Know the stock market

Then, you also need to know the stock market. Do not worry. You do not need to know everything about it! You do not even need to know the details!
But there are several things you need to know before you even consider to invest in the stock market.
First of all, there is no such thing as an investment without risk! All investments have some risks. It is up to you to decide on how much risks you are willing to take.
Even low-risk investments will have negative returns some time! If you pick a low-risk instrument such as government bonds, you will still experience some downturns. There have been some years were bonds had performed very poorly. We are talking minus 20% in a single year!
You only lose money if you sell in a downturn. You should mix up paper losses and realized losses. If you check your account one day and see you are ten percent down, this is only a paper loss. If you sell, it will become a realized loss. It is essential to understand this.
Finally, you should not time the market. Timing the market means that you buy or sell at a particular time in the hope of making a profit. For many people, this means waiting to buy or selling early. But on average, you will lose this bet with the market. People are not able to beat or time the market.