Question

So as we see markets dropping. When would be a good time to buy do you think?  

Answer 1

Buy every month till you retire.  

Comments

Small amounts? Less than $500?  

---

@traffic601 max out retirement accounts if you can. 401k and Roth. Big fan of maxing your roth every year if you can. $6000 limit in a roth is $500 monthly. ;)

---

Awesome. Thanks @bragdon  

Answer 2

I put money in on the 1st Monday of the month, every month regardless of what is happening. I’m not pulling my money until at least 2045 so I don’t try to time really. I typically invest 30% of my pay on that Monday. Recently it has dropped to 20% since I am saving 10% for a car purchase next year. Hope that helps.  

Comments

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks mate

---

@porcia6 what investment bank or company do you use?  

---

@ginglymus I use Vanguard primarily. My only other retirement account is through my work (TSP).  

---

@porcia6 do you recommend that a beginner use vanguard? Also where can I learn more about where to invest?  

---

So I like vanguard a lot but it may take a bit t get used to. The layout on the site is a bit difficult at first. I hear people like betterment a lot more for beginners.  

---

@ginglymus I learned what to invest in from 3 sources: this podcast, google (searched for the best long term vanguard funds), and a friend who is solid with finances (he mainly just helped confirm my decisions).  

Answer 3

I usually put in around 50% of my pay in at the end of the month, but since the market is down, I'll be buying a bit more than usual next week.  

Comments

Yeah I think I'm going to purchase a bit more

---

It makes sense, since everything is at a discount!  

---

Yup for sure

Answer 4

I’m not so sure it’s a good time yet. Too much insanity for me.  

Answer 5

Look up “dollar cost averaging”. Then pick an amount and a frequency and never let up.  

Comments

@ahoy49728 okay will do. Thank you

---

Just did a quick google and it is actually a valid idea. Thanks mate

Answer 6

You want to regularly and consistently invest money. As long as you won’t need the money for at least 5 years from the time you make each investment, it doesn’t matter what the market is doing. Just stay constant. This year is going to be very volatile, and we’ll see a lot of back and forth at least til the election. No point will look like a good time to buy this year, so be prepared to take a hit on anything you invest during the year. But in the long run, you’ll be happy looking back having different entry points this year to diversify yourself across the volatility.  

Comments

I like that. Thanks mate. Great advice.  

Answer 7

The market has a long ways to drop yet. Airlines are just starting to announce major cuts to their flights (e. g. Lufthansa just announced a 25% reduction in flights), the Olympics are possibly being cancelled, Trump is floating border closures with Mexico, travel to Europe may be severely hampered, conferences are being cancelled, the NYSE is talking about having to close their trading floor, pro sports events aren't allowing fans to attend and so forth. While dollar cost averaging is generally a good idea, sometimes, it's blatantly obvious that larger falls are still to come imminently and so it's not a bad idea to modify your buying behaviour for a short time, but have a clear plan for how you're going to deal with this situation. Maybe instead of buying monthly, you go to quarterly or semi-annually. The plan isn't to catch the bottom as you're highly unlikely to do so. The plan is to avoid a lot of the blatantly obvious sharp downward movement we're going to experience for the next few months as things shutdown/reorganize for a new normal.  

Comments

That is some good stuff there mate. Great analysis. Thank you for your insight

---

So I have this same question because I have to put my money into a traditional IRA before the 2019 deadline. Would you recommend buying today or I should wait a few days? This is all new to me so I’m a little unsure about it anyways.  

---

@toll4537 if you have to do it before the contribution deadline (Apr. 15th? I don't know, I'm in Canada), I personally would wait til closer to the contribution deadline as it sounds like we're going to hear a biggish number for the number of people infected in the Pacific Northwest, travel is still being shutdown to Europe (Delta is stopping flights to Milan and Florence (? ) til April), there's lots of news suggesting that many parts of China are still shutdown which will affect U. S. companies who get their products from companies in China. Basically, make the contribution, but hold on for a little bit as a better sale might be coming, but don't leave buying your shares to the last moment and risk bureaucratic mistakes causing other problems. The other part to consider is how much are you thinking about contributing. Is the IRA contribution limits around $4500? I'm guessing we might see a 10% further drop. Is the hassle (e. g. waiting and seeing if today's the day to buy, should I have bought yesterday, etc. ) of getting that extra 10% worth it? I'll note that I haven't done anything with the money I already have in the market and I probably won't do much. I think buy and hold works there. On the other hand (with the money you want to contribute) it seems really clear that there'll be a sale soon. It sort of like buying an iPhone a year after the last one came out. You know a new iPhone is imminent, but it's never totally clear when it will be announced and whether it's worth the price, but you can plan around it.  

Answer 8

Personally, I wait for a Green Day after multiple reds before jumping back in. that being said, I didn’t buy a thing this week, and probably won’t next week either. Maybe look at spxu.?  

Answer 9

Beware of speculation.  

Answer 10

You should never try to time the market. Dollar cost averaging outperforms attempts to time and buy the dips in every model.  

Comments

Yeah you are more than likely right.  

Answer 11

Silly question: When you say "buy", how and where do you look to buy?  

Answer 12

For those of you who buy consistently. Each time you buy with your monthly allocation do you split that between all your stocks that you own, or do you buy more of one or two stocks at a time?  

Comments

You have a lot to learn kid. start here:  or https://jlcollinsnh. com/stock-series/
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com

---

I'm right into currencies but stocks is totally new to me. Any info and knowledge on them is much appreciated. Thanks kim