Online Share Dealing
Buying and selling shares can be done through your bank or building society or through a stock-broker (who can also give you advice on which shares to buy).
This can be done in person or by telephone however many companies are increasingly able to offer an online service which is ideal for this type of investment as often, you will want to buy or sell shares quickly.
Brokers' charges vary a great deal but many now offer various share building schemes which help to reduce costs. Typically using one of these schemes reduces a transaction cost from £10-£12 to £1.50. Most companies also provide some kind of guidance on the performance of various shares, although it is not usually possible to obtain specific one to one advice online.
Risks
Returns can be high. However you do have the risk that you may lose part or even all of your investment - there are no guarantees that you will get your money back. Even companies with household names cannot be considered to be completely `safe' investments.
You can set automatic limits with your broker to buy or sell depending on what happens to the share price, i.e. if prices reach or exceed or drop down to certain levels. These are known as limit orders or stop orders. This can save you time in monitoring prices as well as money.
Diversification is perhaps the best way to keep your risk to a minimum, by spreading your investment across a number of companies, rather than relying on just the one.
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