If you’re taking a long-term perspective on the stock market and are properly diversifying your portfolio, it’s almost always a good time to invest. That’s because the market tends to go up over time, and time in the market is more important than timing the market, as the old saying goes. The market (as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500 index) has risen about 10 percent per year over the long term. The longer you’re invested, the more of that return you’re likely to earn. But that doesn’t mean you should just dump all your money into the market now. It could go up or down a lot in the short term. Instead, it’s more prudent to invest regularly, every week or every month, and keep adding money over time. You’ll take advantage of the strategy of dollar-cost averaging, helping ensure that you don’t buy at a price that’s too high. If you’re regularly investing in your employer-sponsored 401(k) account, for example, you’re already using this strategy, adding money with each paycheck. That kind of regularity and investing discipline is valuable for long-term investing. While any time can be good to invest for the long term, it can be especially advantageous when stocks have already fallen a lot, for example, during recessions. Lower stock prices offer an opportunity to buy stocks at a discount, potentially offering higher long-term returns. However, when stocks fall substantially many investors become too afraid to buy and take advantage. That’s another reason it’s advantageous to invest regularly through thick and thin: You’ll be able to continue adding to your investment even when the price is down, likely scoring a bargain. But that means you need to plan ahead and already have your brokerage account open and funded.