I’ve been reporting on stock market sentiment since 2006. Here are 2 secrets to smart investing

This story is part of Recession Assistance BureauCNET’s coverage of how to make smart money moves in an uncertain economy.

I’ve been covering the stock market for 16 years, and let me tell you: it’s dark.

In 2006, I began a new role as a financial correspondent reporting from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. My job was to figure out why the market had an up or down day. In the morning I interviewed mostly male, older and white brokers tasked with actively buying and selling stocks on behalf of large institutional investors. (Also true: I had to remember to wear closed shoes and a blazer. The dress code back then was strict and a little ridiculous.)

I learned that if tech stocks fell soon after the market opened, it could be due to lower-than-expected earnings the night before from a leader like Apple. Any hint of tougher times ahead for the industry would have panicked brokers dumping stocks at the open.

“Today’s stock prices are not driven by business performance today,” Matt Frankel, a certified financial planner and contributing analyst for The Motley Fool, said in an email. “They are based on future expectations.”

That’s the problem: the market doesn’t reflect reality. It measures the moods and attitudes of people like the brokers I interviewed. Current prices can serve as an indicator of investor confidence, but stock market forecasts are educated guesses at best. “Markets aren’t always right,” according to Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi.

But don’t let that stop you.

Although the stock market represents an elite class of investors (the richest 10% of Americans own 89% of stocks), it has proven over time to be a reliable wealth creator for anyone with the tools and information to try. And technology has made them cheaper and easier to access, meaning a whole new generation has the chance to start investing and building wealth. If you can afford your basic needs and have some emergency savings, there’s no better time than now to invest, even if it’s just a little each month.

Of course, it’s natural to want to keep your money when there is so much economic uncertainty and market volatility. If you’re on the fence about investing, that’s because you are worried about recession, or you just don’t feel comfortable taking financial risks right now, you’re not alone. More than 40% of Americans polled earlier this spring said the bear market downturn has caused them to invest too much.

But waiting for it to end is an even bigger risk. Here’s what I know for sure about how to overcome anxiety and invest for success.

The “right time” to invest is right now

Yes, the market is risky. Yes, there will be more crashes. But there’s a good chance the market will bounce back, just as it bounced back (and then some) a few years after the 2007-09 global financial crisis.

“Things will get better again. They always do,” as my friend David Bach, New York Times bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire, told me on my So Money podcast.

Of course, it is better to buy at a low price so that you can profit later from the greatest possible appreciation or compound interest. But because it’s very difficult to predict where prices will go, the “right moment” to strike is often something we only realize in hindsight. Waiting to invest until the timing seems right, when you think stocks have bottomed out, can set you up more for failure than success.

Your time in the market is more important than synchronization The market. Staying short while the stock recovers just means you’ll pay more. Instead, invest consistently and continuously and let the interest accrue. You’ll buy the dips and the highs, but eventually, over the years, you’ll come out ahead. “If you’re 30, 40, 50 and you’re not going to retire in the next year or two, guess what? Everything’s on sale,” Bach said.

For example, if your parents invested $1,000 in 1960, it would be worth nearly $400,000 today. This is after a presidential assassination, multiple wars, a global pandemic, and many recessions, including the Great Recession. If the past is any indicator of the future, it has been proven that markets will eventually recover from downturns and that they have greater periods of growth than they do of decline.

Read more: Investing for beginners

Diversification is your best tool against market volatility and crashes. Investors who are more cautious could try US bonds, which are considered “safe haven” investments because they are backed by the Treasury and offer predictable returns.

Right now, with inflation at 8.5%, Americans are flocking to Series I Savings Bonds, a government-issued investment that is protected against inflation. I bonds have both a fixed interest rate and an inflation rate that adjusts every six months. Currently, I bonds will provide a 9.62% annual interest rate, which means they will provide you with a higher guaranteed return than any other federally insured bank account.

Technology is making investing cheaper and more accessible

Investing can be unnecessarily complex and exclusionary, and the financial industry as a whole could do a lot more to remove barriers to entry. Guests on my So Money podcast, especially women, people of color, and young people, have shared how they wish they had learned about investing sooner.

My advice? Rely on technology as well as social media and podcast outreach to get better access and education. At CNET, we’re big fans of robo-advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment, which provide low-cost portfolio management. There’s no need to wait until you have $1 million in the bank, which some professional investment advisors require before working with clients. You can start with just a little money.

And whether you’re a fan of TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, there are some respected experts out there offering free training. One word of caution: Be sure to check their track record and make sure whoever you follow isn’t a salesman masquerading as an investment educator!

Read more: Investing doesn’t have to be intimidating. Pros and Cons of Robo-Advisors

Once you’ve invested, embrace automation so you’re never fooled. Automating our savings or retirement contributions is a smart move that, frankly, saves us from ourselves. With money in hand, it’s much easier to spend than to save, but technology can automatically move that money into an account. We’re more likely to save for our future if we’re already enrolled in a company pension plan, rather than opting in with every paycheck. Start your contribution at the maximum employer matching rate and try to increase your contribution to 10% or even 15%. This can make you thousands of dollars more every year.

Pro tip: If you’re saving for retirement, see if your plan provider will automatically increase your savings rate each year (60% of employers offer this feature, according to the American Benefits Council).

For all other types of long-term investments such as a brokerage account or Roth IRAcreate a calendar reminder at the beginning of the year or on your birthday to increase your contribution.

Read more: Need to save for retirement? This is the easiest way

You may also be able to set your portfolio to automatically rebalance so that it adjusts and automatically picks up more stocks after a period of market decline, which can give you the right balance of stocks and bonds in your portfolio.

Automatic rebalancing is a feature many banks and brokerages offer to ensure your portfolio allocations don’t fall out of whack, says David Sekera, chief U.S. market strategist for MorningStar. For example, let’s say you set up your portfolio to have an equal mix of stocks and bonds. A bear market like the one we’re in now can weigh stocks down and go too heavy on bonds. But automatic rebalancing can fix that by buying more shares when prices are low again, according to Sekera.

I’ve seen firsthand how market volatility creates a lot of uncertainty, and I know why it’s hard to feel confident about investing. But history shows that staying on the sidelines as an investor can be riskier than participating in the market and riding the lows and highs.

Getting into the market early can be one of the smartest decisions on the road to building personal wealth and economic security. Along the way, keep your risk tolerance in mind, stay diversified, and rely on automation to help you stay on course.