I am going to invest $150 (Canadian) into some coins. My first post mentioned DigiByte, but now I'm curious about XRP upon research and considering that it's within the top 10 coins I think makes it safe. Considering that I'm a COMPLETE noob and venturing this at 18, I started with $100 but felt an extra $50 would not hurt but that's the max I'm going. I'm very well aware of the risks and know I could lose my money which is why $150 is my max because losing won't hurt me. I'm not investing to make a quick buck, I'm just extremely curious in this market.
I've been following XRP for the last week and the price value has gone up by 3.05%, I'm curious whether people wait or buy straight away while the price has gone up (considering its the 3rd ranked coin). Also wondering if this is a coin for long term investment. I still have a lot to learn before considering investment, but I do not want to wait too long in case the value goes up. I don't even know how to buy a coin... apart from that, I'm curious if anybody has more information that will be useful for my final decisions.
It is a complicated matter, especially with XRP. Many believe that it is centralized and that its value is controlled. Recently, its price suddenly started to grow, which is when its parent company quite coincidentally released a huge number of coins into circulation, supposedly for an interested investor, although many assume that it was to keep the price where it was at the time.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the fact that the coin is among top 10 does not mean that it will always be there, although in the case of BTC, ETH, and XRP, it IS a pretty safe bet that they will stay up for much longer than any other crypto.
It is good that you know to invest only an amount that you are comfortable with losing completely. However, if you check out XRP's performance overtime, you might decide that it is not the best choice. Whenever a price surge comes, XPR is late to the party, it only grows a little, and when it falls, it falls to its bottom price pretty quickly. I know that you said that you aren't after a quick buck, so if the money is not that important and you are simply interested in XRP, then go for it, by all means. However, if you do wish to see returns, XRP is a bit too controversial and kind of uncertain for my taste. It could be a good long-term investment, although I leave that to you.
As for when to buy, if you plan to hold for a long period (HODL) and not trade as soon as the price changes, you can pretty much invest whenever, it doesn't make a huge difference. If, on the other hand, you want to make some profit, you buy when it is cheap, and sell when the price grows, which you have probably figured out by yourself. Alternatively, there is margin trading, but i wouldn't recommend it since you yourself said that you are still new.
In the end, the best I can recommend is to read up on XRP some more, there are plenty of articles, price forecasts that show you its past performance as well, and alike. Then make your decision.