This blog is meant purely for educational discussion of finance. It contains only general information about financial matters. It is not financial advice, should not be treated as such.
The stock market rewards loyalty and regularity.
Can the market drop? Absolutely.
Will I lose all my money investing? the answer is "It depends".
If you sell all of your stocks in a panic mode when the market goes down then yes you lost. However if you sit tight and wait for the storm to pass, you will be back where you started and more.
The average "correction" (as the decline in the stock market is referred to) lasted about 196 days. This downturn is usually followed by a rise.
My way of seeing it, "does winter last forever?" answer is - NO.
Next question will be - Where should I invest?
I like to keep it very simple, I like index funds. They are funds that are cheap and get you a wide exposure of the market. Fidelity and Vanguard are going at it in the index fund arena.
Where should I invest my hard earned Money? I like to use the old rule of thumb; 110 - your age should be your percentage of stocks owned.
For example if you are 40 years of age, 110-40 = 70% of all your funds should be stocks (equities) and 30% Bonds.
What stocks? Instead of stock picking, I use an index fund like VTSAX which gives me an exposure to the entire stock market.
What Bonds? Same as above, I use VBTLX which gives me a broad exposure to the entire Bond market.
So the answer to the question is NOW, start investing now and consistently, even if it is small amounts.
Till next time.
JL