
In this pandemic COVID-19, where to invest is a question - stocks, Mutual funds, Gold or keep cash?


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Your investments should always be allocated in accordance with your financial needs and goals. The investments you make must match your investment needs like expected returns, the risk you are willing to take, time horizon, cost of liquidity, etc. Just based on your question, I don’t think “timing the market” is the right way to approach investing in stocks.
Stocks are investment instruments that can only be truly appreciated when you look at it from a long-term perspective. If you look at anything on a daily or monthly or even yearly basis, it is bound to be volatile. Volatility is the nature of equity markets. But as your lens turns to a 10-yr or above perspective, the volatility seems a bit less sharp and losses tend to be capped. Entry points are important and timing of those are also in some sense crucial, but that is not a sure-shot way of achieving success.
So, the simpler and in many, a sense better way to approach investing in stocks is to take out time to do your own homework and build knowledge about the avenues. Don’t get rattled by daily ups and downs and always look at the big picture.
Also, if you are looking to build your portfolio, you can always invest in some pre-decided mix of stocks and bonds while keeping some amount of cash available in hand. The percentage of this depends on your risk appetite. The best portfolios are ones that balance the risk-reward trade-off effectively.
Investment in Mutual Funds- Mutual funds serve the propose in many ways such as Professional Portfolio Management, Diversification, Minimum investment amount, liquidity, serves financial goals, tax efficiency. Cons- Market research, Market risk.
Investment in Stock - comes with market risk and demands market research. If invested with proper planning and knowledge it yields good returns.