Will you invest now or actually wait for after the election...

slapPCM

I have a lump sum available in a few days.... the plan has always been to invest for 10+...
I know that you can't time the market etc etc. It's just when it comes to myself, it would felt a bit **** I buy just before the dip/correction...
What will you do? Will you invest now, or hold half wait and see?

Steve182

That's a tricky one. I'm heavily invested in US and Chinese equities (Chinese ADR's) and I know the results are likely to impact me more than most. Your investment plans, if not so concentrated in US/China may be slightly less affected by the outcome?

Will you feel worse if you invest now and lose say 5-10% in the aftermath or worse if you hold on and miss out on say 5-10% of gains in the aftermath?

If I were 50/50 on whether the outcome would positively affect my portfolio I might consider investing half now.

Some might think the affect of Covid is not fully priced into the markets so that could be another reason to hold back. I keep thinking that too, but for the time being at least I have decided to stay fully invested in equities, for better or for worse....

Obviously there is no crystal ball.... 

Aceace

It sounds like you already know the answer: don't try and time the markets because you'll probably get it wrong like the vast majority of others that have attempted it.

If you can't bring yourself to bung it all in now then the usual advise is to split it into an equal number of tranches and chuck one in per month until its all invested. This way you benefit from any dips along the way, but also suffer from any peaks. 

What will I do? I gave up trying to work out which regions, countries, sectors, industries or companies to invest in over 30 years ago, as i was rubbish at it. I also gave up paying so called professionals to do it for me because they were equally rubbish. So now I just invest in global trackers, throwing some more in whenever I have spare cash. I sleep much better with this approach. 

Unfortunately I'm also a complete hypocrite. The election doesn't bother me but... Having not tried to time the market for all that time I'm now holding a pile of cash from my liquidated trackers waiting for the post covid fallout megadip. I just don't see how this won't happen. I'm not recommending this, just being honest about breaking the very sensible rule above that's served me well for a very long time! 😳 

I'm also investing heavily in P2P as I've found it much more fun and more profitable, but keep this bit to yourself as its not well thought of in this parish. 😒 

Prism

Aceace said:

I'm also investing heavily in P2P as I've found it much more fun and more profitable, but keep this bit to yourself as its not well thought of in this parish. 😒 

Its not that is badly thought of. Lots of people on the forum did it. It just doesn't return much for the risk

Sailtheworld

slapPCM said:

I have a lump sum available in a few days.... the plan has always been to invest for 10+...
I know that you can't time the market etc etc. It's just when it comes to myself, it would felt a bit **** I buy just before the dip/correction...
What will you do? Will you invest now, or hold half wait and see?

I put a lump sum into my pension on the same day each year. There's always something on the news. 

Linton

What the market hates most is uncertainty.  WIth Trump catching Covid and the election there is a lot of uncertainty.  Once the uncertainty is resolved prices will probably rise no matter who wins.  So buy now,  no point in waiting.

dunstonh

What will you do? Will you invest now, or hold half wait and see?

You will never end up investing if you keep waiting to see if an event or issue needs to pass before you decide.

kinger101

Do you have any convincing evidence that Democrat or Republican presidents adversely affect stock prices?

slapPCM

Yes, guys. You double ensured me the "right" thing to do

steampowered

If you are going to invest, just get on with it.

It doesn't make sense to keep waiting. If you wait until you have "certainty", you will end up never investing. There will always be something on the horizon.

Furthermore, if we ever did end up with a situation where there was "certainty", stock prices would be high to reflect that! Better to invest while stock prices are low.

max...

Cover your bases, divide the lump by 3 or 4 and drip it in over the coming months.  That's my plan - I might miss out, I might be better off or worse off but given it's going in for 10 years + it will make pretty much zero difference but makes me feel happier!