A way to reduce your risk is to make your investments over a period of time. That way, you assure yourself that you are not investing all your money at the top of a bull market cycle. You may miss some appreciation if the market continually goes up, but that seldom happens.
Remember, no one can predict short-term movements in the stock market with any degree of accuracy.
By spreading your investments over 4 to 6 months, you will eliminate the risk of making all your purchases when prices are at their highest points. There are two types of risk that this strategy reduces.
*First, it reduces the risk of losing a significant part of your money quickly.
*The other risk you can reduce by spreading out your investments is price volatility. By taking this approach, the average price you buy will probably reflect the average market values for that period.