Help! I'm Dithering...

Rollinghome

There can definitely be value in a contrarian approach, doing the opposite of what others think. Doing the opposite of what your own best judgement tells you on the other hand suggests very low self-esteem.

Biggles

donshale wrote: »

I'm looking to maximize the return over the next 2 years. I have other longerterm investments. But the FTSE this summer looked like a buying opportunity to me.

I did put in a similar sized lump sum in the summer and have managed a much quicker than anticipated 20% return.

But I'm wondering if the FTSE is going to fall back shortly or whether at least until the end of the year it will trade generally flat or slightly upwards.

So for my second lump sum I've been sitting on it the last 2 weeks, and missed out on another sharp rise. Every day the market just keeps on moving up - and every day I keep thinking "this can't continue, can it?"

So do I buy now, or is there a real chance of buying in, say 10% or more cheaper between now and Christmas?

To be honest, if your timeframe is only two years, I wouldn't bother with equities at all. I would just be grateful for the 20% start you have with your, rather lucky, initial investment and hope it grows further.

Might it be 10% cheaper between now and Xmas? Yes, it might. But might it be even cheaper than that in 2 years' time? Yes, it might.

Ignore people who tell you they know which way the market's headed in the next 2 years, because they don't. But they will nearly all agree that you need longer than 2 years to stand a good chance of finishing up ahead.

gozomark

Rollinghome wrote: »

There can definitely be value in a contrarian approach, doing the opposite of what others think. Doing the opposite of what your own best judgement tells you on the other hand suggests very low self-esteem.

absolutely - if you can't decide when to buy, how are you going to decide when to sell ? Nothing wrong with taking advice, but in the end its your money, its your call, and you are the one who suffers if it all goes wrong.

sabretoothtigger

The answer is dont put in lump sums. Split the money up and feed it in over time

The ftse100 is not the best index to invest as its long term trend is still downwards. At least do the all share which is 100 + some of the smaller growing companies as well