First time shares buyer

[Merlin]

Hi everyone,



In the midst of the crises facing the country, and indeed the world, I am interested in purchasing shares for the first time.

As I understand it, being a Standard Bank customer, I am able to purchase shares directly, via the app, given a comprehensive registration process for Online Share Trading.

As I'm playing with hard earned savings, and am a first time investor, I'd appreciate the advice of an expert and perhaps some assistance.

Is there a recommended broker/agency that I should be talking to? I'm in Cape Town, if it makes a difference.

Thank you.



Kind regards.

 

[Gtx Gaming]

Welcome to EasyEquities

EasyEquities

platform.easyequities.co.za

Register here, best platform to buy!

 

[beefymoocow]

Hi everyone,



In the midst of the crises facing the country, and indeed the world, I am interested in purchasing shares for the first time.

As I understand it, being a Standard Bank customer, I am able to purchase shares directly, via the app, given a comprehensive registration process for Online Share Trading.

As I'm playing with hard earned savings, and am a first time investor, I'd appreciate the advice of an expert and perhaps some assistance.

Is there a recommended broker/agency that I should be talking to? I'm in Cape Town, if it makes a difference.

Thank you.



Kind regards.

Firstly are you willing to leave the money for 5 years from now regardless of the short term swings.

Then secondly choose a balance fund.

 

[Hamster]

Visualise you're finances as silos.

First your emergency fund so that you can cover costs for a couple of months should **** hit the fan.

Then up a core equities portfolio. Buy ETFs instead of individual shares and buy ones that are very broadly diversified, like ASHGEQ. This is your TFSA, RA and other long term/retirements savings.

Then later you can use the proceeds of those or extra cash to start smaller more risky/rewarding satellite portfolios, like buying company shares you believe can bring big returns quickly (Naspers, Amazon etc) or buying rhodium (ETFRHO), cryptocurrencies (DCX10) etc.

 

[retromodcoza]

I work for ShareFinder. (www.rcis.co.za)

We develop stock market analysis software.

This is NOT financial advice. We are not qualified nor legally authorized to provide financial advice.

This is what we are doing currently. Take a look at the attached pic. These are what we regard as "blue chip" shares (our own algorithm in SF6). We find ETFs are a bit too general and dont provide the maximum return possible at their risk level. We like to select our own.

The market has tanked so hard that we are not bothering with any type of risk. We are buying up good quality shares that are marked well below par. Have a look at the list , and if there are any in there that have plummeted hard over the last 2-3 weeks in price then thats what we've been buying.

As above , it would probably be a good idea to stash savings away to allow you to survive whatever crises we have to go through now.

 

[InvisibleJim]

Hi everyone,



In the midst of the crises facing the country, and indeed the world, I am interested in purchasing shares for the first time.

As I understand it, being a Standard Bank customer, I am able to purchase shares directly, via the app, given a comprehensive registration process for Online Share Trading.

As I'm playing with hard earned savings, and am a first time investor, I'd appreciate the advice of an expert and perhaps some assistance.

Is there a recommended broker/agency that I should be talking to? I'm in Cape Town, if it makes a difference.

Thank you.



Kind regards.

I am by no expert or professional in the finance or investing field but I do recommend Easyequities as a good platform for a novice or amateur investor. With Easyequities low fees and fractional share ownership it is viable to begin investing in individual shares with very low amounts - even a couple of hundred Rand a month, which wasn't really practical for me with other options that I investigated before FNB.

I would also strongly urge you read about and understand Value Investing, even if you decide to take some other approach to your investments. 'The Intelligent Investor' by Benjamin Graham is the original book outlining value investment (Graham was Warren Buffet's teacher and mentor) but there is summary information available on the Web.

 

[Merlin]

Thanks for the input, everyone. It's greatly appreciated.

Having read through all of it, it is immensely overwhelming, to be frank.

I currently make use of a Money Market fund, which is returning a reasonable rate. The tanked share prices are the driving force behind looking into shifting some funds directly into shares.

I'm going to look at finding a part-time course, to clue me up somewhat better. In the interim, I'm now certain that I need to involve a professional.

I'll look into Allan Grey and some others, to get me started.

 

[Space]

can anyone here help me with the “invalid transaction amount” error that I am receiving on FNB share trading this morning ?

I do have a sufficient amount in my share trading account for this order.

What are the new minimum and maximum trading amounts on FNB during COVID ?

 

[Barbarian Conan]

As others have said, buy ETFs like the funds with "Top 40" in their names. Buying individual shares if similar to playing roulette if you don't know what you're doing. You can do it, but unless you put in a lot of time doing research, only make it a small percentage of your portfolio.

 

[Snyper564]

As others have said, buy ETFs like the funds with "Top 40" in their names. Buying individual shares if similar to playing roulette if you don't know what you're doing. You can do it, but unless you put in a lot of time doing research, only make it a small percentage of your portfolio.

Couldnt agree more with this, single shares unless you know what you doing is gambling... may as well look at crypto then

 

[Hamster]

Having read through all of it, it is immensely overwhelming, to be frank.

Let's try it without jargon.

The more risky the investment, the higher the potential gains. So

• putting your money in a money market is 100% safe but also grows at a very small rate
• putting your money in the stock market means you can lose a lot in a short time but also gain a whole lot more
• gambling is 99.999% risky but if you win you can retire

First - make sure you have income protection, life insurance etc. Discovery can help with that. This way, should you become unable to work you'll still have money coming in and life will continue.

Second - pay off bad debt (credit cards, personal loans). Good debt is stuff you need - house, car etc.

