New to investments

There are various types of investment – some will be right for you and some won't. It all depends on your attitude to risk (how much risk you are prepared to take) and what you are trying to achieve with your investments.

Think about why you want to invest. Perhaps you are looking for an investment to provide money for a specific purpose in the future. Alternatively, you might want an investment to provide extra income.

This section will help you understand the key issues to consider when investing.

Things to think about before investing

How much can you afford to invest?

How long can you afford to be without the money you’ve invested (most investment products need to be invested for at least five years)?

What do you want your investment to provide – capital growth (your original investment to increase), income or both?

How much risk and what sort of risk are you prepared to take?

Are you happy to go it alone, or do you want to share costs and risks with other investors (using a pooled investment, for example)?

Do you want to be consulted on investment decisions, or are you happy for the fund manager or stockbroker to do this for you?

If you decide to invest using Pooled investments, consider which type would be most suitable for you. The main differences between pooled investments are the tax position and the risks (especially investment trusts and with-profit funds).

What are the tax benefit implications – what tax will you pay and can you reduce it?

You have worked hard for your money. Now we can help you make it work hard for you.

When investing, you take calculated risks to increase your chance of getting higher returns on your money, especially over the longer term (usually five years or more). This section will explain the most common types of investments, how they work and what you need to think about before choosing one or more. Our jargon buster explains some of the words used in the world of investments.

There is outstanding profit potential possible by investing in the foreign currency exchange. But many are unsure of how to invest and they're searching for a Forex recommendation on how, when and where to get into this potentially lucrative investment market. With an increasing presence on the Internet, there is plenty of possibility for profit and loss concerning Forex trading companies. Knowing which ones are best, what information is the most pertinent and how best to go about making successful investments will help you to make the most of you Forex investment accounts.

You've no doubt seen for yourself the numerous Forex trading companies present on the Web. Many of the more reputable ones offer both a foreign currency trading venue and Forex recommendation area for investment. There are a growing number of separate companies that offer Forex forecasts to members with subscriptions. These often have relatively high degrees of accuracy and may offer to send forecasts daily via email so that you will always have the most up-to-date information on hand when you are preparing to buy and sell on the Forex. A good Forex forecast can tell you when and what to buy and sell as well as which currencies you need to steer clear of.

Risk

When deciding whether to invest, it's key to ask yourself how comfortable you would be facing a short-term loss in order to have the opportunity to make long-term gains. Risk is a very personal thing – what may be a small amount of risk to one person may be huge to another.
The important thing to remember is that with investments, even if your investment goes down, you will only actually make a loss if you cash it in at that time. When you see your investment value fall, this is known as a paper loss as it is not a real loss until you sell.
If you are going to invest, you need to be prepared to take some risk and to see at least some fall in the value of your investment.

Firms have to give you clear risk warnings about the products they sell or advise on and have to explain these risks to you fully. They also have to make sure the product is suitable for you – see Getting help
Some shares carry a higher risk than others – see Investing in higher-risk shares.