I am a newish investor, I haven't hit the 50K mark yet, but will when I invest the 7K sitting in my account right now. I will be happy to finally hit a decentish milestone. I have everything in TD e series a la Couch Potato formula. 10% in bonds, the rest in stocks.
I have regular biweekly purchases being made and I don't really think about the market state where those are concerned.
But I have this little chunk of cash waiting to be invested and I find I am unable to pull the trigger on it, thinking I should hold for this mythical drop that is coming and buy in cheap.
I really want to get this in my RRSP this year to get another decent tax return next year and start the process all over again.
I know, I know, I shouldn't read those "The financial apocalypse is coming...again!" or the latest "Are you ready for a 4,000 point Dow drop". But I occasionally like to torture myself with what ifs. I also know from seeing it repeated over and over again that you can't time the market.
I also have my nay-saying husband's opinion which is to bury the money in the backyard (in a bucket so the worms don't eat it...obviously), instead of buying into the stock market which will screw us in the end (never mind that he has his parents as a great example of steady as you go investing).
Should I just buy in?
I don't have an emergency fund, other than maybe a month's worth of expenses, so I guess I could keep it for that, but I would really like to invest it.
Do most people just buy in when they get a "windfall"?