How do I start investing as a 25 year old?

[Cwbguy]

I applaud your discipline and drive.

At 25, I wasted all my money on booze and hookers.

and anything left over you just wasted?

[si0001]

and anything left over you just wasted?

only good memories or lack of in certain cases.

[wharrison6]

The phrase "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" is a mantra to stick by when it comes to investing, particularly in HK where there are plenty of shiny investment opportunities dangled in front of us. As mentioned above, boring is best.

Read Tim Hale's Smarter Investing. It is quite UK focused but a worthwhile intro to index investing.

[pinkishbuyer]

Hi everyone,

This topic has been a long term interest of mine and I am slowly building my understanding of how it all works in the context of Hong Kong. One of the things I would like some advice with, and I believe it is pertinent to the OP's original question is this:

How do I actually take my money and put it into the stock market? Should I be doing it through my bank or using a broker?

I know this is a NOOB level question, but I aren't afraid to ask it. One of the methods I am aware of is investing through my bank (HSBC) but would I be hit heavily with fees compared to using a broker? What are my options here?

Thank you for you patience!

*For context, I have done a bit of reading on the subject of investing in general. Some of those books include: A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Investment books by John Boogle, Tony Robbins, etc and many more titles outside of this scope and my general consensus is that long term investment with low fees that track the S&P (and similar funds) is the way to go and that os the mentality and approach I have thus far. I am very fond of Vangaurd for this very purpose.

[tck]

The easiest thing might be to go through your already existing bank's brokerage services. You can certainly get cheaper trades by using a broker like Interactive Brokers, but I think for 90% of people, they shouldn't be trading in and out of positions. I feel like given your existing reading, you should be pretty sold on the passive investment camp and low cost ETFs. So the marginal difference in fees for investing between your bank and a broker should be negligible.

Who do you bank with?

[pinkishbuyer]

The easiest thing might be to go through your already existing bank's brokerage services. You can certainly get cheaper trades by using a broker like Interactive Brokers, but I think for 90% of people, they shouldn't be trading in and out of positions. I feel like given your existing reading, you should be pretty sold on the passive investment camp and low cost ETFs. So the marginal difference in fees for investing between your bank and a broker should be negligible.

Who do you bank with?

Thank you for getting back to me, TCK. You are correct, I am pretty sold on passive investment. I know you mentioned that buying stocks through my bank (I’m with HSBC) might be a better option than going with a broker, but I’d still like to check the fees myself. Are there any reputable brokers you’d recommend?

Thanks again!

[shri]

Stick with HSBC - they regularly waive brokerage fees if you BUY through one of several online options.

Have received refunds from them in June and can confirm this.

[Sith]

For a buy and hold portfolio the only reason to go through an online broker should be market access (or a high custody fee). As most here already know with the standard investment accounts at the banks you can’t access LSE for example.
Whole threads about that and alternatives on this forum.

[pinkishbuyer]

Stick with HSBC - they regularly waive brokerage fees if you BUY through one of several online options.

Have received refunds from them in June and can confirm this.

Thanks for this info, Shri. Much appreciated.

[nivek2046]

you might want to consider Monthly Investment Plan for Stocks.

hang seng, HSBC, BOC, Standard Chatered have them