Is Now a Bad Time to Invest Because the Market Is So High?

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Is Now a Bad Time to Invest Because the Market Is So High?

Podcast: Ramsey Everyday Millionaires
Date: January 2, 2026
Hosts: Dave Ramsey, Chris Hogan
Listener Question by: Sue (Voicemail)

---

Overview:

This episode tackles the common concern about investing in the stock market when it appears to be at an all-time high. Sue, a 65-year-old listener with $100,000 in retirement savings, asks if it's too risky to invest now given current market levels. Dave Ramsey and Chris Hogan provide clear, practical advice, grounding their answers in historical stock market performance, psychology of investing, and actionable next steps for anxious investors.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Listener Question – Is the Market Too High to Invest?

• Sue’s Situation: 65 years old, $100,000 savings, no debt, nervous about investing while stocks are high.
• Core Question: “Am I just going to lose money? I’m a little bit paralyzed with regard to what to do with this money. It is all I have.” (Sue, 00:41)

---

2. Historical Trends and Market Logic

• Stock Market Always Recovers:
  • Dave explains that, historically, the market returns to and surpasses previous highs, despite dips.
    • “What you're saying is if you really believe that [the market will not go higher], what you're saying is, is that the stock market is never going to go up past where it is. And there's absolutely no data to indicate that.” (Dave Ramsey, 01:31)
    • “The only way that your fear comes true is if it goes down and stays down, which is the first time it would have ever happened in history.” (Dave Ramsey, 01:59)
• Real Life Examples:
  • Names like Home Depot, Apple, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola represent the kind of companies that have historically grown in value.
    • “Are you really saying McDonald's and Apple won’t make more money in the next few years? That’s very unlikely.” (Paraphrased, 02:13–02:30)

---

3. Should Timing the Market Worry You?

• Dave's Perspective:
  • “If I had $100,000 extra to put into something right now, I would not hesitate to put it all in the stock market. In good growth stock mutual funds that have long track records. Today I’d do it by nightfall and I wouldn’t even blink.” (Dave Ramsey, 02:36)
  • Caveat: Each person must understand their own fears and make informed decisions.
    • “The way those fears go away is with a little bit of basic history and knowledge of the stock market… that’s why you need to meet with a good advisor.” (Dave Ramsey, 02:52)

---

4. Mathematical Reality of Market Growth

• Chris Hogan’s Numbers:
  • They cite recent S&P 500 movements:
    • “If you just pull up Google S&P510 year, you'll see it go up and to the right and you'll see some scary dips. But if you go back to, you know, 2022, you'll see an all time high of $4,700. Well, right now it's trading at over $6,800.” (Chris Hogan, 03:27–03:51)
  • “What you'll see is there's an all time high every few years… you're actually buying it on sale today because if you look at 2029, it's probably going to be trading higher than it is in 2025.” (Chris Hogan, 03:53)

---

5. Explaining Indexes and Investing Basics

• Stock Market Indexes:
  • Dave explains the S&P 500’s significance as a true barometer of the stock market.
    • “The S&P 500 is an index. That is the top 500 stocks on the stock market. And that basically is the New York Stock Exchange… the baseline of what we call the stock Market.” (Dave Ramsey, 04:12–04:27)
• Stocks and Mutual Funds:
  • Dave: Ownership in profit-making companies generally leads to long-term gains.
    • “A stock is a share of ownership. So if you're one of the owners of a company that's making a profit, your ownership share goes up in value.” (Dave Ramsey, 05:04)
  • “When you're buying a mutual fund, it's got 90 to 200, Home Depot, Dell and Apples in it. Exxon. Is Exxon making a profit? You should think, and better believe it.” (Dave Ramsey, 05:20)
• Historical Returns:
  • “For 70–80 years, the S&P 500 has averaged about 11.8% rate of return per year… which also means some years it was less, some years it was more.” (Dave Ramsey, 06:15)

---

6. Psychology of Investing vs. Real Estate

• Comparison to Real Estate:
  • People feel safer investing in physical real estate than in “intangible” stocks, despite both relying on historical data for value growth.
    • “People don’t even think a heartbeat. They don’t sit and go, I don’t know, if I bought a $400,000 home, would it go up in value? People don’t think that.” (Dave Ramsey, 07:10)
  • “Because we walk around in the midst of the brick and mortar… you have this historical data just kind of stored in your head.” (Dave Ramsey, 07:34)
• Why Stocks Feel Riskier:
  • “The stock market is just charts, graphs. It’s green and red on the news. That’s all I know… it doesn’t feel as real and I don’t feel as connected to the stock market like I do my own home.” (Chris Hogan, 08:37–08:55)
  • Dave concludes the emotional difference is due to tangibility, not reality.

