When is the best time to invest?

The best time to invest is continually. Market timing is high risk and often detrimental to long term wealth creation. Often the biggest gains on the sharemarket are in one day. If you miss out by not being invested on that one day you can miss a lot of investment return.

I use the term INVEST. Speculating is a different thing altogether. Day Traders punt on movements in the stockmarket related to their gut feel on how an individual stock will move on any given day - don't forget the transaction costs of getting in and out. You might as well go to the races - at least you can have a drink and relax there.

Prudent investment will provide a combination of income and capital gains over time. Continually investing smooths out the spikes in prices and allows you to build an investment portfolio that will provide investment returns as long as the businesses you invest in continue to operate profitably.

When investing in property it is generally about supply and demand, and what rental income or capital gain a property may provide now and in the future. A property is not a trading business so the investment performance is generally related to how many properties of a similar type are available, where the property is located and whether good tenants can be found to provide the rental income and how much money the investor can afford to spend on it. There is more potential for emotional issues to affect property prices - whether someone likes the "look" of a property - not necessarily whether the investment return stacks up or not. Timing in property purchases can be like the sharemarket - unpredictable and risky.

You must always factor the opportunity cost of not being invested, particularly when borrowing to invest. Tax planning considerations can come into the overall decision process.

ONE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT NO ONE GETS WEALTHY AND STAYS WEALTHY BY NOT INVESTING. IF YOU SPEND EVERYTHING YOU EARN YOU WILL NEVER IMPROVE YOUR ABILITY TO LIVE WITHOUT WORKING FOR YOUR INCOME.

Regards

Damian Ebzery B.Bus M.Bus AFPA ASA