Trading 212 is a really simple, clear and easy to use platform for buying and selling shares, indices and ISAs. They’ve have over 15 million app downloads globally and have previously reached the top downloaded spot in the U.K and Germany for investing apps. To start you off as well when you use my Trading 212 referral code, you can get your first share for free (T&C’s apply).

How to get the free share?

When you’ve signed up through my Trading 212 referral code and you’ve gone through the verification process you’ll be given a free company share after you have deposited at least £1 into your account (make sure you do this through ‘Trading 212 Invest‘ Section, and not CFD. The free share is randomly selected and it’s value could (and I stress could) be up to the value of $100/£100/ €100. I’ve read that some people have got really close to the top prize limit and others have done okay, so it’s really pot luck.

How does Trading212 work?

They allow you to buy and sell shares, currencies, and other indices with zero commission fees, as a relatively new startup (well, 2013), in an attempt to disrupt the brokerage market. If you’ve ever tried to use other online brokers in the past you’ll have seen that some of the fees they charge really don’t make it worth doing if you’re trying to invest on a small scale.

How do Trading212 make money?

There’s a really good article that explains it well here on why Trading 212 is mostly free in comparison to their counterparts in the broker industry. Essentially though they operate on a Freemium model (much like many games and apps that offer in-app purchases) whereby they offer a premium service at a charge including Robo-advice and advanced tutorials.

What’s good about Trading 212?

What I like most is that you can invest with REAL MONEY or a PRACTICE SESSION. When you flip between these options it makes it super clear in the menu which one you are using. I think this is a great tool if you want to practice or if there’s a risky share or FX buy you are thinking of making, maybe play it out in the practice area to see how it would have panned out.

A word of caution

I think with apps like Trading 212 and FreeShare around now it’s made it easier than ever for people to invest. Bypassing brokers like in the ye olden days. This may attract those who are unfamiliar with how volatile the stock market can be.

I have to stress if you’ve never invested before please do your homework. The reason why there are so many winners is because at the end of the day there will be an equal if not more amount of losers. Remind yourself that investing is just another form of gambling. In fact, around 76% of retail traders end up making a loss on average. So it’s unlikely that you’ll be in the 24% of winners if you sign up without educating yourself as best as possible.

There are so many courses you can sign up for which take less than 3 hours to grasp the basics (some free and some paid), which Trading 212 offer as well.

There are also courses which are absolute scams making false claims and you have to watch out for these too. I’ve recently seen lots of Facebook and Instagram marketing from such scammers, so properly research the course on sites like Trustpilot. It’s common sense but I also recommend searching the name of the course + “scam” in Google to double-check it’s safe.

Setting Your Limits

Establish the maximum amount you’re willing to invest and don’t go over that threshold. It’s an old saying that you’ve only lost money when you sell the shares, not when they fall in value. More often than not shares bounce back so it’s important to not overreact to changes in share price, but keep a close eye on how the company is doing (a business going into administration isn’t likely to gain share price value.

It’s also key to remember that a share price often doesn’t have anything to do with the company performance. More so the mentality and behaviour of investors, speculation and AI algorithms all reacting to each other in one spiralling melting pot.

By familiarising yourself with how investors react to instances like the recent events we’ve been seeing, company profit warnings, changes in the industry, and annual reports. You can look back on previous similar events to determine roughly how it will go this time around.

Football Index

If you decided that you know very little about the stock market but know a lot about football I recommend checking out Football Index, instead of using the Trading 212 referral code. Here you can buy and sell players, whose price can appreciate or depreciate in value depending on performance, investor mentality or external factors such as COVID-19.

Leave a comment below if it all worked okay. Follow me or send a direct message @ReferralGuyUK on Twitter for hundreds of more referral codes and message me if you want to check that you’ve got the best deal.

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