Brexit and investing

[Jules Winnfield]

Hi fellow mustachians, long time lurker first time poster so be gentle.

I am 24 years old, from the UK, looking to start investing in the stock market and have set myself the target of June 24th. For those of you that dont know the UK will be voting to stay in or leave the EU on the 23rd, so my rather simplistic thinking is that the result of this vote could have major implications on the market depending on subsequent panic levels and hysteria. So my question to you knowledgeable bunch is 2 fold.

1. As a UK resident with 2k to invest where should i put it? (preferably somewhere i dont have to keep checking up on it)
2. In you opinion, what impact would a UK exit have on the stock market? Would people hold or would stocks go "on sale"?

Thanks in advance, i look forward to your replies.

[Paul der Krake]

1) Find a low cost ISA that offers low cost index funds.
2) It's safe to assume that a vote for the exit would increase volatility. Beyond that, whether it will go up or down is anyone's guess.

[Playing with Fire UK]

Check out Monevator for low cost S&S ISA ideas and consider Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 for a fund that you can buy and ignore (other excellent funds are available).

And after you've bought your fund, ignore all the headlines claiming that doom is upon us.

[cerat0n1a]

Hi fellow mustachians, long time lurker first time poster so be gentle.

I am 24 years old, from the UK, looking to start investing in the stock market and have set myself the target of June 24th. For those of you that dont know the UK will be voting to stay in or leave the EU on the 23rd, so my rather simplistic thinking is that the result of this vote could have major implications on the market depending on subsequent panic levels and hysteria. So my question to you knowledgeable bunch is 2 fold.

1. As a UK resident with 2k to invest where should i put it? (preferably somewhere i dont have to keep checking up on it)
2. In you opinion, what impact would a UK exit have on the stock market? Would people hold or would stocks go "on sale"?

Thanks in advance, i look forward to your replies.

For #2 - complicated. The pound will drop sharply (it's currently rising and falling based on latest polls). Some shares, for example Shell, might not be affected much either way. Others may

I think current share prices probably accurately reflect current market views on the likelihood of an exit vote and the effect. If it was obvious that a particular price would drop because of Brexit, the share price would already be moving up and down depending on the markets' perception of the likelihood of it. I doubt you have any special knowledge or insight not available to other market participants. So, follow the advice from "Playing with Fire UK", ignore the media noise and keep investing. Obviously it's harder to do that when that £2k is all you have.

[frugledoc]

Your post suggests a low tolerance for risk.  Could you stomach a 20,30,40,50% drop in your holding?  As an example,  I have a very high risk tolerance and have 300k in equities and am not in the slightest bit concerned about the brexit vote but wouldn't shed a tear over a 50% drawdown in my portfolio.

[CodAlmighty]

Check out Monevator for low cost S&S ISA ideas and consider Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 for a fund that you can buy and ignore (other excellent funds are available).

And after you've bought your fund, ignore all the headlines claiming that doom is upon us.

This is exactly what I did when I first started investing last month. You're in this for the long term, so just keep stashing money into the fund and ignore the hype. Admittedly this is a lot easier to do if - like me - you're on a Low Information diet and take no notice of the news. If my spending stays on track I will be dumping 52% of last month's pay into the fund at the end of May - I'm not concerned.

[wienerdog]

I watched this a couple days ago.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTMxfAkxfQ0  If this is true it looks like a mess but not too much different than we have here in the US unfortunately.  The elected lawmakers don't make the laws anymore.