Paul's Story

It's difficult to remember how I used to do it as it is such a long time ago now. However I have a feeling that I didn't do as much - simply because I didn't feel as confident in making the decisions. Where I did buy individual shares, I think that it would have been a combination of bulletin boards and general reading around the macro goings on at the time, trying to understand which firms may benefit from societal changes.

Yes, I think it is fair to say that it has changed my life. In fact in writing this I have been quite shocked.

In Jan 2014 my wife's ISA was worth £75,000. Since then we have put in a further £65,000. Last week its valuation touched £800,000.

There have been notable disasters along the way, but this would not have been possible without Stockopedia. It's the whole thing - the smart community, the brilliant Small Cap Value Report (SCVR), and the ease with which you can look at companies.

Last February there was a comment on the SCVR from one subscriber about Avacta, which at the time was unknown to me and to the wider investing community. There was hardly any mention of it on Twitter, fPaulor example. As I result I researched it and it has turned into my biggest ever winner.

Anyway, at the end of April my wife is giving up work, and hopefully she won't have to worry about money too much. We don't think of ourselves as rich by any means, but are "comfortably poor". I go onto Stockopedia every single day.

Don't believe the story stocks. If something is too good to be true, it probably is. The system is rigged against small investors - so be careful.

Picking the right sector is so important, so read a lot and be aware of what is happening in society.

Buy quality companies that you'd be happy owning for years. If the story doesn't change, don't sell. Ignore the bulletin boards, apart from quality ones like Stockopedia.