Is now a good time to put money in the stock market?

[Ryan M]

I have a good amount of money saved up that I haven't invested anywhere yet. It just sits in my bank account losing value every year. Would now be the time to put money in the stock market or is there "too much going on in the world" right now? According to Chatgpt this is the right thing to do instead of trying to time the market. I'm planning to just buy S&P 500 or VTI to keep it safe and simple

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

Best thing is to keep investing regurarly, probably like 20% of your monthly income at least, depending on how much you can afford. And always have a large lump sums ready for all the future major crashes that will inevitably happen. In your case especially, I think it would be foolish not to try to time a market a little bit, taking into account the times we live in. But even if we lived in a different, more stable times, this method would still be optimal; it's a hilariously simple concept to grasp and yet people will always seek more information about the so called financial literacy; even claiming that it should be taught in schools LOL people just don't want to get it

[LordFall]

What do you believe in? Put your money behind narratives that make sense to you. The US stock market through the S&P500 has been the top narrative globally for decades. Probably will keep doing fine in the next 20 years even if we had some sort of ai bubble correction. 

Crypto is in a weird situation right now, I'd personally still put a bit of money in it (5-50% of a portfolio) as well, it's mostly against central banking and the endless money printing without accountability that all world governments are engaged in. 

[yetineti]

If the only thing stopping you from investing is the US market right now, invest more in Europe.

I had the same worries. I did not want to let my money sit and I wanted to literally have some stock in companies and industries I am interested in.

Everyone, up until recently, recommended broad index funds, ETFs, bonds, etc. Things that capture the whole market instead of just a few companies.

Honestly, despite the US being essentially just 7 companies, the S&P is still a seemingly good investment. Gold, silver, battery industries, etc.

You can look up basic portfolio percentages and gauge risk. That’s what I did, but I bet I little bit more on Europe, thanks to the ‘Pivot’ podcast and the ‘Prof G’ podcasts.

They predicted their broad funds would benefit from the US’s tariffs and the uncertainty, 1-2 years ago. They were right and it made sense, so I started investing. 

It gave me a different outlook on investing, actually made me realize I wish I did have the faith to just invest everything into the US, because it is ‘my country’— but that ignores true investing and is myopic. It was clouding my view. (I’m not even a Super Patriot™️ or anything. I just grew up in America and have been told and seen us run the global economy more or less my whole life.)

— hope that gives a little perspective. I have been jumping into this world myself, recently.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by yetineti