Some people advice that if there's a possibility stock prices will fall then it's better to wait and buy only buy when prices are low. The problem with such waiting is you can wait for a really long time. Is that a good investment strategy . . . waiting? Or should one wade straight in and hope for the best?
If we don't need the money on the short term I think that waiting can be something good because the money is just sitting there and we are earning. We need to take attention to how much we are earning really though.
Also keep in mind tax implications. If you can hold a stock for 1+ year, then you'll only pay 15% in taxes on your capital gains. If you sell a stock within 1 year of purchase, then the capital tax rate will be about 30%.
I wouldn't "wait" for this or that. Trying to time the market is almost always a bad idea. If you're really concerned, I'd dollar cost average. Like if you have $10k in cash you know you need to invest, maybe just invest $1k a month or a couple hundred a week over the next year or so or whatever. And more importantly, add as much to your investments as you can every paycheck for the rest of your working life.
Waiting can be a very profitable strategy but as JR said timing the market is extremely hard and there is a very big chance that you will miss a lot of profits. What I do is I keep buying regularly with roughly X amount per month and I keep an additional cash reserve (as well as the possibility to take an investment loan instantly) so in case the market does dive, I can buy more when it's cheap. Keep in mind that while you are waiting you are getting a ridiculously small interest from that money, whereas there are a million companies where you would earn a lot more by holding and cashing in the dividends. Alternatively you can also use individual bonds to get some income while you are waiting.
Definitely this. Also it's super important to diversify as well. Don't just pour everything into one stock
Absolutely. Diversification is extremely important. This goes a long way towards preserving and growing capital over time.
Of course. You need to contact your local tax authorities to figure out how much you will pay and how to declare them.
In most cases, if you're buying a good stock, it's almost always better to wait, since the price will go up on average. Of course, if you have some other sources of info or want to make a quick buck, there are other ways rather than buying stocks.
