Investing for beginners
No matter where you live, what you were taught in school or what your job is, we believe everyone has the right to grow their money through investing.
Too many people miss out because they simply haven’t been taught about finance and are put off by words they don’t understand or by fear that they’ll do it wrong.
We think that’s unfair so we’ve created a set of guides to help everyone understand what they need to know before they start investing, including the risks to be aware of.
Getting started in investing
To keep things simple, our guides mainly discuss investing in stocks and shares.
Stocks and shares investing is buying assets, such as shares in companies, in the hope that their value will go up so that you can sell them for more than you bought them for.
There are many other types of investing, but this is the most commonly used way for individuals to invest, whether that's by putting their money in a fund or by selecting stocks themselves.
Find out more about the basics of investing:
Investing in a stocks and shares ISA
Many people choose to use a stocks and shares ISA to invest their money. Money paid into this type of ISA is invested in a fund, along with other investors' money, and a fund manager chooses which assets to buy and which to sell to hopefully increase the value of the fund.
You usually have the option to choose a fund based on how much risk you're willing to take with your money. Some ISA providers, including OneFamily, offer climate-focused funds, so you can invest without compromising your moral values.
ISAs are tax-exempt, so you don't pay any tax on the money you withdraw, no matter how much money you make.
Like with all investing, the value of the fund can go down as well as up and there is a risk that you could get back less than you've paid in.
Find out more about stocks and shares ISAs:
Investment terminology explained
Many people feel daunted by the idea of investing because of the complicated language and unfamiliar terms that are used.
If you don't understand an investment product, then you probably don't feel safe investing your hard-earned cash in it!
Read our simple explainers of some of the key terms:
Hear from the experts
Our customers often ask us about investing and what happens to the money they pay into their OneFamily ISAs.
So, we took your questions direct to the experts. Altaf Kassam is an Investment Strategist at State Street Global Advisors, which is the investment management company that looks after our ISA funds.
Altaf met with Helen Kimber, who works in our Customer Experience team, at the OneFamily Brighton office where he discussed the basics of investing, what climate-focused investing really means and, crucially, the risks that come with investing and how to put these into perspective.
Watch the videos:
