It goes without saying that March 2020 has certainly thrown us a curveball. The pandemic is causing many of us to alter our lifestyle in a way we hadn’t even …
Investment Definitions & Glossary
The free investing courses available on Financial Expert are aimed at beginner and amateur investors. What makes our investment training programs unique is our approach to the learning process. We …
Definition of a Real Estate Investment Trust
In my ultimate guide on how to invest in property, I list REITs as one of the popular methods. But what does REIT mean? What does REIT stand for, and …
Definition of a Unit Trust
Unit trust is a term you may see on the fact sheets of funds or collective investment vehicles. But what does unit trust mean? And what are the characteristics of …
Definition of Investment Trusts
Investment Trust or ‘Investment Trust Company’ is a term you may see when researching investment opportunities or collective investment vehicles. But what does Investment Trust mean? And what are the …
Definition of OEIC (Open Ended Investment Company)
OEIC is a term you may see on the fact sheets of funds or collective investment vehicles. But what does OEIC mean? And what are the characteristics of an OEIC? …
Definition of Junk Bond (Investor Perspective)
At first glance, the label ‘junk bond’ appears to look like a warning. “Stay away! This bond is a load of junk!” You might be surprised to hear that junk …
Definition of Corporate Bond (Investor Perspective)
Corporate bonds are a classic element of most simple investment portfolios. They tend to provide a superior return to savings accounts and government bonds, whilst containing less risk than investing …
What is a Bond Coupon Rate?
When researching bonds, you will notice that each bond will state its coupon rate. Beware the coupon rate Below, I’ll explain exactly what a coupon rate is. But I’ll also …
Definition of Bond (Investor Perspective)
The definition of a bond as an investment is as follows: What is a bond? A bond is an agreement between a borrower and a lender. From an investing perspective, …
The Ultimate Guide to Investing in Corporate Bonds
Corporate bonds are perhaps not the most exciting investment opportunity available (see: how to invest in land or investing in commodities). This guide to investing in corporate bonds will explain …
Is Gold Overpriced & Overvalued?
The price of a troy ounce of gold has moved between $1,000 and $2,000 over the 2010 decade. Is that a fair price for this precious metal, or an unjustifiable …
Why is Property Investment so Popular?
If you’ve ever discussed financial investments with friends of colleagues, I am willing to bet that the topic of how to invest in property entered that conversation. If you look …
Psychology of Investing: 5. Investing on Autopilot
About the psychology of investing series I’m writing this exciting series of articles to add a new twist on the fundamentals of investing, which you may have read about in …
How Much of Your Investment Portfolio Should be in Property?
Are you wondering what proportion of your investment portfolio should be invested in brick and mortar assets such as residential and commercial property? If you’re interested in property asset allocation …
Psychology of Investing: 4. Keeping your Hobby in its Box
About the psychology of investing series This post is designed to be a companion to our main ‘How-to’ investment guides. If you haven’t read them already, I recommend you check …
Psychology of Investing: 3. The Dangers of Exuberance
About the psychology of investing series This blog post forms part of our investing psychology series designed to be read alongside our comprehensive investing ‘How-to’ articles that come with our …
How Much of Your Savings Should you Spend on your First Home?
Are you wondering what proportion of your savings should you offer as a house deposit as a first-time buyer? Buyers often find themselves in this quandary, in part due to …
Psychology of Investing: 2. The Income Mindset
About the psychology of investing series This blog post forms part of a supplementary guide designed to be read alongside our comprehensive investing guides which explain from start to finish …
Is Property A Safe Investment?
How much truth sits behind the common maxim as safe as houses? In investor-speak, a bricks and mortar investment is an opportunity to buy something tangible and real. It signals …
Psychology of Investing: 1. Dealing with Loss
About the psychology of investing series This article is part of a companion series to our ultimate investing guides which cover the basics of investing in a variety of asset …
Do All Companies Pay Dividends?
This is a companion article to how to invest in shares which forms part of the free investing courses available on Financial Expert. If you follow dividend growth investing, or …
When do Companies Pay Dividends?
Dividends are how companies distribute their profits to shareholders. For investors who desire an income from their investments (such as dividend growth investors), this is the most important part of …
Is Your Share Portfolio Out of Date?
Legendary investors such as Warren Buffet follow the same principle as responsible dog owners; buying shares is for life. This mindset encourages us to think of buying shares as the …
How to ‘Re-balance’ Your Investment Portfolio of Shares
If you’ve researched about how to buy shares online, you may have come across the concept of ‘re-balancing’. This isn’t a new Yoga pose, nor is it as difficult as …
When Should Investors Buy Shares?
