A lot has been written about the dangers of trying to time the market – jumping in and out of investments with the goal of selling high and buying low. But in my experience with clients, this isn’t actually a conversation I have too often. What does come up frequently, however, is a fear of getting started. And I completely understand why.

The news has never been particularly positive. Humans are wired to pay more attention to negative information, and media outlets know this – sensational headlines and worst-case scenarios attract more attention. Today, with an endless stream of updates from news websites, social media, and alerts on our phones, it’s even harder to escape the negativity.

With so much uncertainty in the world, it can feel like the safer option is to keep your savings under the bed and wait for a "better time" to invest.

There’s always a reason not to invest

I started my first job in financial planning in 2005 – before iPhones, before Twitter. Social media had begun, but it wasn’t until the 2010s that it truly exploded. The first major economic crisis of my career didn’t happen until 2008, but when it did, it was a big one: the Global Financial Crisis.

For many, it began in September 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, though the warning signs had appeared earlier. The news was flooded with reports of economic catastrophe – it certainly didn’t seem like a good time to invest. Yet, since then total returns from the FTSE 100 have been over 200% in GBP, world markets around 500%, and the S&P 500 nearly 600%.

That crisis now feels like a long time ago. For many investors today, it’s not even a part of their memory. But the world hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing since then either.

A decade of uncertainty – yet markets keep rising

In just the past five years, we’ve faced a global pandemic, lockdowns, inflation spikes, a cost-of-living crisis, and major political turmoil. There were riots at Capitol Hill in early 2021, followed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to an energy crisis. In 2023, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, while geopolitical tensions escalated in the Middle East. Then, in early 2024, the seemingly unstoppable US tech industry saw widespread layoffs, and later that year, the UK elected a new Labour government, introducing significant policy changes.

With this constant stream of uncertainty, it would have been easy to sit on the sidelines and wait for things to “settle down”. But history tells a different story.

Since the first UK lockdown, total returns from the FTSE 100 have been c. 100%, and world markets over 130%. Even after the peak of post-COVID inflation, markets have continued climbing, with the FTSE up nearly 40% and world markets up close to 50%. The S&P 500 has gained almost 70% since the Capitol Hill riots, and despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the collapse of SVB, global markets have still grown by over 40%. Even after Labour’s election win in mid-2024, the FTSE 100 has risen by 7%.

The biggest risk: not investing at all

There will always be uncertainty. There will always be reasons to hesitate. But waiting for the “perfect time” to invest is often the biggest mistake of all.

The key is to take a long-term approach – take advice to build a diversified portfolio that suits your risk profile, invest only what you can afford, and start small if necessary. Investing regularly can help smooth out the ups and downs of markets. But most importantly, once you’ve started, trust the process and don’t let short-term headlines shake your confidence.

Because history has shown time and time again, the greatest risk isn’t market downturns. It’s never getting started in the first place.

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