READY TO START? YOU WILL NEED:

YOUR DAILY FINANCES IN ORDER

Before you consider investing, you should make sure you have repaid any expensive debts (such as credit cards or loans) and have enough savings to cover at least three months’ income in a rainy day fund.

PATIENCE

To see your money grow, you need to leave it for a minimum of five years, preferably 10. In that time, be prepared for its value to go up and down. To put investing simply, it means you’re buying something (stocks and shares) with your money in the hope it will grow over time – in most cases, this pays off.

MOTIVATION

Remind yourself that leaving savings in an ordinary deposit account will see them lose value over time because of inflation. For example, if you put £20,000 in the average savings account 20 years ago, you would have £25,816. But, if you invested the same amount at the same time in the stock market, you’d now have £63,312.