schoolshrink1
I don't know Who Ray Luccia is but that is the right way to invest. Separate goals, separate risk tolerances, separate time frames. And perhaps the most important issue is to rebalance each portfolio on a regular basis.
Far too often the people that I meet with, just have their money invested with no real plan.
With respect to the original question, "Is now a good time to buy" That goes together with the question being asked in late 1999 "is now a good time to sell"
Nobody knows when to buy or when to sell and that is why you need to use asset allocation, dollar cost averaging, portfolio rebalancing and other time honored strategies. There is no perfect time to invest. But now sure looks good if you have a 6+ year timeframe.
Greed causes most of the problems with investors. Everyone wants to buy at the lowest and sell at the highest. The reality is that it just doesn't happen that way.
Investing is not rocket science. It is really quite simple. First establish a plan.
Then INVEST If your sitting on the sidelines you can't make money but you can lose it to taxes and inflation.
DIVERSIFY don't try to guess what investment class to be in. You WILL guess wrong.
STAY INVESTED Don't sell out unless your timeframe or goal changes. Rebalncing on a regular basis forces you to buy low.... sell high. Keep investing through DCA even when it might feel uncomfortable.
There is my penny.
Thanks for the Steven Wright humor. I had forgotten that line.
[This message has been edited by advisu (edited July 18, 2002).]