SHOULD YOU WAIT TO INVEST?
When I say start investing today, a lot of people get hung up on this because: what if a recession happens tomorrow/why would I invest now when markets are at all time highs/shouldn’t I wait until I have MORE MONEY to invest?
The answer to all of these questions is: shut up, who cares, and no.
If you had to focus on ONE WORD from that opening paragraph, it would be the word “start.”
Start, for those who don’t know, means begin. Begin, as in … start.
Start does not mean invest every single dollar you have right now.
Start does not mean acquiring your entire position today.
Start does not mean you’re finished and can never invest again.
Start means: Start.
Okay, but … what IF a recession hits tomorrow? Who cares? You only just STARTED. BUT WHAT IF THINGS GET WORSE?
Who 👏 Cares 👏
What matters is consistency. What matters is that you do not STOP. You keep going. If a recession hits tomorrow, don’t panic. You’re not investing for the next three months. You’re investing for the next 30 years. Just stay consistent.
BUT WARREN BUFFET IS SELLING EVERYTHING!!!
Warren Buffet is 94 years old, the CEO of a trillion dollar conglomerate, and a billionaire. Three things YOU are NOT. YOU are focusing on retirement. YOU are focusing on 30 years down the road. Don’t concern yourself with what he’s doing.
Okay, but markets are at all time highs? And? So? Who cares?? Today’s highs will be tomorrow's lows. Did you know the S&P 500 was 1565 in 2007? And then it dropped 56% in 2009 to 676? And as I write this at 12:20pm on Feb 28, 2025, it is 5895.
If you STARTED (hey, there’s that word again) investing in 2007 and you CONTINUED investing every month, you’d buy at the all time highs when your friends were saying, “Bruh! Dude! What are you doing? MaRKeTs ARe At aLL TimE HiGHs.” And you’d keep investing after markets dropped 56%, when your friends would say, “BRO WHAT ARE YOU DOING? MARKETS ARE GOING TO ZERO!!!!”
And today, 16 years later, you’d be up 276% on your 2007 investments and 772% (!!!) since your 2009 investments.
WELL SHOULDN’T YOU HAVE WAITED UNTIL 2009 TO –
No, shut up again. You didn’t know it would happen. You didn’t know how low it would go, and you’d have missed out on any gains from 2007 to 2009, along with all that compounding and dividend reinvestment. If you’re the type to wait wait wait, you’d see the markets drop 56% and hold off because you were either terrified or greedy and wanted it to drop even LOWER.
Like, imagine being the guy saying, nah, down 56% isn’t enough for me. I’ll wait until it drops to 60%. The day that never comes. That’s why timing the market and waiting is dumb as shit.
Finally, the “shouldn’t I wait until I have more money,” line. No. Shut up again. That’s stupid. Waiting means you miss out on compounding. Waiting means you miss out on gains. Waiting means you prolong your ability to STAAAART and you prolong your ability to retire.
I think the general feeling of this post is: don’t wait. Start now. Stay consistent. It’s pretty simple.
If you don’t know how to invest, click on the menu and go through my resources. They’re all free.
