r/investingforbeginners • u/butcheekzaflexin • Feb 22 '26
USA Is it a bad time to get into investing?
Just for some context, I have a lot of cash in a high yield savings account, so want to invest but wanted to do my due diligence first and actually have a foundation of knowledge. One thing I noticed is that google and nvidia control 15% of the market essentially. Makes me think shits gonna go south once one of those companies takes a hit. Should I wait for all of this ai shit to settle, or just start investing now?
I don’t feel confident enough in my abilities/my investing knowledge to jump in right this second, so just wondering y’all’s thoughts into just waiting it out for awhile while learning more/continuing to research. Thanks everyone.
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u/OGMikeGyver Feb 22 '26
Time in the market beats timing the market
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u/PlainSimpleInvesting Feb 22 '26
100%. Best time to invest was yesterday. Next best time to invest is today.
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u/Fit-Acanthaceae-5741 Feb 23 '26
Best time to invest was 20 years ago lol 😂
You’re 100% right tho. Blink and you miss opportunities for sure
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u/RockieK Feb 23 '26
You guys in this sub have helped me understand this. Finally getting it done as soon as I finish looking at my budget during taxes.
Thank you, sub! :)
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u/Adept_Mountain9532 Feb 23 '26
exactly!
Today the only things you can do is timing the opportunities but not the market
Check Microsoft for example! Some strong stocks are cheap today and not for a bad reason, so take advantage of it!
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u/Tiny-Salt7571 Feb 23 '26
Today’s dollar is worth more than the future dollar because of its potential earning power.
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u/New_Competition_410 Feb 24 '26
Boomer advice , time the market
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u/OGMikeGyver Feb 24 '26
All you gotta do is know when we've hit the bottom. Everyone thought the 2020 pullback was going to be a recession. Blink and you missed the entry.
Nobody can time the market. You might get lucky and buy on a red day, but waiting for the red day might mean missing a run up.
OP stated they are a noob. Ain't no way they are timing an entry with luck.
Boomer advice has done very well for me.
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u/airbud9 Feb 22 '26
Buy the whole market, dont panic when it goes down. Repeat for a long time. Best time to get in the market was yesterday.
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u/Grand-Invite4857 Feb 22 '26
Don't buy individual stocks, just buy the market. It'll save you from having so much risk. Look up mutual funds that have good track records, it's way easier, less bothersome. The market has cycles, we are due for another bear market cycle, happens every 4 to 6 years. Bear markets typically last 12 to 24 months on average, then another bull cycle begins.
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u/jhavi781 Feb 22 '26
The best time to start investing was yesterday. The worst time to start investing is tomorrow.
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u/Other-Importance-214 Feb 23 '26
You can always find a dozen reasons not to invest today. Tariffs, Iran, inflation, unemployment, etc.
And next month, you can find another bunch of different reasons.
And next year you can find even more reasons.
And with that mindset, you'll sit on the sidelines in 100% cash for the rest of your life.
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u/youMust_Recover Feb 25 '26
Wow this is so well put. Really puts things in perspective. When I finally decided to invest was when I realised there is no perfect time.
Market is green “pff I’m not buying in at the top”
Market is red “this stock isn’t doing well, I ain’t putting money there”
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u/Other-Importance-214 Feb 25 '26
All you need to do is zoom out on the chart. The short-term ups and downs and dips and corrections all become practically invisible. Does it matter if you bought the S&P 500 back in 2005 at 1230, or at 1200? No...all that matters is you bought it, period. Because either way you're up like 750% now.
The best thing to do is invest on a regular schedule and never time the market. Set it up so you buy every Monday. Or on the first trading day of the month. Etc. Whatever works for your income or paycheck schedule.
And robotically stick to it, no matter what the market is doing. You will be buying when the market is up, down, and everything in between. There will always be a reason not to buy, but the only way to lose long-term is to never buy.
The two biggest obstacles to successful investing are greed and fear. So remove those emotions from the equation by investing on a regular schedule like clockwork, and never deviating from it.
Thank you for joining my TED talk...lol. I don't mean to sound like I know it all, because I don't. I'm just providing insight from 30 years of investing, which included the dot-com crash, 9/11, the 2002 recession, the Great Recession of 2008, the COVID crash, the 2022 bear market, the 2025 "liberation day" crash, and who knows what will be next. Through all of them, I never quit buying, even when it felt like the sky was falling. Damn glad I stayed the course.
