Is now the right time to invest?

One of the questions I get asked a lot (as the friend who likes talking about money and investing) is whether now is the right time to invest. This question is asked during times when investing feels easy, but comes up a lot more often when things feel a little bit more uncomfortable, and your portfolio might not be looking as good anymore.

This makes sense, because when we’re dealing with our financial future, things can feel overwhelming. We can get so tied up in knots when trying to decide whether to invest that we end up not making a decision at all and leaving it to an unknown date in the future.

But here’s the crux of the matter: avoiding feelings of fear and anxiety when it comes to money builds over time. The opposite is also true. By facing our worries about investing, a bit every day, we build courage over time and the fear starts to shrink.

So how can you start and keep investing even when it feels overwhelming?

First, by building your confidence. This comes through educating yourself about how investing works and better understanding your relationship with money.

The second step is creating a simple investment plan that you feel comfortable with.

Investing is something we want to do frequently, by investing small amounts on a regular basis over decades. If we can put it on autopilot, even better!

This keeps your financial life simple and takes a huge amount of decision-making fatigue away from you every month.

You can put your portfolio on autopilot by setting up an automated investment plan using a broker like Pearler, a micro-investing app like Raiz, a robo adviser like Six Park or InvestSMART. Even the best investors know they won’t always have the willpower to invest when the headlines are scary and their portfolios are flashing red. But by automating your investment plan, you’re effectively saying that whatever the market is doing, you will be investing (without having to overcome the mental barriers of making the decision to buy when you’re feeling uncertain and the headlines are at their worst). Keep your investments simple, diversified, low-cost and regular. Automation helps – a lot. What choices can you make today that future you will be proud of and grateful for? Remember, investing is a marathon and not a sprint.

This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL: 383 169).