Do you know when the best time to invest is?

Hi there,

As if there wasn’t already enough to doom scroll about, the investing markets have been alternating between roller coaster days and Tower of Terror days.

Believe me, I know how stressful it can be — I’ve worked in finance for more than 30 years. But I’m here to remind you that, most of the time, the best time to invest was…. yesterday.

The next best time?

Today.

That’s because historically, time in the market has beaten timing the market: Investing is a long game, one that gives your money the time to work for you. For example, if you’d invested in the S&P 500 25 years ago and simply left it there — over a period that included recessions, wars, market crashes, a pandemic — you would have earned a nearly 400% return.

Also, in the past, the stock market’s best days have tended to happen after stomach-lurching periods like this, when “stocks are on sale.” So if you stop investing or wait until things look “better,” you’re more likely to miss out on potential returns.

Here at Ellevest, we manage diversified investment portfolios, built specifically for you — based on data-driven forecasts that take market volatility just like this into account and avoid market fads. (I’m looking at you, meme stocks and Matt Damon commercial.)

It can be a bit nerve wracking, but these are the types of markets that have historically built the base for the silver-haired-hottie-on-a-Vespa-with-the-much-younger-partner-in-Italy type of retirement.

Ciao.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO