially I only want a stocks and shares ISA. I’ve got some meagre savings I want to put away for at least 5 years and hopefully start a retirement pot which I can add to on a monthly basis.

I’m sorry to say that this statement is contradictory.

If you want money for retirement, then generally a SIPP is a better bet than an ISA, because you get tax relief on your contributions, which can then compound over time.

If you only want to put it away for 5 years, then generally a Cash Isa would be a safer bet over that time frame. Both shares and bonds can crash and easily stay crashed for 5 years.

Recommend me a Stocks & Shares ISA

Check out the above. Quite a bit of info on Trading 212 and Invest Engine. A few hints too on what to invest in.

I suggest if you’re new, then you spend a wet afternoon doing some research. There’s a lot of advice out there. Damien Talks Money is a good place to start

I’ve just stuck in my savings and enjoying the 5.3% returns paid daily into my account.

If you aren’t sure what to invest in the general consensus is to stick in an ETF and index funds. Something like the Vanguard S&P 500 – have a read up on it first!

I’m sorry to say that this statement is contradictory.

Yeah sorry I’ve been look at SIPPs as well but that’s a different subject, not related to 212.

have a read up on it first!

I’m reading everything! Including everything on here and that other S&S ISA thread.

Not going to move a muscle yet.

Trading 212 is essentially a gambling app.

It may be but I have a cash ISA with them that’s getting 5.1%

If you only want to put it away for 5 years, then generally a Cash Isa would be a safer bet over that time frame. Both shares and bonds can crash and easily stay crashed for 5 years.

This.  I know very little indeed about this sort of thing but my impression is that if you want the money back in the short-mid term (5-ish years) then you may be better off with something a bit more guaranteed.

I’ve had shares and became disillusioned with the charges and not brilliant gains.  Thankfully I don’t now have enough money to be tempted again!!

I’m reading everything! Including everything on here and that other S&S ISA thread.

I, personally, don’t think that the quality of advice on here, with regard to investing, is brilliant. I think that it’s slightly tilted towards people using high risk strategies without necessarily realising the implications of doing so.

However, a good book, that was recommended to me on here, is Smarter Investing by Time Hale.

Monevator is also a good place to look, although it’s bitty and takes a while to sort everything into a cohesive picture.

As above, the low-ish risk option is to just buy some vanguard or similar ETF’s.

Give or take a bit my pie looks something like:

30% S&P500

10% FTSE 100

10% FTSE 250

10% FTSE Developed Europe excl UK

10% FTSE Developed Asia excl Jap

5% FTSE Japan

15% FTSE Emerging Markets

10% Franklin FTSE India (this is the only non-vanguard one as they didn’t do one)

I don’t have it setup to auto-invest anymore, the monthly standing order just stays as cash and I make a quasi-informed decision where to put it.

I’ve made some money on short term trading with individual shares, but it’s risky. You’re basically playing poker where you’re trying to guess how good every  other player’s hand (their information on the company)  is relative to your own.  It’s only underpriced if you’re certain it’s going to go up but everyone else assumes it’s going down.  And if everyone else thinks it’s going down, you’ve got to be certain your information is better than theirs.

They give you 1% cashback, which a fun way to buy individual shares in the non-isa with real money and see just how bad a trader you actually are.

If you want money for retirement, then generally a SIPP is a better bet than an ISA, because you get tax relief on your contributions, which can then compound over time.

Depends, I figure that my pension age income will be taxed at 20% in the future.

So whether I invest 80% of my gross income now in an ISA and get to keep 100% of that in the future, or invest 100% now but only keep 80% in the future is equal.  N.I. makes a difference but then I also have the flexibility to spend that money now if I need it, not have it tied up for another 20 years.

There is no compounding* of the tax breaks. 100% x 80% x 1.05^(years) = 100% x 1.05^(years) x 80%

*well there is on the 25% lump sum, but that’s relying on it still existing in the future.

Which is better probably depends on your age and how big a lump sum you intend to withdraw.  If you’re young I’d suggest it’s less worthwhile, you’ll need that ISA for a house, car, kids, whatever, long before you retire. If you’re approaching retirement but only have a pot barely big enough to pay an income then pile it all into the pension and treat it as a deferred tax-free paycheck on retirement day.

@sharkbait

It may be but I have a cash ISA with them that’s getting 5.1%

Ha ha, well done. That’s a bit like sitting in the casino enjoying the complimentary food and drink paid for by the marks.

The rumour that T212 makes money with a wider bid/offer spread just isn’t true, as that isn’t allowed in ISA’s in the uk. They make their money from their CFD arm, which really is gambling. They do also seem to take a day or 2 transferring money, so no doubt make a bit of interest whilst that happens.

Considering it has nil platform fees I’m quite happy with that.

I have an account with a separate pie for my son, so I can keep his money  separate.

They don’t need a wider spread if people using their platform are trading more frequently.

That doesn’t make T212 different do any other trading platform though.

The rumour that T212 makes money with a wider bid/offer spread just isn’t true, as that isn’t allowed in ISA’s in the uk. They make their money from their CFD arm, which really is gambling.

They also have currency conversion fees, make sure when you’re looking for a share / ETF that it’s traded in £ (unless it’s a non London listing that you’re specifically interested in).

  I’ve been looking at it today for the first time and obviously it’s baffling. I can see green lines pointing up, red lines pointing down, lots of jargon which I don’t understand, lots of chat threads and articles which I’ve been reading.

The good thing is you can just leave your money in cash  and get a really good rate of interest on it while you read.

Ignore 99.99% of advice or discussions on T212, WallStreetBets, etc.  There’s a lot of people who think they’re god because they’ve made 20% the last year or two, no lots of people made 20% the last couple of years, they also lost that 40% in 2020 unless they’re new (in which case pay even less attention to their advice).  A lot of those same shares have probably lost money in the last  4-6months as the markets have cooled off.  For every loud mouthed winner who’s made 10% in the last month with the Vanguard Emerging markets ETF (yipee!), there’s someone who’s watched the FTSE 100 be completely flat, they just don’t post about it. The sensible people probably have a mix of both, it’s dull but it’s less painful to watch every time Japan claws it’s way back into the green only to crash again.  For every person who made money on NVIDIA  or ARM last year, there’s someone scratching their head wondering where Intel went wrong.  And if they mention RoaringKitty then laugh and walk away.

I’ve been using it for nearly a year, I was on freetrade prior to that but T212 has a bit more to offer.

I like the fact my Cash ISA and Stocks ISA are in the same place so I can see the shared allowance.

Cash ISA is just money we’ve set aside for university and is sat there earning 5.1%.

Stocks ISA has some old shares I had kicking about and a couple of difference ETF based pies, the pies only contain 1 or 2 ETFs as you can autoinvest into them (dont think you can do that outside of a pie), I just stick 50-100 quid a month in and leave them to it.

The have a practice mode and I tried the day trading thing….very quickly lost 50% 😀
Dicking around with individual shares is a mugs game, its just not worth the risk/stress IMO.

ditto on ignore all the rubbish in the chat side of things, just use it to park some shares/regular invest into a ETF of your choice.

Thanks for all the responses I’m reading with interest but I’m away for the weekend. I just landed in Wales.

I had an email saying that they’d confirmed my identity and I’m ready to go so I’ll get started on Monday probably.

Re currency fees , all platforms do generally, and actually T212 has some of the lowest currency charges out there..

That said, I still try and avoid any fees I can, so tend to only buy £ funds