What Did You Buy Today?

[fenders53]

(03-12-2020, 11:59 AM)MikeWa Wrote:

(03-12-2020, 09:51 AM)Kerim Wrote:

(03-12-2020, 09:12 AM)fenders53 Wrote:

(03-11-2020, 05:12 PM)MikeWa Wrote: I've heard a theory that you should invest 30% of your cash with a 10% drop, next 30% after next 10% drop and another 30% after yet another 10% drop.

Nothing wrong with that plan for an extended bear market.  You have to consider your age, your personal risk tolerance,a and your best guess where we are in the business cycle.  It's easy to over think it.

I don't think a young investor should have much cash.  It's a lost opportunity longterm.  Practically zero coming out of the bear, 10% if the bull is years old and valuations stretched.  It really stinks to have no money when the market gets crushed.   I'm close to retirement.  I'll push my luck some at a time like this, but it would be nuts for me to not have enough cash for the first few years of retirement should I need it.  I want 4-5 years to ride out a beat down so my stocks can recover.  That is usually more than sufficient time.

I agree completely, but also have to factor in your own personality and comfort. I'd be worth a lot more right now if I didn't keep such a large amount of my assets in cash. My depression-era father still lurks in me I guess, but I just sleep a lot better with a big cash cushion. And it does come in handy for moments like these!

Like most here I started buying too soon, but who knew? Fortunately, because of our 401k to IRA rollover we had plenty of cash. I am buying very small amounts per transaction and over last two weeks I deployed only about 12% of our cash reserves.
I think I'll keep buying very slowly. I wish I knew what tomorrow, next few weeks and months will bring.

I think you are doing it right.  I rolled my 401K over 18 months ago and it took until now to get as invested as I should have been a year ago. I beat myself up but it's not constructive.  You don't have to get it perfect to succeed.  If you sit on your hands until stocks are 30%+ off, you might wait five or ten years, and you'll almost certainly miss some 15-20% discount sales which happen almost annually.  Just average in and sleep well.  There are some bargains out there now and trying to catch the bottom is a fools errand.  You'll accidentally catch the bottom with some shares.  That's all we can hope for.  You know you won't time the market consistently enough to make it the best plan over time.  Millions have tried.