No idea what I'm doing, how to get started with investing

Tiddlypeeps

Myself and the partner are fast approaching 30 and figure we should probably start putting something away for the future.

We are able to put away about €1,500 a month, at the moment our savings are just sitting in the bank doing nothing so I figure there is probably a better way to utilise that money.

I know the tax situation can play a large role in decisions so I should probably state that we are moving to Canada in a couple of months. So since people aren't likely familiar with the tax situation over there I might not be able to get munch advice from here. But really all I'm looking for is a high level idea of what options are out there and possibly some links to resources where I can read up more about various options.

I'm not particularly incline to start putting money into a pension, especially because of the uncertainty of what country we will actually be living in at that point. I'm also not a big fan of making that money inaccessible till retirement. I'm open to being convinced a pension is a good idea tho, as I don't know nearly enough about it and could be over looking important facts. If a job came along that offered to match contributions or similar I would likely change my mind tho, but for now thats not the case.

Any advice on how to get started or what pit falls to look out for would be appreciated.

Nody

Well for starters you need to start thinking for what and when do you need the money. Is it going to be something you're saving for the next 30 years? Then high dividend growth stock portfolio might be of interest while if you're looking at using it as a deposit to buy a house in 5 years you're better of with something like high yield,low growth portfolio.

The above also ties in with you learning the basics of stocks, trading and understanding the risk you are willing to take with the money to hit your future goals.

Tiddlypeeps

Nody wrote: »

Well for starters you need to start thinking for what and when do you need the money. Is it going to be something you're saving for the next 30 years? Then high dividend growth stock portfolio might be of interest while if you're looking at using it as a deposit to buy a house in 5 years you're better of with something like high yield,low growth portfolio.

The above also ties in with you learning the basics of stocks, trading and understanding the risk you are willing to take with the money to hit your future goals.

Saving for retirement would be the main goal, the earlier the better. So 20 to 30 years would be around what I'm thinking. I plan on maintaining a rainy day fund out side of this for emergencies and any savings for a house deposit or any purchases like that will not come from this money either, so it should theoretically remain untouched.

Frogdog

I'd recommend reading a book. I've recommended it on here a couple of times before but I really can't recommend it enough. It's The Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam.

It's a very easy-to-read book and will give you plenty of ideas. It's actually quite useful for someone in your circumstances as well - it's based on ex-pats investing elsewhere. It'll explain a lot about pensions and investing in the stock market amongst other financial stuff.

Tiddlypeeps

Frogdog wrote: »

I'd recommend reading a book. I've recommended it on here a couple of times before but I really can't recommend it enough. It's The Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam.

It's a very easy-to-read book and will give you plenty of ideas. It's actually quite useful for someone in your circumstances as well - it's based on ex-pats investing elsewhere. It'll explain a lot about pensions and investing in the stock market amongst other financial stuff.

I'll take a look at it, thanks for the advice.