WHEN SHOULD YOU INVEST?

I planted a nice tomato garden this year, given the extra time I have been spending around the home. I took time to tie each plant carefully to a pole and trim the lower leaves to create airflow and avoid disease. I have been pretty proud of that garden which is currently filled with beautiful green tomatoes getting ready to ripen. One evening I was weeding the garden and noticed a nice plump tomato, mostly red and almost ready to eat. I thought I should pick it and leave it on my counter where it would be ripe and waiting for my breakfast the next day. Instead I decided to leave it for the night, thinking that the final day of vine ripening might add just a touch more of sweetness.
 
The next morning I went out on my balcony before breakfast and was admiring that beautiful little garden below. I looked to see if I could find that one nice tomato for my scrambled egg sandwich but could not see if from my vantage point. Then I saw him. On the stucco fence post in the back corner of the garden sat a rust colored squirrel. He had in his hands what was left of my nice ripe tomato. He stopped for a moment to look at me, then without moving his gaze he raised the final piece of the tomato to his mouth and ate it, mocking me in the process. I thought a lot of things about that squirrel, none of which were kind. I was mostly upset that he was enjoying a tomato he had no involvement in growing. The experience left me to reconsider my decision from the night before. It was really my own fault I wasn’t going to enjoy a fresh tomato that morning, as I had my chance to pick it when I first saw it.
 
One of the daily experiences we have in our office is to research and then recommend various investments. For the most part, when we call people they approve our ideas and we go ahead and place the trade. Sometimes we have someone tell us they want to “think about it” for a bit. I never claim to be a market timer, but my experience with investing is that once the research is done and the decision is made, it is time to invest. I have had numerous experiences where failing to take advantage of the opportunity that presented itself led to missing out. Investors sometimes wait for just the right price to buy, or the perfect price to sell, but rarely are able to capture either. Relating this to my tomato, when it was ready to pick I should have picked it. In delaying, hoping for a slightly better result, I lost out to a squirrel.
 
Investing is a long term process where time works to your advantage. When someone asks me when is a good time to invest, I usually tell them, “Whenever you have money available.”