In today’s article, we are going to find out if have met the necessary qualification for investing. This article will show you when is the best time to invest. You see, everybody wants to invest, but knowing when to invest is important as where to invest.

There are so many places to invest in nowadays it can be;

Real estate – People like Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are the proponents of this kind of investment.

Technology – Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg….are tech investors

Stocks- Billionaire Warren Buffet is one of the world’s richest people because he invested in stocks.

Land- Land can be used for leasing.

Infrastructure 

Livestock

Energy

Gold/Commodities

Business, see also, 9 characteristics of an ideal business.

There are so many places to invest, but whatever your preference is knowing when to invest is very important.

This is what we will be discussing. You don’t just invest because you have money, but you invest when you have met the following criteria.

No. 1 When you have money that you don’t need for the next 5-10 years.

Many people violate this principle, they put money into an investment, and few months down the line an emergency crop up, and they are forced by the circumstance to call off the investment. This in most cases led to penalties. You can’t grow your money when your losing money paying penalties. The whole goal of investing is profitability and growth, in his book Learn To Earn legendary Peter Lynch said,

“5-20 years or longer is the right time frame. That is long enough for the stock to rebound from the nastiest corrections on record, and it’s long enough for profit to pile up.”

Warren Buffet once said,

“If you aren’t thinking about owning a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.”

The best time to invest is when you have money that will not be in use for the next 10 plus years.

No.2 You invest when you have paid your debts.

The best time to invest is when you’re debt-free. Let’s face it, if you’re in debt paying 18-20% interest rate, paying that debt is as good as earning 18% or 20% tax-free! risk-free. It doesn’t make any economic sense to pay a credit-card interest rate if you can avoid it.

Paying your loans ensures you have 100% guaranteed return on your money.

No. 3 After you have 6-12 months of money set aside for emergency

If you invest and you have not set aside money for emergencies, it means when an emergency occur you’ll either borrow, which means paying that amount with interest on top or you will have to recall the money which you’ve invested. This is a loser’s game because borrowing will cost you more due to the interest rate applied, and calling off your investment may incur some charges. That is why it is vital to put emergency money aside. This amount should be in liquid form. Never invest money meant for an emergency.

Emergencies are not about if they happen; it is a matter of when they happen. 

No. 4 When everyone else is selling

When there is panic, greed, pandemic…political upheavals everyone wants to have their money at hand or in banks. If for instance, you want to invest in stocks the best time to invest is when everyone else is selling. This is beneficial because the stocks at this time are cheaper because the sellers are more than the buyers. 

There is a famous quote by Rothschild that says, “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.” The original quote is believed to be “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.” The thing here is to go against the crowd. During bad times it is the best time to buy.

Contrarian investors like Warren Buffet have historically made their best investments during times of market turmoil, they swam against the current of common opinion and came out on top, but this is after doing their research ascertain the herd was indeed wrong.

When everyone is selling that is the best time to invest.

No. 5 When you are at peace with your investment decision

I keep telling myself, “If it cost me peace it is too expensive.”

Invest the only amount of money that gives you a good night-sleep. I am reminded of the tale of a man who was in a panic after putting all his money into the stock market. He wanted to be rich, but if the stock market crashed, he was financially ruined. He couldn’t sleep. One day, seeing the imposing figure of J.P Morgan on a street, he summoned up his courage, and asked, “Mr. Morgan, I’ve invested all my money in the stock market and I can’t sleep. I’m a wreck. What should I do?” J.P Morgan replied, “Sell down to the sleeping point.” The key is you want to control your money and not the antithesis. Stick to what is simple. 

Hope this article have answered the question on when is the best time to invest.

Now you know when is the best time to invest? Feel free to read more articles here.