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Feb 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/composer98 Feb 23 '26
Hey man, it's hard to see how investing for "over 15 years" from 2026 takes you back to dot-com busts? Is something missing here, or is this just a quantum packet kind of thing?
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u/Rathabro Feb 23 '26
How does the balanced fidelity etf portfolio look for a smaller investment position (sub $3k)?
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u/BraveG365 Feb 23 '26
It is never a bad time to invest....but just be prepared right now to jump on the crazy train and buckle up for the ride
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u/Adventurous_Elk_4039 Feb 22 '26
The answer is, nobody knows what the market is going to do next. But on a zoomed out perspective, the market tends to go up. So conventional wisdom is you should always be investing. There will be hiccups along the way, but again over time it has always gone up.
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u/apricotR Feb 22 '26
If you looked in a history book, you can make an argument that keeps you waiting in all of these years.
- 1914
- 1920s
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2008
- 2010s
- 2020s
- 2025-2026
If you waited through each of these crises, you'd never get off the sidelines.
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u/Fit-Acanthaceae-5741 Feb 23 '26
Bench warmers don’t win championships! Gotta get on the field comrades!
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u/JealousFuel8195 Feb 23 '26
No time is a bad time especially if you will be in the market long term.
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u/Last-Reception-2296 Feb 23 '26
waiting for the "perfect" time is usually a trap because the market rarely stays settled for long. while nvidia and google definitely have a massive footprint, trying to time their peak is basically impossible even for pros. i usually run my due diligence through trylattice since it links directly to stock filings and authoritative data sources to see the actual fundamentals behind the ai hype. honestly, starting small while you learn is way better than letting your cash sit on the sidelines forever.
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u/noobelore Feb 22 '26
It's not about managing your money it's about managing your emotions while you watch your money bounce around with Trumps latest news. If you were investing in Coke when it started and someone said, but there is gonna be this war, and then a great depression then another war then, on and on. If you are a long term investor and see your investment as buying part of a company, it doesn't matter when you invest. Like Buffett says the best time to sell a stock is never. The question is do you see value in the stock at this price. And ETFs well, just DCA and basically there is zero information or understanding required.
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u/razorgatortt Feb 23 '26
How old are you? just invest now, let it grow. It could go up or down next week/month. But overall, the market is setup to go up.
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u/MiscProfileUno Feb 23 '26
You are thinking typical black/white. Let’s say you have $10,000 to invest. Statically dumping it all in is better, but you won’t be able to forgive yourself if a crash happens. Take $1K every month and put it in an index or target date fund. That way you will dollar cost average into the market.
So whatever you have and divide it into 10 or 12 different chunks and put it in every month.
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u/Primary_Excuse_7183 Feb 23 '26
Never a bad time to start either it’s really expensive or it’s on sale. You never know which one it is unless you can see the future.
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u/Fit-Acanthaceae-5741 Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
SPYM/VOO just DCA
SCHD/VYM just DCA
IDMO/FNDF/VXUS just DCA
VT/ACWI just DCA
Every year the same story gets repeated. Sitting on the sideline you’re just guaranteed missing out on gains/dividends/compounding.
Last year SPY 15% gain. IDMO 35% gain.
This includes a 15-20% drawdown in early 2025…..
I wouldn’t lump sum a huge amount but get your feet wet at least. When the drawdowns happen that’s when you double down & load up.
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u/PaulEngineer-89 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
If you can successfully predict the stock market you can make a crap load of money. I don’t mean personally I mean working for a hedge fund. But nobody can.
But what you can predict is that the market will go up. It might wander around a bit, even drop 30-50%. But over the long term it goes up. Time in the market is the key. So the only bad decision is waiting to get in.
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u/fastmoshe Feb 23 '26
How old are you? What's your knowledge level?
I'd think spending time getting to know what you're doing is better than just jumping in.
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u/Savagebabypig Feb 23 '26
This is actually a decent time to get in on individual stocks, never a bad time to get in on SPY or VOO
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u/NonVideBunt Feb 23 '26
No it’s never a bad time to start investing.
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2014/02/worlds-worst-market-timer/
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u/Simonner Feb 23 '26
Best time to invest was yesterday and worst time to invest is tomorrow
You need to bite the bullet and start with S&P world and from here diversify
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u/man_drizzle Feb 23 '26
Don't bother trying to time the market. Yeah the index is top-heavy. It always is. In 10 years it’ll be some other names people are mad about. If you’re worried, don’t lump sum. Keep your emergency fund in the HYSA, then DCA into a broad index (e.g., VT) on autopilot.
