Starter Investment Options?

[Jadax]

Was in England before here, and I used to invest a set amount of my salary into mfs, stocks - is that a thing here?

I know it if, but I mean, is it something salaried people do in general or only people with a lot of money (in other words, is it super risky here, or as general as say investing your money in USA, England etc.)

If it's something people pursue here can someone point me in the right direction. I know banks offer their FDs, investment plans but generally that stuff isn't the best (at least in the countries I noted above) since the investing departments are not what banks are known of (in general).

 

[DapperDanMan]

An account with EasyEquities makes this all very ... easy.

 

[Hamster]

Almost all of the banks have a platform for share investment. The cheaper and less complicated options are:

• EasyEquities
• ABSA's ETF Only Platform
• FNB's Share Saver product
• Investec's share platform IF you are a private client, else it's nothing special.

EasyEquities is by far the easiest unless you are an FNB client and ok with a very limited set of ETFs, then FNB's Share Saver is pretty straight forward.

 

[Hamster]

I speak under correction but banks and financial platforms is the one thing South Africa is pretty good at.

 

[Tim_vb]

I think SBSA also has a basic EFT account you can access from internet banking. Also read up on how use your Tax Free Saving Account for ETF investments first

 

[mr_norris]

EasyEquities is by far the easiest unless you are an FNB client and ok with a very limited set of ETFs, then FNB's Share Saver is pretty straight forward.

Before I used EE, I was using FNB's share saver. What irked me after I left was that they only offered SA top 40 and a midcap ETF. I see now they offer Ashburton 1200 which is pretty cool. But what still grinds my gears with them is that R20 minimum monthly fee of theirs. It's not so much the amount but the rather principle. I almost wouldn't have an issue if they didn't charge transaction fees on top of that, but they do.

Was in England before here, and I used to invest a set amount of my salary into mfs, stocks - is that a thing here?

I know it if, but I mean, is it something salaried people do in general or only people with a lot of money (in other words, is it super risky here, or as general as say investing your money in USA, England etc.)

If it's something people pursue here can someone point me in the right direction. I know banks offer their FDs, investment plans but generally that stuff isn't the best (at least in the countries I noted above) since the investing departments are not what banks are known of (in general).

EE might have their share of troubles, but when they manage to kick up a storm they do tend to listen to their client base and reevaluate things. For that reason, and no monthly fee, and reasonable transaction charges, I recommend them. If you are looking to trade rather than invest and HODL, then EE might not be for you. EE offer local stocks and ETFs, RA's, TFSA's (you can invest in international ETFs with theirs), US stocks and ETFs, and AUS stocks and ETFs. They have a wide range of things to invest in, and it was quite daunting to begin with when I started.

I don't know how to answer your question about what people do with money here, but I built up an emergency fund (cash), have my stocks, ETFs, and TFSA with EE, and have a rather small RA going for the tax benefits. I am not a fan of getting weird policies with OM / Discovery / etc, because what was shown to me came with heavy charges. That's just me. Some people don't mind the overhead that comes with an FA just telling you what to get.

 

[Jadax]

I agree that finding a good platform that has minimal charges is hard. That's the reason I'm not investing through my bank right now (Nedbank). The norm is usually that mfs are cost-free, but they might charge a little for stocks/international funds.

In fact, most of what I've dabbled with in the past has been fee-less/no overhead cost funds (tbf I stopped investing in actively managed funds and went index funds a while ago). Stocks I think I'll wait a bit since I need to follow the market more close and now's not the best time to get into that with my limited knowledge of the local scene.

Thanks for the tips, going to research them.