Why This Is the Perfect Time to Start Investing Again

Carmen Wong Ulrich
"On the Money" Host

Is there any good news in the fact that we’re not feeling as cruddy as we did in 1980?

Our consumer sentiment eked up again this month, riding on the hopes of the new administration, but we’re still uncomfortably close to that year of record down-in-the-economic dumps.

No matter what’s coming next, hang on to that glimmer of happy anticipation and use it to shake yourself out of a stupor built of either fear or paralysis. Thirty-five percent of Americans have stopped investing and twice that many have lowered their retirement contributions. (Please let those numbers be about making ends meet, rather than avoiding a hot stove.)

The market has a ways to go to rebound, but imagine how much you’d lose if you miss out on the upswing. A University of Michigan study showed that in the history of the market, if you miss 1% of trading days, you miss out on 96% of market gains. Now that’s a party I don’t want you to miss out on.

Remember, the advantage is not necessarily with being a ‘have’ vs. a ‘have-not’, but with being a ‘know’ vs. a ‘know-not’. And those in the ‘know’ know that you need to be in it to win it. Hold onto that positive sentiment, give yourself that optimistic edge and keep investing.

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