Am I making a mistake by delaying investing?

AddictedSaver

I've been thinking about investing recently but now just seems like a risky time to buy, due to brexit and whatever happens when article 50 is activated.

Am I making a mistake by waiting to invest or should I just do it now? I know stocks go up and down but I can't get this feeling out my system that the FTSE 100 is going to lose a lot of value. I have no experience or any data to back my thoughts up, it's just a gut instinct.

I'd hate to invest and then immediately lose 30% value or more. I know I'd get it back eventually but I'd rather just buy when it's lower, if it ever will go lower.

SailorSam

That's the same problem we all face .......... when is the market down as far as it's going ?
And even the so-called experts get it wrong.
Then when we come to sell, how can we be sure it's hit it's peak ?

hubr

The market does look expensive to me. One rule of life is to buy cheap and sell expensive. That's hard to do just now. Of course, then everybody tells us that shares are for the longer term. How long is the question only individuals can answer for themselves. Some conspiracy theorists think that in fleeing from 'fiat currency', we'd be participating in pumping up shares only to lose money as a major crash is just around the corner.
The lesson: You just can't win (as a small investor anyway). Just spread your money widely...something's bound to go up!

EdGasket

You could wait for the next US rate hike; only a matter of months away. Interest rates on the rise will scare the markets.

bigfreddiel

Why don't you just wait a while, then in a few months time something else will kick off, so you decide to wait a while longer. Then the ftse will reach a new high at 8,563!

So you wait a bit more and before you know it a couple of years hsve gone by, inflation has kicked in and your money buys even less in the ftse.

Or..........

There is a crash, ftse bottoms out at 4,378. You decide to wait to see if it goes lower, it does for a bit then leaps up to 5,900. You decide you missed out at the bottom, so you wait. Before you know it the ftse is back to 6,800!

My suggestion. BUY NOW.

It's time in the market, not timing the market!

Good luck fj

EdGasket

Timing is everything.

If you had bought FTSE in year 2000 near its peak then, you would just about be recouping your money now. However if you bought in 2008, near the low you'd be making 60% gain or so. (Agreed in both cases you'd get some dividends too)

mjdh1957

You could invest in a monthly regular investment plan using an investment trust

EdGasket

mjdh1957 wrote: »

You could invest in a monthly regular investment plan using an investment trust

Or just invest in a share or fund each month or add to a fund each month; doesn't need to be done through an investment trust though that might work out cheaper assuming you are happy with one or two funds only.

darkidoe

EdGasket wrote: »

Timing is everything.

If you had bought FTSE in year 2000 near its peak then, you would just about be recouping your money now. However if you bought in 2008, near the low you'd be making 60% gain or so. (Agreed in both cases you'd get some dividends too)

Ahh but that is in retrospect though!! We agree that we cannot time these up and down and just have to rely on Time to give us the gains? Hence, we cannot use timing as a method but spend Time to wait for the returns.

AnotherJoe

If the FTSE 100 is your main investment focus, which I presume it is if Brexit is a concern for you, you should be far more worried about why on earth you would do that, that the timing.

Voyager2002

AnotherJoe wrote: »

If the FTSE 100 is your main investment focus, which I presume it is if Brexit is a concern for you, you should be far more worried about why on earth you would do that, that the timing.

My thoughts. It is very easy to invest in other markets around the world, and at the moment emerging markets seem under-valued. Personally I am mainly invested in Russia; Brazil; and India. My only UK equities are the Woodford 'Patient Capital' investment trust and a couple of investment trusts that emphasise smaller companies in the UK. Of course I could have called it completely wrongly, but there are alternatives to the UK.