I've tried to dabble in investing for the past 5 years, and frankly I just can't wrap my tiny little peanut brain around it.
So, I made the decision to just max out my 401k, and invest in funds that trend the overall market. My employer administers our plan through Schwab, so I opened a self-directed Schwab account to avoid all the account management fees, and have begun investing in Schwab's total market tracking fund, SCHB. The fees are extremely low, and each buy is commission free. I started this in January.
Every 2 weeks, $750 goes into the account. However, after buying a couple rounds of SCHB, I got gun shy. Nearly every single fund is at an all time high, and SCHB has nearly doubled in price since it's inception in 2012. This seems to go against the founding principle of investing: "Buy low and sell high." Since February the money continues to be deposited into my self-directed account. Its just sitting there. Not earning, not losing (unless you consider inflation?), just sitting. I understand that trying to time the market is generally not advisable, but it just seems so risky to dump all of my money into the market right now, the highest its ever been, with political unrest within the country, and external threats that may lead to conflict becoming more apparent.
Am I being a dumb ass? Is time in market really > timing the market? Are current circumstances not as extraordinary as I seem to think they are?
Submitted September 04, 2017 at 04:16PM by Gauged_Buttholes http://ift.tt/2eWPist