---

7. Actionable Advice for Sue and Similar Investors

• Meet with a trusted SmartVestor Pro (advisor) to learn and ease fears through knowledge.
• Don’t act solely on podcast advice—education and understanding are essential.
  • “You don't do it because a couple of dudes on a podcast said do it. You sit down and you use your brain to understand something you never understood before.” (Dave Ramsey, 06:33)
• Historically, staying invested and not trying to “time” the market leads to wealth-building.

---

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Dave Ramsey:

  • “The only way that your fear comes true is if it goes down and stays down, which is the first time it would have ever happened in history.” (01:59)
  • “I would not hesitate to put it all in the stock market. In good growth stock mutual funds that have long track records. Today I’d do it by nightfall and I wouldn’t even blink.” (02:36)
  • “You sit down and you use your brain to understand something you never understood before.” (06:33)

• Chris Hogan:

  • “If you look at 2029, it’s probably going to be trading higher than it is in 2025.” (03:53)
  • “The stock market is just charts, graphs. It’s green and red on the news. That’s all I know… it doesn't feel as real and I don't feel as connected to the stock market like I do my own home.” (08:37–08:55)

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:41: Sue’s question: “Is it a bad time to jump in?”
• 01:12–02:52: Dave’s overarching answer: Historical perspective and addressing investing fears.
• 03:24–04:12: Chris’s input: S&P500 performance, real numbers, why market highs are normal.
• 04:12–06:33: Dave: Explaining indexes, mutual funds, and average returns.
• 07:10–08:55: Real estate vs. stocks: Why one feels safer and how that affects decisions.

---

Summary Takeaway

Investing when the market is high isn’t a bad idea—history shows the market has always eventually hit new highs. The most effective way to build wealth is staying invested over time, not trying to time the market. Understanding basic stock market history, connecting with a trusted advisor, and overcoming emotional or psychological barriers with education are essential next steps—especially for retirement savers like Sue.

---

Transcript

[Caller (Sue)]

Foreign.

[Chris Hogan]

This episode is brought to you by SmartVestor. Connect with an investing pro near you at RamseySolutions.com SmartVestor the Ramsey Show Question.

[Dave Ramsey]

Of the Day is sponsored by why Refi? You can't change the past, but you can change your next move. Why Refi helps people with defaulted private student loans refinance to a payment that fits their budget. Visit yrefi.com Ramsey that's the letter y r e f y.com Ramsey not in all states. Our question of the day today comes in by voicemail. So Kelly, give it a play.

[Caller (Sue)]

Hi, I have a question about jumping into investing at this time when stocks are trading so high have about $100,000 that I'm looking to invest. But I'm wondering if everything is so high, if this is a bad time to jump in, am I just going to going to lose money? I'm a little bit paralyzed with regard to what to do with this money. It is all I have. I have no debt. I don't have a ton of property or anything. So this is my retirement savings at 65. Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Caller (Sue)]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it's a good question. Thank you for calling in with that. We would tell you to sit down with a good Ramsey Smartvestor pro, someone that we recommend in the investing world and have a good talk with them and start to understand your options. But I can pan back a little bit and we can talk about the question in general. All right. In general, is it a good time to invest because the market's high? That's Sue's question. Right. And so if you take $100,000 and you're afraid to put it in now because the market's high, you could lose money. What you're saying is if you really believe that, what you're saying is, is that the stock market is never going to go up past where it is. And there's absolutely no data to indicate that. Data that indicates that the stock market has always gone up past where it is. Like always. Sometimes it dips down, but then it goes back up past where it was a hundred percent of the time. It has done that so far. Okay, we've had some dips, but it always has returned and gone past where it was before. And so the only way that your fear comes true is if it goes down and stays down, which is the first time it would have ever happened in history. And what you're saying then is that the best and brightest companies in America that are publicly traded names like Home Depot or Dell or Apple or McDonald's or Coca Cola, names like that are not going to make more money in the next few years. They're going to make less money than they've ever made in history as a group. See, this is very unlikely. So I am 65. If I had $100,000 extra to put into something right now, I would not hesitate to put it all in the stock market. In good growth stock mutual funds that have long track records today I'd do it by nightfall and I wouldn't even blink. Wouldn't bother me a bit even if it was my last hundred thousand. Now I'm not saying sue, you should do that because you have some fears and those fears need to. The way those fears go away is with a little bit of basic history and knowledge of the stock market. That's why you need to meet with a good advisor.

