Worried About a RECESSION? Should You WAIT to Invest? Should you SELL NOW?!

Markets took a hit today when Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Add this to the existing tariffs on China and we’re gonna be spending a LOT more. ADD IN the massive, reckless and unnecessary firings of government employees (don’t get me wrong, there’s waste and fraud but there’s a smart way to clear it out and then there’s what Donny is doing), and we could see a recession. We could see local communities and families get wrecked. We could see debt rocket, consumer spending dwindle, deregulation (which hurts customers and helps corporations), etc.

Rich investors seize opportunities like this: they have the knowledge, patience, and experience to know we always recover. Most importantly: they have the money to snap up heavily discounted assets on the cheap.

Whenever I post a video like this, I’m hit with a few big questions: SHOULD I SELL NOW? SHOULD I WAIT TO INVEST? WHAT IF I’M 20! WHAT IF I’M 40! WHAT DO I DO WITH MY 401K/ROTH IRA/INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT.

The non answer is: it depends. The trickier answer is, it depends on your age, your current investments, your risk management, how soon you want to retire, debt, emergency savings, etc.

Let’s break it down like this:

If you’re 20/30/40 years old and you’re in one technology ETF in your Roth IRA, one S&P 500 ETF and one dividend ETF in your individual account, and you’re investing whatever amount every single month for 10-30 years, nothing needs to change.

If you’re heavily invested in high risk, heavily speculative investments, that’s a much different story. You need to be diversified. You need to consider high quality ETFs first. Get that foundation up and running.

If you’re 50 and plan on retiring in 10 years, you should have a plan already set up to start reallocating some funds into some bonds. This video should help.

Selling while you’re up with the plan on buying BACK when things go down is a loser’s strategy. You are trying to do the impossible, which is perfectly time your exit and re-entry. You will be wrong.

You will sell too soon, markets will go higher and you’ll panic and buy back in, thinking the recession ISN’T HAPPENING. But then it WILL happen, your portfolio will drop and you’ll be too scared to ever invest again and you’ll never retire.

OR, you will sell and markets will drop, but your stocks won’t drop lower than what you originally paid. Will you re-enter your positions? Or will you hold off, expecting markets to go lower? What if they don’t? What if that was the bottom? What if markets recover and you now have to buy even higher to re-enter? What if you don’t buy at the perfect moment, the recovery happens, and you miss your chance because you kept waiting. What if you sell your long term investments at a profit in a taxable account? You want to pay taxes?

Remember, you’re a long term investor trying to accumulate shares over a 10-30 year period. You’re getting in your own way, overcomplicating things and limiting your ability to compound, earn dividends, and steadily average in over time. You’re playing a guessing game. You will guess wrong. And all of these what ifs will limit your ability to retire when you want.

So, just consider staying the course. Don’t panic. Sit on a little more cash and get a plan together so you know what to do.

But what if you are a NEW investor and you’ve never purchased a single investment in your LIFE? Should you wait to start? The answer is no. Look at the keyword in that sentence: “START.” You are just starting now. Waiting prolongs your ability to retire. Just. START. So markets are at all time highs and we’re teetering on a will we/won’t we recession? Who. CARES? You’re just starting. You’ll invest when stocks are at all time highs, you’ll invest during recessions and it’ll all average out over 30 years. Remember, today’s highs are tomorrow’s lows.

Here’s what I’m doing: I’m already heavily invested, so I don’t need to invest a certain amount every month. I’m looking for big deals. Like today. High quality companies like NVDA were down over 8%. That’s a great opportunity for me to buy a little. But what if there is a huge recession and markets drop harder? Why would I invest all of my money now and have nothing left to invest if markets go lower? But what if I’m wrong? What if there isn’t a recession, or at least, there isn’t one imminently? Then I’ll be glad I bought a little so I have SOME skin in the game. That’s my approach.