Hello and welcome to the forum.
The best time to start was yesterday and the 2nd best time to start is today so you spot on with your timing.
When it comes to buying silver the best place is the buy/sell section on the forum you can find silver for a lot less than the Royal Mint, Bullion Buy Post and the other main dealers. There is a trading feedback system on the forum so you can be sure you are buying from a decent person that is respected on the forum.
A "premium" membership soon saves you money as you can see the sales topics as soon as they are listed and the best priced stuff sells in minutes. Just as a disclaimer I am not affiliated with the forum in anyway and do not get any kind of "kick back" from recommending permium membership just an active member who highly recommends it.
There is a wealth of knowledge on here and people are more than happy to help eachother out.
One interesting thing about holding physical precious metals is that you can actually well hold them or hold them through their little plastic prisons. Stocks and shares are well numbers on a screen.