Teaching children about investing is an excellent idea, should be done at school if you ask me.

My advice is to forget currency speculation and invest in equities instead. There is no overall gain in currencies - one currencies gain is anothers loss. In contrast equities will, long term, benefit from growth in gdp and this can be global.

However, don't forget to point out the inherent risks with equities and the value of holding at least some money in cash!

Good luck
P12

you can open an account with FXCM using $500, currency trading is risky however and although large increases can be made so can large losses. With a currency trading account you trade on currency pairs e.g. GBP/USD so if you bought into this pair you would be buying pounds and selling dollars, the reverse is true when selling. The main thing to watch is the margin, because there is a lot of leverage (i.e. £1 buys £100) this means that the currency only has to differ by a little and it can have a big effect. The problem is that if the margin is all used up then the position will be closed (unlike share trading where you have a share and it may be worth less, even almost nothing, you still have the share. This isn't the case in currency trading). When the position is closed you lose (or hopefully gain) the difference between when you bought or sold the pair.

As zaphod has rightly pointed out this kind of currency trading, using leverage, is risky and can result in large losses. But there is a far greater risk with exposing children to this - you are teaching them to gamble. The worst that can happen is that they have some early 'wins' and end up hooked. Please don't go there - Stick to actual investing.

how can I invest my money for long term investment and which investment has the most gains

Would you ask that question to a random person in the street? Because thats essentially what you've just done.

"What do 'you' think 'I' should do with 'my' money?" You've probably worked hard for your money, don't let someone else lose it for you.

If you really don't have a plan for planting money trees, then you should consult a certified financial advisor - Someone you know at least has a basic knowledge of finance.

The first question you should ask them is, how much money do they make from their own investments - unless they make a considerable sum from their investments then you'll want to find another CFA.

But I will tell you this for nothing, if you have credit card debt - First cut up all but one of your cards, then pay off the debts.

Hi! I agree with taffyapple, asking for others advice is extremely risky. You should start to learn the business first, then practice for a few months on dummy investments until you feel confident.

Changing the subject - can anyone tell me where I can obtain historical data on currency pairs on the internet?
i.e. GBP/USD

Thanks

try eh.net for gbp/usd. Wealth of other economic data as well and goes back centuries!

Thank you piquod12, this will help in my research

Jim

That's one of those 'how long is a piece of string?' questions.

What you hope to achieve with your money?
About how many years are we talking when you say 'long term'?
How much money do you have available to invest?
When do you plan to retire?
What's your income tax rate?
Do you have any outstanding debts you could pay off instead?
Would you be comfortable with the value of your investment going up and down, if this meant you might get a higher rate of return in the end?

I've already said this to another person here, but if you're interested in stock market investing, I'll give you the same piece of advice:

I got started in stock market investing by reading the Motley Fool UK Investment Guide. It's fairly light reading, and aimed very much at new starters, but contains plenty of sound advice. The authors have a witty, no-nonsense approach, and they do a great job of demystifying things that intimidate beginners, such as share price tables, company accounts, and how to start dealing in shares. I recommend it highly.

Currency rates can be found at ADVFN.COM and babypips.com along with a useful chatroom on FX

Investing generally have a look at the motleyfool.co.uk especially HYP board for beginners,you can do a lot worse than start here,also with shares you should educate yourself have a look at "Contrarian investing the next generation by David Dreman",an easy to read book with time tested strategies

For property try singingpig.co.uk an excellant and imformative board

You can find me with the piggies or motley fool if any further questions as I'm just browsing here,best of luck all Zulu (zulu105 TMF)

This does sound more like speculation than investing, as others have said.

On the online currency-trading sites I've seen, you pay only an initial margin to open your position (i.e. you only have to put down a percentage of what your position is actually worth). This means that both your gains and your losses are magnified accordingly. You can win large amounts, but you can also lose a lot more than you have in your account. Trading on margin is not for beginners. I know a lot of experienced people who wouldn't touch it, for that matter.

I'd suggest starting with things like tracker funds and/or stocks in FTSE 100 companies. You can't possibly lose more than you initially invested, and it's highly unlikely you'll lose the lot. Your children can look back over the historical share price charts and see that, although share prices fluctuate day by day and even year to year, over the long term the stock market has given impressive returns. This will teach them patience and long-term planning.

I got started in investing by reading the Motley Fool UK Investment Guide. It's fairly light reading, and aimed very much at new starters, but contains plenty of sound advice. The authors have a witty, no-nonsense approach, and they do a great job of demystifying things that intimidate beginners, such as share price tables, company accounts, and how to start dealing in shares. I recommend it highly.

I'd agree with most posters here - and plump for equities rather than currency.

As a kid I remember being sprawled across the company data pages of the FT with my Dad (under 10 - started early) and running paper portfolios. I think that I still have the notebooks somewhere!! Must update them one of these days...

But it was a good thing to learn. I followed their progress religiously.

For the purposes of education, I'd recomend a few individual equites in addition to a tracker. It's easier to focus and learn about an individual company and follow the regular statments about it's progress. How has trading been? What's happening in the accounts. What about it's competitors? Why is the share price doing what it's doing?

With sectors or whole markets it's going to get a little wishy washy with explanations of macro economics and a lot of market noise.

Sectors and trackers are great to spread the risk, but for learning about what makes share prices move in the way they do, opt for companies. Sectors and markets at the end of the day are sum of all the parts.

Easy to invest.If true investment then it should be for more than five years anything less could be gambling.Pay all your debts first, use credit cards only when you have to, otherwise don't at all.Credit cards is spending money you don't have.Since you want to invest for kids time is on their/your side.Easy start up could be the ISA which are tax free,the websites can give you details of various options available.Currency and direct stock market can be tricky if not difficult on the family level investment.So try the Maxi ISA or unit trusts and let compound interset work wonders for those kids.

Currency speculation is no good even for so called investment proffessionals .Just checked a simple ISA if you don't have one yet.Legal and general, FTse tracker.Also watch the charges for any investment you make.Time and compound interest are an investor's best friend, charges, taxes and inflation are an investors worst nightmare.Good luck.

I'm a hedge fund manager who specializes in trading the foreign exchange markets. www.FXCM.com is a bucket shop stay far away. Forex isn't for everyone and I do not believe forex is the market to show your children about money in. This is for the big boys only about 84% of people trading forex lose money.