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The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have again broken out to new all-time highs.

But some investors find this to be problematic. It’s hard to buy at the top as you have to have a strong conviction that stocks are going to continue to rally.

Should you buy at the top?

No Crystal Ball

No one knows the future, especially in stock investing.

Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report), Facebook (FB - Free Report) and NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) are hitting new highs in 2021 but they are well-known big-cap technology companies.

But did anyone pick Union Pacific (UNP - Free Report), the railroad, to hit an all-time high this year as well?

In 2018, Tracey invested some cash in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO - Free Report) near what was then the all-time highs. But 2018 was a tough year for stocks. The S&P 500 finished the year down 6.59%.

There’s no way to know what is just around the corner.

Investors should have a plan.

What is your goal for this investment? What is your time horizon?

What else should you know about buying at the top?

Tune into this week’s podcast to find out.