children investing directly in the stockmarket

[ndublinooc]

I was looking through the Askaboutmoney guide (link enclosed), the second last paragraph of which recommends that children invest "directly in the stockmarket". Does this mean directly in individual shares or rather in funds of some sort? I didn't realise it was possible for minors to do this.

Can anyone think of downsides (aside from investment risk!) to doing this?

Thanks for any help

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/guide/topten.htm

 

[ClubMan]

I was looking through the Askaboutmoney guide (link enclosed), the second last paragraph of which recommends that children invest "directly in the stockmarket". Does this mean directly in individual shares or rather in funds of some sort?

Yes - buying shares directly rather than indirectly via unit linked funds etc. Bear in mind that most of that guide is made up of Brendan's own personal views on such matters and others may disagree with him on this and other points that he makes.

I didn't realise it was possible for minors to do this.

Me neither! Is it?

Can anyone think of downsides (aside from investment risk!) to doing this?

Some of the general pros and cons of direct versus indirect equity investments are outlined in the Key Posts. In my experience I have found the tax and administrative issues too much hassle to bother with direct share investments most of the time.

 

[galwegian44]

Clubman - you should re-visit this as investing directly incurs a lot less expense that investing in a fund. You're correct, there is an overhead in doing this but if you are not daytrading and just keep a simple spreadsheet updated regularly the admin is minimal. Some of the better online brokers do this for you by providing access to historical transactional data.

Good Luck.

In my experience I have found the tax and administrative issues too much hassle to bother with direct share investments most of the time.

 

[ndublinooc]

Quote:
Can anyone think of downsides (aside from investment risk!) to doing this?
Some of the general pros and cons of direct versus indirect equity investments are outlined in the Key Posts. In my experience I have found the tax and administrative issues too much hassle to bother with direct share investments most of the time.

Thanks Clubman but in this case I meant were there any downsides to share ownership for minors other than investment risk ie tax, admin etc