Third - make sure you have an emergency fund (be able to pay 6 months or so worth of expenses). You can keep this money in a money market but that attracts very little growth. An access bond, notice account (7/32 day), savings account or even a Tyme Bank's goal save account can work. As long as you can get access to the money fairly quickly in an emergency.

Four - start investing for retirement. When you reach this point, come back to this thread.


You should probably speak to a financial advisor about the specifics, but don't sign anything until you've slept on it. Most financial advisors will hash out a version of the above, then tell you to open an RA (balanced fund), shove a piece of paper in front of you to sign with the logo of the company they are a broker for (Discovery, Allan Gray, Liberty, Old Mutual etc) and take a % of anything you contribute to that fund. You can open that fund yourself.

 

[Snyper564]

Let's try it without jargon.

The more risky the investment, the higher the potential gains. So

• putting your money in a money market is 100% safe but also grows at a very small rate
• putting your money in the stock market means you can lose a lot in a short time but also gain a whole lot more
• gambling is 99.999% risky but if you win you can retire

First - make sure you have income protection, life insurance etc. Discovery can help with that. This way, should you become unable to work you'll still have money coming in and life will continue.

Second - pay off bad debt (credit cards, personal loans). Good debt is stuff you need - house, car etc.

Third - make sure you have an emergency fund (be able to pay 6 months or so worth of expenses). You can keep this money in a money market but that attracts very little growth. An access bond, notice account (7/32 day), savings account or even a Tyme Bank's goal save account can work. As long as you can get access to the money fairly quickly in an emergency.

Four - start investing for retirement. When you reach this point, come back to this thread.


You should probably speak to a financial advisor about the specifics, but don't sign anything until you've slept on it. Most financial advisors will hash out a version of the above, then tell you to open an RA (balanced fund), shove a piece of paper in front of you to sign with the logo of the company they are a broker for (Discovery, Allan Gray, Liberty, Old Mutual etc) and take a % of anything you contribute to that fund. You can open that fund yourself.

Good debt is stuff you need - house, car etc -> house not car, just my 2c

But that aside you should never ever touch investing if you have any debt you are essentially using your debt at that high interest to invest. Until my house is paid off im not doing any additional investments (not including retirement investments here)

 

[Hamster]

Good debt is stuff you need - house, car etc -> house not car, just my 2c

If the country had a working public transport system, sure, but until then you're probably going to need a car to get to work, go shopping, take kids to school and run errands.

 

[Snyper564]

If the country had a working public transport system, sure, but until then you're probably going to need a car to get to work, go shopping, take kids to school and run errands.

Ok, ill concede on this point - but then dont go crazy here as some do, when your car cost more than your house for example

 

[Merlin]

I'm quite fortunate in that I have no debt. Fairly rare for someone my age.

I tend to live very lean, allocating the bulk of what I do spend to my hobbies. My rent is low and I contribute to my Money Market fund manually. I'm quite disciplined, so this is fairly often and usually a fair bit more than the recommended minimum, given my earnings. I am able to access these funds at short notice.

I have no desire to be locked into a life-long pension scheme, as my MM interest rate appears to be a lot better than most pension funds and I am set on finding my way out of the country.

I do have several assets to my name, in the event of a calamity. No property though.

I now have the details of a professional who can advise me. I am in no rush to sign anything and will avoid unnecessary commission wherever possible.

There are certain shares which I believe will bounce back notably from Covid-19, hence my interest. I do agree that investing the bulk in a balanced fund is a great idea though.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[deesef]

I work for ShareFinder. (www.rcis.co.za)

We develop stock market analysis software.

This is NOT financial advice. We are not qualified nor legally authorized to provide financial advice.

This is what we are doing currently. Take a look at the attached pic. These are what we regard as "blue chip" shares (our own algorithm in SF6). We find ETFs are a bit too general and dont provide the maximum return possible at their risk level. We like to select our own.

The market has tanked so hard that we are not bothering with any type of risk. We are buying up good quality shares that are marked well below par. Have a look at the list , and if there are any in there that have plummeted hard over the last 2-3 weeks in price then thats what we've been buying.

As above , it would probably be a good idea to stash savings away to allow you to survive whatever crises we have to go through now.

This statement does not inspire any confidence:

"Free Trial: Be sure to download the package with the InvestorData database, which is the first file in the list below. Then you should complete the Trial form to get a license code which will allow you to use the sharefinder program. Please note, no further trials will be offered after June 2015".

 

[retromodcoza]

This statement does not inspire any confidence:

"Free Trial: Be sure to download the package with the InvestorData database, which is the first file in the list below. Then you should complete the Trial form to get a license code which will allow you to use the sharefinder program. Please note, no further trials will be offered after June 2015".

This is an old piece of info that needed to be removed. I have removed it. Currently SF6 is Beta is available on a free trail basis.

Thanks for pointing that out

 

[Space]

can anyone here help me with the “invalid transaction amount” error that I am receiving on FNB share trading this morning ?

I do have a sufficient amount in my share trading account for this order.

What are the new minimum and maximum trading amounts on FNB during COVID ?


View attachment 810087

Thanks that's apparently the error message it gives before the JSE opens in the morning, I was able to obtain my BTI (tobacco) shares at R606.30 each and they rose 10% within a few days

(wonder what the effect is when 50% of smokers are suddenly cured from the habit after lockdown - or maybe British-American are banking on binge-smoking directly after lockdown ends)

 

[saturnz]

you only buy shares directly if you want to extract dividend income, in which case the price of the share is not as important

if you want to profit from the movement in the price of shares (up or down) then you need to be involved in derivatives

if you have no financial background, then don't bother with either, you are what people in the industry would call a "retailer" trader