[Chris Hogan]

Yeah, there's a few questions here. Number one, should I invest when the stock market's high? Yes. Can you retire off of $100,000? No, I don't think so. And so I hope you have other income outside of that. But if you just pull up Google S&P510 year, you'll see it go up and to the right and you'll see some scary dips. But if you go back to, you know, 2022, you'll see an all time high of $4,700. Well, right now it's trading at over $6,800.

[Dave Ramsey]

6,800 points.

[Chris Hogan]

Yeah, 6,000 points. And so what you'll see is there is an all time high every few years. And so you'll, you're actually buying it on sale today because if you look at 2029, it's probably going to be trading higher than it is in 2025.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Chris Hogan]

So that'll give you some hope if you pan back like Dave's talking about and get that perspective. And a smartvestor pro can help with that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you can look at it and see the, see how the market moves. The s and P500 is an index. That is the top 500 stocks on the stock market. And that basically is the stock, the New York Stock Exchange. Okay. So it basically is the stock market. And so if you follow that, you can tell what the stock market has done. The news often reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is also an index, but it's just a handful of 30 or 35 stocks. It's not got anything. This has got 500, the 500 largest companies. So it is the baseline of what we call the stock Market, the s and P500. So if you look at that and you can say, okay, what is the stock market trading? Is it a bubble? Is it an illusion? There's no indication that it is. Because every time there has been a dip that someone calls a bubble or something, the market has returned. Because what we're saying here, it's not some. This is not a fairy tale. It's not some kind of guy behind the curtain like the wizard of Oz or something, right? This is actual companies. Home Depot. Does Home depot make money? McDonald's, do they make money? Do they make a profit? Dell Computers, Apple Computers, do they make a profit? And that's the stock you're investing in. A stock is a share of ownership. So if you're one of the owners of a company that's making a profit, your ownership share goes up in value. That's a share of stock. It goes up in value. And so when you're buying a mutual fund, it's got 90 to 200, Home Depot, Dell and Apples in it. Exxon. Is Exxon making a profit? You should think, and better believe it. You haven't filled up your car lately, have you? So, I mean, you bet these people are making a profit. You can bet. Are some of them losing money? Yeah, a couple of them are. But the biggest, these companies as a group represent the, you know, a big chunk of the American economy. And so in general, are these companies going up to in value because they're making a profit and growing? And in general, yes, in general, they always have. As a matter of fact, for 70, 80 years, the S&P 500 has averaged about 11.8% rate of return per year. That's the average, which also means some years it was less, some years it was more. That's where we get averages from. Y' all remember the sixth grade, right? And that's where we learned how to average out something. And so that's. You can pull these things up, look at it on the Internet real quick, but sit down with someone that can walk you through and you get comfortable. You don't do it because a couple of dudes on a podcast said do it. You sit down and you use your brain to understand something you never understood before. And then you go, wow. Okay, so, George, here's an interesting thing. I never understood this, but there's something maybe psychological about it. I don't know. The stock market feels far away, sophisticated, and I can't get my emotions around the technicalities of it to feel whether it's going to go up or not. But you buy a home and you have absolutely zero guarantee that it's going to go up in value. And people don't think a heartbeat. They don't even think. They don't sit and go, I don't know, if I bought, if I bought a $400,000 home, would it go up in value? People don't think that. That does not even enter people's minds. They go, of course it's gonna go up in value. Cause that $400,000 house, I remember 20 minutes ago it was 300,000. And I remember 45 minutes ago it was 100,000, you know, and so I remember it. But I guess because we walk around in the midst of the brick and mortar and we watch this, you know, if you're like 30 years old, you've had 10 years as an adult watching real estate go up. If you're 65 years old, for God's sakes, you know, dinosaurs in your backyard, you know, so, you know, you've been watching real EST go up. And so you have this historical data just kind of stored in your head, although you don't have the actual math, but you feel very safe. Yeah, with real estate, it's physical.

[Chris Hogan]

You can see it and touch it. And the stock market is just charts, graphs. It's like it's green and red on the news. That's all I know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Chris Hogan]

Talking heads are saying it went up. Talking heads are saying it went down. And so it doesn't feel as real and I don't feel as connected to the stock market like I do my own home as it should be. But I still invest in the stock market.

[Dave Ramsey]

The interesting thing is they're both. You're buying both based on historical data. Has it gone up in value in history? Am I going to lose my butt based on what it did in history? You're buying both of them based on the data. But people are just so much more comfortable with a home. And I'm glad. I'm glad they're buying homes.

[Chris Hogan]

Thanks for tuning in to Ramsey Everyday millionaires. Need help with your investments? Connect with a SmartVestor Pro at RamseySolutions. Com Smartvestor or click the link in the show notes. Ramsay Solutions is a paid non client promoter of participating pros. Learn more at ramseysolutions. Com smartvestor.