You may be looking into getting your feet wet and starting investing. But is it now really a good time?
Whether you read this article now, in September 2022, when we are facing an energy crisis in Europe and the still ongoing Ukraine war, or you come across it in the future, this article intends to answer the question “Is now a good time to invest” in an evergreen way, that is applicable to any situation you might find yourself in.
We’ll give you five ideas on why investing now is a good idea. So take notes while reading this article – it’s a good one!
Be wary of your personal situation
Whether now is a good time to invest or not, depends to a great extent on your personal situation. Are you comfortable with your current financial situation, or does debt play a role in your life? Is your monthly cash flow positive or negative?
It’s important to note that building up an emergency fund, where you collect enough money to cover anywhere from 3 to 12 months worth of monthly expenses or salary, often brings big benefits with it. Of course, this also depends on how stable your lifestyle and monthly income are.
As an employee, you might feel like you need less security than a self-employed person. So evaluate your personal financial situation and ask yourself if you would feel comfortable using part of your money to invest now and whether that action would cause you any issues or not.
So, is it now a good time to invest? Here are 5 reasons to start
At the time of writing this article, a few severe international events are taking place:
- The war in Ukraine;
- An expected energy crisis in Western Europe;
- Worldwide high inflation.
This question will be answered in some of the following sections from a situational perspective, while it will be approached from a more universal perspective.
- “Time in the market beats timing the market”
This famous quote in the stock market world refers to the fact that the returns you make from investing in the long term will likely outperform the gains from constantly buying and selling and trying to hit the tops and bottoms of each cycle.
There’s no way to predict when a stock will be at its top or its bottom, so you can’t time the market with certainty. You could end up selling earlier than the top or miss the time to get back into the market at the bottom. Following this tactic would mean missing the best days, which would have a tremendous impact on your portfolio.
An analysis of the Bank of America shows that if you’d been investing from 1930 until 2020, your portfolio would’ve generated returns of 17 715%! However, if you just missed the best ten days of each decade (that’s 10/3650 days), the returns would go down to 28%.
Decide for yourself if the passive approach is better for you, or if you want to take the gamble.
- When markets are down, you get a discount
For some asset classes like stocks, you have a share price that fluctuates. When markets are up, that means that the price for each share is high, and when markets are down, it means that the price for a share is low. Or at least lower than before.
In the past, the stock market had daily fluctuations, as well as good and bad years. But history has shown that it always rebounded after some time and went on to reach new heights. So if you hold that conviction as well, then buying when markets are at low, gets you a discount.
When the stock prices are down, and taking history as a measure, then they will also recover and rise again. Therefore, if buying now, you are able to afford more shares than you would during the high times, and will hopefully benefit from this down the road. Of course, no one knows if markets will recover this time, or if everything will be different. But if they do, then buying during a crisis when share prices are low, allows you to fill your bag.
- Investing has never been easier
Whereas in the old days you’d need to speak to your bank clerk to start investing, you can now do everything online. From banks offering their services online and apps that allow you to invest in a matter of minutes, to platforms like Lendermarket where you can invest in P2P loans.
Getting started with investing has never been easier, so why not start now?
- There are many options to create a portfolio that suits your needs
Everyone has different needs when they invest. Some are looking for the highest returns possible, others for maximum safety, and the majority probably for a mix of the two. Nowadays, there is a plethora of ways to personalize your portfolio and choose assets, that lead to your ultimate risk/reward ratio.
Amongst other things, you have:
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Personal P2P Loans
- Real estate-backed P2P Loans
- Cryptocurrency
- ETFs
- Real Estate
- Businesses / Startups
Most of these options allow you to get started with a small amount, so you don’t need huge capital to reach your ideal diversification.
- “The best time to start investing is yesterday”
It is yesterday because then you could’ve already been participating in the market, get started and collect your first experience. As yesterday is in the past, what about using today to lift the veil on the topic of investing and become an investor yourself? It doesn’t take much to get started!
What if I have debt?
If you have debt, then investing might not be the best option for you. It all depends on what kind of debt you have, how big the rates are and what interest rate you have. If the interest rates are higher than what you could achieve with investing, it’s usually the smarter option to pay back the debt first.
A return rate of investment is never guaranteed, but if you have 15% interest on your debt and pay it back, that’s 15% of the money saved for sure.
However, if you have a student loan with an interest rate of 1%, it could make sense to start investing. Read more about how to get out of debt in our in-depth article.
Conclusion
Start investing can be a good idea in many cases, albeit just to get your first experience and learn that it’s not just for the ultrarich. Whether it makes sense to invest much, is dependent on your personal situation, as well as the general market conditions.
Generally speaking, if you like to take risks and think that the markets follow their historical cycles of recovering after dropping down, then buying during a down phase is a good idea. Also, during bull markets investing can make sense, and Dollar Cost Averaging helps you get the most out of your money.
Either way, if you have debt, then re-think if investing is the best choice for you.
We hope this article helped you decide if now is a good time to invest and so you can make an educated decision.