In 2022, I will be increasing the amount I invest in the stock market. This isn't because I anticipate there will be lots of buying opportunities or because I'm excited about any one particular stock, cryptocurrency, or other investment.
Instead, there's a very simple reason I'll be upping the amount of money that I use to buy assets that will hopefully help me grow my wealth over time.
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There's a very good reason I'll be investing more in 2022
My motivation for investing more in 2022 has nothing to do with market conditions or my beliefs about the economy next year. Instead, my aim is to put more money into the market every year regardless of whether I think we'll be entering a bull or a bear market. Next year is no exception. In fact, since I try to increase my income to keep pace with inflation over time, and I always invest a percentage of my income, investing more each year is a no-brainer.
So, why don't I care about what the economy will bring next year as I make my investment choices? It's because I know that the more I invest in solid, reliable assets with a proven track record, the faster I'll build wealth -- even if I don't buy at the optimum times based on market conditions.
I don't concern myself with trying to make predictions for what the stock market will do in the upcoming year when I set my investment goals because I know that no one can really make an accurate assessment of what will happen in the future. After all, unpredictable events happen all the time that can upend even the most well-informed predictions. The coronavirus is an excellent demonstration of that, as the economy was booming pre-pandemic and COVID-19 wasn't something anyone saw coming.
Instead of trying to time the market, I simply trust that if I make good investments and hold them for the long term, I will earn positive returns over time. And simple math says, the more money I put into the market each year, the greater my possible gains should be.
Should you increase your investments in the new year?
If you have your financial ducks in a row and you have spare cash, or you get a raise in the new year, then you likely should follow my lead and try to invest more in 2022.
Of course, you'll need to make sure that you're fulfilling other important financial requirements too. If you have high-interest consumer debt, you may want to focus on paying that off before increasing the amount you invest. And if you have short-term financial goals you're interested in accomplishing, you'll want to allocate money to those as well -- and you typically shouldn't invest money you'll need within the next few years because short-term investing increases the risk of loss.
But once you've checked those basic items off your to-do list, investing more money in a responsible way to build a diversified portfolio is virtually always going to be a winner in terms of increasing your net worth. There's little else you can do with your money that will put it to work to build more wealth, so why not use it wisely by increasing what you invest once the new year rolls around?