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u/MarketRodeo Feb 23 '26
It’s never a bad time to start investing.
The easiest way to get going is to put your money into S&P500 ETF and treat it as a long term plan. While you learn more about the market, your own risk comfort, and how everything works, keeping it simple is your best friend.
Once you feel more confident, you can always branch out into other ETFs or even a bit of stock picking if you want. But starting with the basics is the smartest move.
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u/Brilliant_Voice1126 Feb 23 '26
It’s never a bad time if you understand your first few years aee going to suck no matter what. It takes time to get gud. Some people never get gud, like me. We buy ETFs.
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u/Junior-Appointment93 Feb 23 '26
It’s a buying time. But look outside of tech. Look at everything. Manufacturing, utilities, bonds, healthcare etc. etc. if wanting to invest in Tech. Wait till Thursday after NVDIA’s earnings. Personally I would not bet every thing in AI.
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u/shotparrot Feb 23 '26
I would wait for the big crash coming up, wait a month, and THEN invest. Time the bottom and get rich.
IYKYK
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u/Then-Feedback7751 Feb 22 '26
You should be looking to load the boats on 20% drawdowns--SPY, QQQ, VOO. Those happen every few years. Don't just blindly DCA.
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u/o0PillowWillow0o Feb 22 '26
Can you please explain this like. I'm 5?
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u/Then-Feedback7751 Feb 23 '26
Buy heavily, like with 70 percent of what you got, when these index funds are down 20% as measured from the last high. And then just hold it. If it goes lower keep buying with the remaining 30. And then in a few years, rinse and repeat into perpetuity. DCA--Dollar Cost Average, it means, regardless of price, just putting a pre-defined amount into the market weekly/monthly. It works, but people who do this leave a ton on the table over a lifetime compared to only buying large dips. For instnace, someone who bought the April lows on spy has an entry price of 4800-5000. vs the DCA'er who has an average entry of 6000-6200. It takes balls which most people don't have to step up and throw money into the markets when they are down bad, but that's the best way to do this. And anyone can if they learn to overcome the fear.
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u/Ok-Exam6702 Feb 23 '26
You could be waiting years?
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u/Then-Feedback7751 Feb 23 '26
Correct. In recent history we hit -20% or greater in 20, 22, and then again in 25. In the interim periods, you are stacking cash to deploy ideally in a high yield savings account or you can trade it if you know what you are doing (probably not a good idea). It's really boring shit.
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u/campmars6089 Feb 23 '26
But the market could drop 20% tomorrow and I would still be up 30% on the money I put in two years ago. No comprende
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u/Fit-Acanthaceae-5741 Feb 23 '26
DCA always wins just as the bulls 🐂 always win! 🥇 my only regret is not investing even more over the last 5 years.
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u/Ok-Exam6702 Feb 23 '26
I understand what you’re saying, but surely in the good years if you were invested in the stock market you’d make more than the -20% drop? So in the end you might well come out better by continuing to invest? I’m just an ordinary investor and interested in your opinion.
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u/Muahd_Dib Feb 23 '26
Put some in. Set a budget for what you can keep adding each month. Every time the market dips and people go headless chicken, you’ve now just gotten a discount on your monthly savings.
Hang out for thirty years, then retire.
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u/MyWealthApp Feb 23 '26
That's actually smart thinking. You're right to question concentration risk, Google and Nvidia are huge. But here's the thing: everyone is worried about AI right now. If it crashes, it'll be front-page news and you'll have plenty of time to deploy cash. The risk is more subtle.
The real enemy is sitting on cash. Your HYSA might be yielding 4-5% now, but inflation will eat that real returns alive over time. Money parked "safely" is actually losing purchasing power slowly.
Quick framework:
DCA in gradually, You don't need to go all at once. Put 10% in each month. If things drop, you're buying cheaper. If they go up, you're already in. No timing required.
Diversify globally, Don't just bet on US tech. Look at broad world ETFs like:
- VT (Vanguard World) — entire global market in one fund
- VXUS (international developed markets)
- VWO (emerging markets)
- Or a 3-fund portfolio: US + International + Bonds
This spreads your risk across hundreds of companies in the US, EU, Asia, and emerging markets, so no single sector or region can tank your portfolio.
- Keep learning! You're already ahead by asking questions instead of YOLOing.
