Newbie here! I've heard the quote along the lines of"It's not about timing the market, it's about time in the market". Why do people so often discourage timing the market? Are there no ways to predict a stock rising in price over the course of days, months or even within a year?
The reason they say this is because 99% of people would be better off if they simply put their money into the S&P at age 30 and forgot about it for 30yrs. Timing is not impossible, its just a lot harder, requiring, skill, talent and understand of market mechanics.
Unless you know something - which is illegal, insider information - it's just a guess. And timing the market isn't just "a stock rising in price over the course of days, months or even within a year". Most good stocks will go up. Timing the market means buying at the best time and selling at the best time - it's hard to do because you never know you're at the peak or valley until after the fact. So 1) It's hard to do. and like @StockJock-e said, you may be better to just get in. Get in and start collecting those dividends (assuming they give them).
This is the best answer you will find. Very few can consistently outperform a index fund like VOO over a extended period of time.
Q: Possible? A: Yes Q: Possible to do consistently? A: No Q: But what if I am really, really, really smart and I know everything there is to know about the market? A: Still no Market timing is a hubris tax. It's why people like my Mom do better than the vast majority of people here, despite some of these folks undoubtedly being smarter and far more knowledgeable than my Mom. The most interesting aspect, for me, is that even people who know it's a fool's errand and have studied the futility of it are not able to resist the urge to time the market.
