If you've been investing in ASX shares for more than a few years, you'd probably remember the carnage that was the stock market crash of 2020. It was a very strange time to be sure.
Back in February 2020, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was literally at all-time highs. But then the pandemic came, and the ASX 200 index quickly cratered.
Between 20 February and 20 March, the ASX 200 lost more than a third of its value, falling from 7,140 points to around 4,800 points.
It was a terrifying time to be invested. No one knew what the pandemic meant, there were no vaccines in sight, and we didn't know how long we'd all be locked down for.
Trying to invest in this sort of uncertainty-ridden climate is a nightmare.
Thankfully, for those investors who merely held their nerve (and especially for those brave enough to invest), this COVID stock market crash didn't last long. By May, the ASX 200 has recovered by around 25%.
Today, the index sits at around 7,040 points. That's a good 46% or so above those 2020 COVID-induced lows, as you can see below:
Of course, investing during that stock market crash was an epic opportunity to buy ASX shares for some of the cheapest prices we saw in a decade.
But since the index is now around 50% above where it was back then, is it even worth bothering to invest in ASX shares today? Should we perhaps be waiting for the next crash to put our money to work in the stock market?
Image source: Getty Images
Should we wait for the next stock market crash to invest in ASX 200 shares?
Well, I don't think so.
Trying to time the market is a foolish way to invest in shares (and not the good kind of Foolish).
None of us know when the stock market might have its next crash. It could be this month, this year, or in 2027 for all anyone knows.
What we do know is that the ASX 200 goes up far more often than it goes down and that it has never failed to exceed a previous all-time high in its history.
With that in mind, the only logical way forward is to invest as much as we can in ASX shares as soon as we can.
So that's how I'm investing right now, despite the market being almost 50% up from the 2020 stock market crash.