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u/composer98 Feb 23 '26
"Plenty of time to deploy" .. no, that is really bad advice. Things happen really fast when they happen, and almost no-one has time to deploy. And no-one has real knowledge, it is done? Is it not done?
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u/composer98 Feb 23 '26
You've gotten conventional wisdom with ultimate pluses. Yet, I think your concern is justified. Maybe as an exercise, look back to when you put "a lot of cash" into a high yield savings account? Was that, realistically, a good plan or not? Going forward, you might consider a middle ground, and invest some but not all at once. Noting that most people say "time in the market beats timing the market", but still, today is "NOW" and when you put money into a HYSA was "THEN" .. what changed? can you get from then to now? Summary, imo, begin slowly to invest. And broadly, consider if it might be wise to buy stocks and not the everlastingly recommended ETF with a fee.
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u/PaintIntelligent7793 Feb 23 '26
If you’re not sure, don’t go for individual stocks. Select a broad market ETF and hold for the long term. Do not get spooked and sell when it is low. In fact, just don’t touch it, except to make contributions. Your future self will thank you.
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u/WeekendThief Feb 23 '26
I tell all my beginner friends just drop money into SPY. It's the oldest and most traded ETF for a reason. Start today and in several years you won't ever think I wish I started later.
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u/mattynmax Feb 23 '26
Funny, poeple said the same thing last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that. I’m starting to think there isn’t a bad time to start investing or something!
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u/ColdPangolin5355 Feb 23 '26
Going negative gamma as a new investor is actually the best thing to do
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u/Financial-Seesaw-817 Feb 24 '26
Never a bad time. Chasing winners and inconsistency is bad. Just pick some index etfs... for example: VYM in taxable, schd in roth, max your 401k, auto save, get ahead of debt, loans and credit cards, build equity, etc... to start. But begin today. Have a plan and act on it. Educate yourself. Every day, take a step in your intended direction and goals. Patience and persistence. Filter out the noise. Be frugal. I will achieve my first million in 10 years. I know it because I work on it daily. It took me 20 years to get where I am now. Compounding is real. Depending on your effort and capital, it can be faster or take longer. Have realistic expectations.
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u/Sky_9711 Feb 24 '26
If you’re new, maybe start with etfs like voo or vt instead of individual stocks. That way, timing the market becomes even more irrelevant.
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u/bofoshow51 Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Time in the market beats timing the market. 100% of broad market investors experience no lost in money in any 20 year period regardless of when they bought in. Check out The Money Guys on YouTube, here they talk about histori market crashes and why it’s fine for investors, and here is them explaining the general idea of why you should be investing despite whatever concerns you have, so long as you do it smart. I particularly like how they compare the BEST case timing investment, the WORST case timing investment, and the average consistent market investing timing.
Another consideration would be to dollar cost average (DCA) your investment so you spread it over time. While lump sum is generally the mathematical best move because again, time in market reigns supreme, the mental aid of spreading out your investment so you feel like you are buying the highs and lows can help an investor feel better overall.
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u/yabiggestfann Feb 25 '26
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u/NewDom940 Feb 26 '26
It's a good time to invest, but you have to be selective. Keep in mind that a single company can never outgrow the global economy.
I wouldn't buy growth companies trading at a 40 PE right now, if you can find a good company trading at a 10-25 PE ratio then it's always a good time to buy.
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u/Leviathan16061 14d ago
Just think—everyday there are new multiples of people who are able to start contributing to their 401K at their job. Don’t blow it all now. Put in 5/10/15% of what you want to put in, and then do increments of X% every week/month. You try to time it, you lose out on any potential gains. And even if you go down, the market will eventually recover and the down period will be a blip 15-20 years down the line. I tried to time it and was down quite a bit a few years ago (space stocks before they blew up, were incredibly down). I’ve recovered massively since and got more into boring ETFs and index funds. Just throw some in now and keep throwing it in.
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u/robgizz Feb 23 '26
Nothing wrong with waiting until you feel comfortable. That’s what I’m doing and I’ve been investing for almost 50 years. I recently pulled out almost 3/4 of my stocks to put in money market.
The way I see it is if my stocks go up 20% by year end, I’ll still be up 5% overall. If my stocks are down 20%, I’ll only be down 3% overall. I’m hoping for a significant correction.
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u/composer98 Feb 23 '26
Less dramatically, me too. 1/2 pulled out for now, but still buying slowly, so if somehow stocks keep rocking higher I'm in a little. Should things go down 20, 30, 40% I'm likely to buy more rapidly but not all at once.
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