Many savers understand that shares are a good investment, but still hesitate before making their first purchase. The stock market can move upwards and downwards at a frightening pace – …
Enter My M&S Christmas Hamper Competition
It’s the 1st of December, and I have a free-to-enter competition for you! As the end of the year draws near, I’d like to reflect on a busy six months …
Which are the UK’s largest land owners?
I’m expanding my popular How to invest in land guide with a series of short articles. Let’s explore some curious questions about investing in land which I couldn’t squeeze into …
The Gold Fish Dilemma – Why It’s Impossible to Spot a Successful Fund Manager
In my article Passive funds versus active funds, I explain that the majority of active funds underperform the market. This news might feel very counterintuitive. I was certainly shocked when …
Do landowners own the ground below their land?
I’m expanding my popular How to invest in land guide with a series of short articles. Let’s explore some curious questions about investing in land which I couldn’t squeeze into …
Do landowners own the air above their land?
I’m expanding my popular How to invest in land guide with a series of short articles. Let’s explore some curious questions about investing in land which I couldn’t squeeze into the original article! Question …
Why are Shares a Good Investment?
In my ultimate guide to investing in shares & the stock market and our explainer ‘what are shares?’, I briefly address why shares are good investments: High expected returns Tax …
What is an Exchange Traded Fund?
Exchange-Traded Funds (or ‘ETFs’ for short), are a popular method for investing in a wide range of asset classes. In the US alone, $4 trillion of assets are now held …
10 Shocking Common Mistakes most New Investors Make
They say that experience is the best teacher. However, when money is at stake, it is wise to learn from the mistakes of others rather than your own! Don’t you …
When is the Right Time to Sell Stocks & Shares?
If we want to follow the advice of “Buy low and sell high”, we need to understand when is the right time to sell shares. But when is the right …
How NOT to Pick Stocks & Shares
I receive quite a high volume of emails about stock picking, i.e. choosing the right company shares to invest in. This article will point out some bad practises that I …
Commodities News and Data Sources
The efficient-market hypothesis may theorise otherwise, but all practitioners understand that performing thorough research will yield better results than picking out commodities investments at random. To support my ultimate guide …
The Ultimate Guide on How to Invest in Land
There are 149 million square kilometres of land on this planet. That’s 20,000 square metres per person. Do you personally own your fair share? I have created the ultimate guide …
Are Shares a Risky Investment?
The stock market is often compared to a casino. The newspapers often refer to investment banking as ‘casino banking’ which adds further weight to this idea. But are shares actually …
Definition of Stocks and Shares – is there a Difference?
The Stocks and Shares ISA is a tax-free investment account available to UK investors. The name implies that stocks and shares are similar but somehow different. This leads many people …
Are Commodities Suitable for Beginner Investors?
The list of globally traded commodities gets longer every year. With so many products, at least one commodity will be a ‘hot property’ at any given moment. Any commodity that …
Are Commodities a Safe Investment?
Putting shares in your stocks and shares ISA requires some confidence. I mean, what are shares if not a test of your faith in the economy? In contrast, commodities are …
A Comprehensive List of Commodities to Invest in
To support my ultimate guide on how to invest in commodities, I’ve pulled together the following comprehensive list of commodities. I’m not declaring these commodities are all safe investments. This …
The Ultimate Guide on How to Invest in Commodities
Commodities are perhaps the most exclusive investments included in amateur portfolios. Opportunities can be notoriously difficult to find. But there are ways to do it without breaking the bank. This …
How do Structured Products Work? Revealing the Magic Behind ‘Structured Products’
Structured products are like mythical creatures. You might be wondering, ‘How do structured products work?’ Many investors have never seen or even heard of them. Yet many folks do have …
Investing in Peer to Peer Lending Platforms
Update: This article was originally written in 2019. In response to market turmoil arising during the pandemic, several Peer to Peer lenders have changed their business models, either by modifying …
The Ultimate Guide to Dividend Growth Investing
The Dividend Growth Investing strategy (DGI) has taken root as a favourite strategy across money blogs & literature, particularly websites & books which focus on saving for retirement. If you’re …
Are Payday Loans a Scam?
Editor note: The article ‘Are Payday Loans a Scam?’ was originally published on Financial Expert in 2010, and received a positive media response. In the years that followed, pressure upon …
How to Avoid Tax when Investing
This guide on how to avoid tax when investing will arm you with a series of tweaks you should consider making to your portfolio to maximise your returns. The reduction …
Is Now a Good Time to Invest in the Stock Market?
“Is now a good time to invest in the stock market?” as well as “Should I save or invest?” are probably the most common question I am asked by readers, …