<prompt> Human: Good day PF, skimming the sub today I noticed a few people chatting about timing the market in which I assume quite literally means just that. On the contrary, versed folks seem to believe that if you are timing the market, you are investing wrong. An example was used with BTC, but I think that is a little extreme for a beginning investor to comprehend. I posted here about a year ago on a separate account and got a LOT of solid advice. I got out of the shitty financial situation I was in, I started a career which pays double anything I have ever done before still sub 60k and want to plan for a solid financial future looking at 20 years.My question is this, if timing the market is something that is looked down upon, why? I can infer that you could be attempting to hop on that perfect stock for a ride...for years and never find the best time. Any other information or outlook on this concept would be greatly appreciated. -some guy  <response>: The market is full of very smart financial managers who know what they are doing, and even they have a hard time predicting when the market will go up or down. Theres been a lot of economic uncertainty lately, but if someone had cashed out in December 2016 they would have missed out on 19 gains in the market in 2017. 