Smanantha Collett reveals her investing journey: Stocks and shares investing wasn't really a topic of conversation with my friends or my family, so I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. It's now been almost 25 years since I started and hand on heart, I've never noticed I've been investing. I'm now 49 and can say compound interest over time is a miracle.

Anyone who starts investing quickly learns the golden rule of building a successful, resilient portfolio: don't put all your eggs in one basket. At times of great uncertainty, the likes of which we are seeing now, it is even more crucial to have a diversified bundle of investments. That way, you are not overly exposed if one company, sector or region takes a big tumble. But while most investors know the value of diversification in protecting their wealth, many botch it in the execution, misguidedly believing it is simply a matter of buying a bit of everything. Badly performed diversification can quickly turn into its evil cousin, what experts playfully call 'diworsification' - a portfolio that unintentionally is riskier than it appears. So how can you avoid diworsification?

While purse strings remain tight for many across the country, some 3.5million have taken to investing in the past year in the UK alone, with a total of 11million having begun investing in Europe overall, according to research by BlackRock. Gen Z and Millennial investors account for just under a third, or 28 per cent, of UK investors.

Only 39 versions of the Pokémon Illustrator were ever made, and now one of the rare cards is being auctioned by French auctioneers Aguttes. The card holds the record for the most expensive individual card since YouTube star Logan Paul bought one for $5.2million in April 2022.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

Cash earned from selling old clothes could help young people get started with investing, according to Lloyds Bank. Research by the bank suggests that its customers aged between 18 and 25 who used Vinted make approximately £25 per month from selling on the platform. Lloyds has run the numbers on how much young people could make if they took some of their Vinted profits and invested them month by month.

Capital gains tax is levied on profits from assets ranging from shares to second homes, buy-to-let properties and personal possessions. Basic rate taxpayers pay 18 per cent CGT, while higher and additional rate taxpayers pay 24 per cent. We explain what you need to know about capital gains tax.

Each month, This is Money puts a senior fund or investment manager to task with tough questions for our I'm a fund manager series to find out how they manage their own money. In this instalment, Greg Eckel, portfolio manager of Canadian General Investments shares his thoughts on Nvidia, Tesla, gold and Bitcoin.

Markets taking a tumble didn't do my Isa investments any favours but the crucial mistake I made was looking in the first place. Sharp falls worry investors, but corrections are natural. Markets don't rise in a straight line and big down days will always come along, so I should expect this to happen and be willing to ride it out. The important thing is not to make rash decisions - here are my tips to do so.

Investors are spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding on funds and investment trusts that can put their money to work. We asked trusted experts to recommend the best funds that cover different investment sectors - and included This is Money's selection of active and passive options too.

Retirement ages is a hot topic. When I talked about this here, the response was remarkably polarising. My suggestion was that working longer, beyond the retirement ages that we mostly aspire to, was not necessarily such a bad thing. And my Career Happiness can Inspire Longer Lives - or CHILL - idea can feed into cutting the amount you need for a comfortable retirement.

Gold prices are at near-record highs, and while some are choosing to sell their gold, others are looking to invest. BullionByPost has found that the number of people buying the precious metal is booming.

FreeTrade launched the flexible feature to allow investors to withdraw and replace money without impacting their annual Isa allowance, so long as it is put back in the same tax year. Flexibility is a useful tax-beating feature to have, allowing savers and investors to dip into funds and pay them back without losing allowance - and is more commonly found in cash Isas.

Despite rumours that Labour will stage a CGT raid, the Liberal Democrats are the only main party committed to hiking capital gains tax rates. But they also have a plan to radically overhaul the tax - and it could even save some long-term investors money. So, is this a better way to deal with profits on shares, funds, property and other assets? We look at the Lib Dem capital gains tax plan in detail.

Investors are nervously awaiting the Autumn Budget after Keir Starmer warned that 30 October is 'going to be painful', ramping up fears of a tax raid Investment experts say that for many small investors, the question is whether they should cash in some profits and pay a lower rate on them before the Chancellor potentially hikes capital gains tax.

Barely a week passes without mention of the powerfully appealing phrase 'early retirement' - on social media and news websites, and among bloggers and podcasters. Escaping the rat race has always held appeal but the allure appears to be growing and becoming more intense. I checked on Google Trends, just to check the rise is real. And yes, the number of searches for 'retire early' has risen three-fold in a decade. At the sharp extreme end of the 'retire early' movement is the FIRE brigade. Coined by bloggers, the acronym emerged in the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis and captured the aspiration of many young workers who wanted Financial Independence and to Retire Early. They still do, the Google data tells us.

My partner and I are expecting are first child on the 31st of July. I would like to put some money away for them at birth and then yearly until they are 18. What is the most practical and tax efficient way of investing for my son's future? What would be seen as a fairly good long-term strategy.

An increasing number of retail investors are moving away from social media 'finfluencers' as a source of investment advice, and instead heading back towards more traditional channels, data claims. So-called 'finfluencers', social media influencers who specialise in financial advice, have grown in popularity on platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube in recent years, having seen a boost during the Covid pandemic as more people looked to investing.

Global government bond markets are vast and affect everyone who pays tax, saves or invests. But it's often hard to tell what's going on when there's a surge in bond buying or a sell-off because the jargon used by industry insiders can be pretty impenetrable. We unscramble it here to help everyone else fathom what's going on.

You don't need to attempt the perfect strategy. But be mindful of the current market climate, how much you have to invest and for how long, and your attitude to risk. Financial markets have been volatile of late, which makes investing a large lump sum at once even more daunting than usual. But money experts say if you plan to stay invested for a long time it is better to get your money in the market immediately.

Anyone wanting to save a deposit to buy their first home should consider putting money into a Lifetime Isa - and earn a 25 per cent bonus on contributions. Alternatively, the Isa can be used to save for later life, as the cash can also be taken out at the age of 60, but if it is taken out before then for anything other than a first home purchase then a hefty 25 per cent penalty applies.

Once someone has decided to start investing some of their money in the tax-beating shelter of an Isa, what's the quickest and simplest way to do it? From why investing makes sense, to how to manage your risk, what DIY investing platform to use and some ideas for funds to pick that invest around the world, Simon Lambert explains what you need to know as briefly as possible.