There is, of course, a risk of losing money if the share price of a company you are invested in falls, but research shows that investing in stocks typically outperforms leaving money in cash savings accounts over the long-term, plus the returns tend to be higher than inflation.
A beginner’s guide to investing in stocks Investing in stocks can be a good way of making your money work harder – these are the questions and answers you need to get started.
If a company’s share price increases, you will share in the growth, plus some companies may even make extra monthly or quarterly payments to shareholders, known as dividends.
You could earn a slice of the biggest companies in the world such as Amazon and Microsoft or discover growing or unloved companies by purchasing stocks and shares.
Data from Barclays Investment Bank shows that over the past 130 or so years, the probability of equities outperforming cash on any two-year basis was 70 per cent, and this figure rises to 91 per cent over 10 years.
