How does the share market work?
The stock market system is an avenue for the trading of shares of stock of listed corporations. As a corporation is formed, its initial shareholders are able to acquire shares of stock from the point of subscription when a company is created. When a company starts to be traded to the public, the primary market [...]
Introduction to shares – are they for you?
Stocks can be considered a tool for building wealth, as they are a part of almost every investment portfolio. They represent the ownership of a company and are bought in the form of shares. Shares refer to the stock of a particular company. Your stake in a company depends on how many shares you possess, [...]
Tracker funds – how do they work?
Tracker funds (also known as index funds) are a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (an investment fund which is traded on stock exchanges, bearing a striking resemblance to stocks) which invests in all the companies within the index of a particular market or by an agreed upon set of consistent guidelines uninfluenced by [...]
Interest rates: what are they? how do they work?
The “price” of borrowing money, interest rates affect many aspects of one’s financial foundation. They are, essentially, the current market return on fixed income investments, and fittingly, rise and fall with market demand. In the UK, such rates are subjective to the decision of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which in turn, [...]
Dividend yield: what is it? why should I be interested?
Payments made by a business to its shareholders and investors are what’s known as dividends. When a business’ earnings become a profit, it can be re-invested into the business (retained earnings) or it can be paid to its investors as a dividend. Companies are under no obligation to pay its shareholders dividends; however, the company’s [...]
Investing in shares
Investing in shares can be a terrifying ordeal if one is not at least somewhat familiar with the options at one’s disposal. First of all, owning shares in a particular company allows you to share in that company’s profit (or deficit). If you are unable to devote the time or research required to appraise shares [...]
Finding the right mortgage
Finding the right mortgage can be a challenge, however, with a proper balance of knowledge and sage advice, it can considerably less intimidating. The first thing to keep in mind is upfront costs such as appointing a solicitor to handle the legal details, lender valuations of the property, application fee to take out a mortgage, [...]
Rent or Buy?
Deciding whether to buy or rent a property is a common point of contention, but it simply comes down to what you hope to accomplish and contend with financially and, ultimately, in the long term. Experience in renting a property is often regarded as a prerequisite to buying a home, but this is founded more [...]
ISA’s – individual savings accounts
ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) are yet another option for those wishing to grow their money over the long term and provide an income. There are basically two types of ISAs: cash ISAs or a stocks and shares ISA, but it’s important to remember that the biggest advantage of ISAs is that returns are tax free. [...]
Six reasons to invest in property
Investing in property is a stable venture that can become more profitable and, more importantly, safer than other options such as volatile stock market investing. For the non-professional investor, investing in property can be a simpler and lucrative undertaking. Generally speaking, property investment has been historically proven to be a much safer form of investing. [...]
