Info: I’m European and wish to put most of my savings from my full-time job into stocks similar to S&P 500 and VanEck Semiconductor. I’m also a total newbie in this area, so some beginner tips would be greatly appreciated. :3
Depends on the exact country, as a local broker will (usually) handle taxes automatically for you. Of course you can do them yourself but in some European countries this could be time consuming and complex.
Hmm I’m from Hungary, that probably doesn’t help that much, but what was your approach in investing your savings via stocks?
I primarily invest in ETFs instead of individual stocks, stock picking is possible but it’s very difficult and many professionals don’t even manage to outperform the general market over a larger timeframe.
For ETFs I would recommend you research one for a world index, of course the S&P 500 is a great option that many recommend as well but I personally don’t want to bet on just a single country.
For brokers, have a look if you can find any that are local to your country, banks also often offer investing services but will typically charge significantly higher fees than an online brokerage (you do get more safety in theory tho with a regulated bank). Alternatively have a look at your tax structure regarding investments and if it is manageable you could go for a broker like IBKR, I cannot personally recommend it as they don’t handle taxes in my country, which are a nightmare, but I have heard many great things about them.
I work with eToro and I’m from the Netherlands. I like the app but I don’t love it. I’ve also used Bux Zero which is very minimalist in its working and design.
Hmm what makes you not love it tho? Does it have higher fees than average?
I don’t really care about the fees. If they make a dent in your profits your investment isn’t worthwhile.
It’s mostly the interface. A lot of information is hidden behind three dot menus. To really analyse a fund you have to take quite a bit of action. It takes time to find out.
Also sometimes I really don’t trust the data I see in graphs. The values on the y axis will start at 830 and end at 880 but then in the graph, if you tap a data point the value will be 811 or something. I suppose for the in-depth stuff you’d better get your laptop.