When headlines are worrying, volatility hits hard, or the economic outlook feels more uncertain than ever, it’s easy to convince yourself that waiting to invest is “safe.” After all, wouldn’t it be better to invest when things feel more stable?
The trouble is, markets rarely stay quiet for long, and while waiting may feel like a form of control, it often leads to the exact outcome you’re trying to avoid: missing out on long-term growth.
Everyone remembers a headline or moment when the stock market looked like it was teetering on the brink of disaster.
Just look at the past 6 years:
Despite all those seemingly grim market movements, the S&P 500 was up almost 150% over that time frame.
In other words, market ups and downs happen, and corrections, as defined as a 10% decline or more, can happen more often than anyone would like. Yet despite these temporary setbacks, markets have historically trended upward not just recently but over multiple decades. In fact, the S&P 500 has delivered average annual returns of roughly 10% since its inception in 1957. And as of December, 2025, over the prior 40 years alone, returns averaged a little higher, at 11.5%.2
Another reason to get comfortable with being uncomfortable? Some of the best days in the market have historically occurred after some of the worst.
In the last two decades, seven of the best market days happened within 15 days of the market’s 10 worst days. Investors who missed the 10 best days (in an effort to avoid the worst ones) missed out on around 4.2% of potential annual returns.3
In other words, by just doing nothing when the market gives us choppy waves, you can potentially avoid coming out with “seller’s remorse.”
Perfectly timing the market so you always buy low and sell high would require a Back to the Future 2 type almanac, and as far as we know, that doesn’t exist. No one can predict when exactly market sentiment will shift or by how much.
Not to mention, jumping in and out of the market, no matter the reason, can increase your costs in terms of fees and taxes. So even if you “beat the benchmark” with this game of hopscotch, you might end up with less after short-term capital gains taxes, trading fees, and other expenses.
That’s why Wall Street likes to say, “It’s about time in the market, not timing the market.” Because when you invest early, stay consistent, and let your money compound uninterrupted, you’re likely to end up happier with the result than you would stressing about every shift in market sentiment.
Don’t just take our word for it. Let’s let the numbers do the talking.
Suppose you have two hypothetical investors.
The longer the delay, the more you could give up. Every dollar invested today gets more time to grow than a dollar invested tomorrow.
If you’re ready to get started but unsure what the first step looks like, the good news is that investing today is more accessible than ever.
Most major brokerages allow you to open an investment account through a relatively simple online process. Once your account is set up, you can begin contributing money, selecting investments, and building your portfolio over time.
Of course, we here at Motley Fool Asset Management would love for that next step to be adding one of our actively or passively managed ETFs to your portfolio. But we’ll spare you the hard sell — and ask that check out our lineup of funds when you’re ready.
And you don’t need to have everything figured out right now. In fact, most investors learn as they go. Once you do open an investment account, there are a few important investing fundamentals to keep in mind:
Diversification is one of the most basic and important rules of investing. Rather than putting all your money into a single investment, diversification spreads your investments across different assets, sectors, and regions.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are one of the simplest ways to achieve diversification. By investing in a single ETF, you can gain exposure to a broad group of underlying assets. Often, ETFs are built to track an index, like the S&P 500. What’s especially helpful with ETFs is that those underlying investments have already been curated by an experienced fund manager, and now they’re being managed according to a specific strategy. ETFs enable you to build a diversified foundation for your portfolio without selecting individual investments yourself.
That’s why our passive ETFs include 100+ stocks each. We want to give each company a chance to contribute meaningfully to returns; but also spread our chips enough so that investors help mitigate risk and minimize volatility.
You should be investing with some greater goals in mind, even if they’re 10, 20, or 30+ years away.
These goals will impact your time horizon, meaning how long you can wait before you need to draw from your portfolio. The timeline for those goals influences how much risk you may be comfortable taking. Generally speaking, the closer you are to needing the funds, the more conservative your investments will need to be.
For example, if you’re in your 30s and investing for retirement decades away, you may be able to tolerate more short-term volatility in exchange for long-term growth. As you approach your goal, your strategy may shift toward preserving what you’ve already built.
One of the most common reasons people delay investing is the belief that they need a large amount of money to begin. But based on everything we’ve discussed (namely, the power of compounding), it’s far more effective to start with what you have.
If you can start with $100 today, that will serve you better long-term than waiting until you feel comfortable investing $1,000. Work within your own financial capabilities to decide how much you’re able to invest each month.
But most importantly, being consistent matters. Contributing regularly, even in smaller amounts, can build significant momentum over time. Automate your contributions to make the process even easier. That’s the easiest way to stay disciplined with your contributions without even thinking about it.
Getting started with investing doesn’t require you to have perfect timing, advanced financial know-how, or a large initial investment. What it does require is a willingness to start somewhere and the discipline to stay the course (even when the going gets tough).
If you’re ready to take the next step, explore Motley Fool Asset Management ETFs and begin building a portfolio that aligns with your goals.