<prompt> Human: Me: 25 yoI just rolled over my employee plan to a vanguard target retirement account just under 4k. In the month its been with vanguard its lost 80 2. I want to max out this account yearly with 5k, starting this year.Is it worth waiting to contribute until the short term return uptick? Or, given the long time Ill have this account, does it not even matter since any short term losses will be washed over by long term performance?  <response>: You cant time the market. Forget about that. It goes up and it goes down. Its noise.There are two ideal times, depending on your circumstances:1. Jan 1, if youre ahead of the game and are chomping at the bit to fill up your IRA ASAP. Assuming the money was previously sitting in cash accounts, its best to put it into the market as early as possible.2. Right before the April 15 tax deadline, which is also the IRA contribution deadline. If you cant easily max out the 5k and youre not sure how much youll be able to contribute, this is your last chance to contribute as much as you can for the previous year.Other than that, it doesnt really matter when you contribute. 