With many of us using the stock markets to help fund our retirements, this uncertainty in the market makes fighting human nature even more challenging. As many of you will have noticed, the markets have been increasingly volatile these days. Up significantly one day, only to drop more the next. Often the valuations don't seem to be tied to any one policy change, but they can cause us all to question where the market is going.
This environment makes it increasingly difficult to follow the proven buy and hold strategies preached by most, including the good folks at Canadian Couch Potato. Furthermore, it makes it seem that this might be the opportunity we've all secretly been waiting for to try our luck at timing the market. Maybe you're holding more cash than normal while you wait for the right opportunity to buy? Or perhaps, you've bought more than normal thinking the markets will continue to go up with the new President's policies.
Either way, you're doing yourself a disservice if you are in this game long term, as most investing in the stock market should be. Your best bet will always be to use index funds to invest in a wide swath of the market, and to buy on a regular basis regardless of how you feel the market may be going. This is the best way to reach your financial goals.
