Dumb stock market questions...

[ntxshooter]

I don't disagree. Dollar cost averaging is the best and SAFEST way for folks to get a decent return over their lifetime.

But there is also a chance to make a ton of money when the market is down. Im being pretty safe right now for my needs. To each his own.

Everything I've read points to studies that show Lump Sum investing beats out dollar cost averaging over the long term. However if DCA is all you can do (or one feels better doing it that way) than they should. Personally I DCA to my Roth every month and have been for a few years as it was my only option, but I'm finally in a place financially where I will lump sum my max contribution in January for 2017 then will DCA into a taxable account.

[deerwatcher51]

Buy it. Leave it alone. Nobody can beat the market CONSISTENTLY.

That being said, buying one single stock is quite a lot of eggs in one basket. Diversify.

There are two schools of thought in that vein....the first being don't put all your eggs in one basket.....the other being put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket.

[wsteffen]

If you can't afford to loose it, don't invest it in stocks. I have a lot of money in the market, but I don't need it to pay my bills or eat. Long term will almost always win.

[eradicator]

Everything I've read points to studies that show Lump Sum investing beats out dollar cost averaging over the long term. However if DCA is all you can do (or one feels better doing it that way) than they should. Personally I DCA to my Roth every month and have been for a few years as it was my only option, but I'm finally in a place financially where I will lump sum my max contribution in January for 2017 then will DCA into a taxable account.

If you invest at the right time! I'm waiting on the next downturn Lump sum at an all time high is a poor play IMO. Once again, this is just for my needs and I do NOT do this for a living.

[Keith]

Tagged for later.

[ntxshooter]

If you invest at the right time! I'm waiting on the next downturn Lump sum at an all time high is a poor play IMO. Once again, this is just for my needs and I do NOT do this for a living.

Poor play potentially for a short term investment,but not for long term. Problem is no one knows what will happen with the market and no one can time it. If we could, we all would and would invest at the same time.
Time in the market beats timing the market

Here's a quick article where Warren Buffet list what he thinks are the top 3 mistakes people make. Take a look at #1

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/10/26/warren-buffett-investment-advice/3188499/

[farfel]

Vanguard. Index funds. Leave it alone.

[JeffJ]

This is fun.

[dustoffer]

Everything I've read points to studies that show Lump Sum investing beats out dollar cost averaging over the long term. However if DCA is all you can do (or one feels better doing it that way) than they should. Personally I DCA to my Roth every month and have been for a few years as it was my only option, but I'm finally in a place financially where I will lump sum my max contribution in January for 2017 then will DCA into a taxable account.

Interesting---but when you are "guessing" or trying to buy low, I'm betting you are wrong enough of the time to make DCA the way to go. It's for folks like me with neither the time, inclination, nor willingness to invest the time to learn it (or have more fun things to do). I have a friend who is so "in" to the investment/analysis thing that he will go to a hotel during the NFL draft so he can "focus" on it without the distraction of his family. Same way when it comes to his finances. Not me.

[Gunnyart]

I don't have the time or inclination to "play the market" but I hate paying someone to do it for me.
I just opened an Etrade account and put it in an S&P index fund and forget about it.

[Neuse]

I must be in the wrong Vanguard fund, it is dragging bad.
While my stock picks are doing good.
I have always had a high opion of Vangaurd and John Bogle, but now I am not so sure.

[Dchilds]

I must be in the wrong Vanguard fund, it is dragging bad.
While my stock picks are doing good.
I have always had a high opion of Vangaurd and John Bogle, but now I am not so sure.

Vanguard is a low cost index fund provider and custodian - and a good one, at that. There are hundreds of Vanguard funds tracking all different indices. The manager has almost nothing to do with performance in an index fund so it shouldn't be a "confidence in Vanguard" issue. You just picked the wrong index over whatever period your looking at. During any period your choice can be right or wrong in relation to any major index. Don't be frustrated by short term deviation in performance or change strategies because yours is behind (if it's something you still believe in). That's how you stay behind over longer periods.

[Kdog]

There is a big difference between investing (i.e. retirement) and playing around with some stocks. I guess some people would call playing around "trading."

[Kdog]

This is my point. Publicly prognosticating a sell off in an open forum with folks that may already be timid about entering markets can be dangerous.

I don't know, I am not a financial adviser and this is a bow hunting forum. Seems like there are a lot of other topics that get discussed, I don't see why this one should be off limits. Plus the market has gone up a lot in the last 5 weeks. I guess my question is what is different? The only thing I can see is Trump got elected. However, Trump is not in office yet so what happens when things start not working out as expected?

[Dchilds]

I don't know, I am not a financial adviser and this is a bow hunting forum. Seems like there are a lot of other topics that get discussed, I don't see why this one should be off limits. Plus the market has gone up a lot in the last 5 weeks. I guess my question is what is different? The only thing I can see is Trump got elected. However, Trump is not in office yet so what happens when things start not working out as expected?

As much as anything I was curious about the basis for thinking the market is about to sell off. Then again, even if it does, I'd say a majority of investors are better off buying in too early and riding out a correction than sitting on the sidelines altogether. I get a lot of questions like this from my clients. I can say through personal experience that (all else equal) the ones who want to time the markets long term performance suffers relative to those that don't.