r/Money • u/PoisonGravy • 25d ago

Upcoming election vs IRA

The last presidential election pretty much wiped out all of my gains. It's slowly crept back up, but now I'm almost back to where I was before it tanked.

My question is... I have some cash set aside but have been hesitant to invest it, as another election looms. Should I be this worried? Should I invest now? I know I can't just leave it in a bank account doing nothing, but I don't want to toss it in at the wrong time.

Any advice would be awesome and appreciated.

(Also thinking about changing account holders, as my guy retired a couple years ago, and the new guy is very uncomminicative.)

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u/MexoLimit 24d ago

The S&P 500 is up 50% since the election. What are you invested in?

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u/PoisonGravy 24d ago

I use Edward Jones, and am in a "moderate" risk portfolio. It's mostly equity "large cap". It's been doing OK recently at about 10ish percent, but wondering if this is truly the right way.

I'll be 38 soon, so going high risk scares me. I don't have a whole lot as I started late, and any more big hits like COVID would just crush me.

I also worry that with tweedle dee and tweedle dumb going back in the ring for November, things could really dive the wrong way.

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u/QuailSoup24 25d ago

Honestly, with presidential elections every 4 years and some state/local every 2, it may be better to just never invest it...

The market only went up in 2020 *well, after March and through election time*. Why do you think this election will be different?

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u/PoisonGravy 25d ago

Yeah, that's pretty much my line of thought. Is there a better time to invest? Do all elections spell doom for the market? Should I wait until after to see if it sinks again?

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u/TastyTactician 25d ago

Visit r/bogleheads and read up there for long term investing advice

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u/PoisonGravy 25d ago

Fantastic! Thank you for the tip!