“The best time to invest is when you have the money”

“The best time to invest is when you have the money” is a saying often credited to Sir John Templeton (1912-2008), an American-born British stock investor. “The time to invest is when you have the money to invest,” however, is cited in print to 1927. There appears to be a large gap, with the saying either re-invented or re-popularized in the 1990s.
 
   
Wikipedia: John Templeton
Sir John Templeton (November 29, 1912 – July 8, 2008) was an American-born British stock investor, businessman and philanthropist..
   
3 November 1927, Los Angeles (CA) Times. “Prices Confuse Investors” by Earle E. Crowe, pg. 10:   
“The time to invest is when you have the money to invest.”
   
Google Books
Investing for a business man; twelve investment plans selected from articles submitted in competition for prizes offered by Barron’s, the national financial weekly for the best answers to the question: “How would you invest $100,000 for a successful middle-aged business man whose earnings are ample for his present needs?” Together with five criticisms of the three leading plans and an analysis of the securities, generally regarded by all the competitors, as best suited for the business man’s fund.
By Barron’s national business and financial weekly.
Boston, MA: Barron’s, the national financial weekly
1928
Pg. 143:
True, “the time to invest money is when you have the money to invest.”
     
Google Books
Jordan on Investments
Third edition
By David Francis Jordan
New York, NY: Prentice-Hall
1934
Pg. 250:
The theory that “the time to invest is when you have the money” appears to have originated with investment dealers rather than with investors.
   
Google News Archive
25 February 1993, The News (Boca Raton, FL), “Basic words of advice for beginning investors,” advertising supplement, pg. 6:
. Market timing: Even the pros usually can’t pick market tops and bottoms, yet many beginning investors think they need to sit on the sidelines and wait for the right time to invest. The best time to invest is when you have the money.
     
1 March 1993, Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), “Tips on Small-Company Investing” by Jane Hoback:
“The time to invest is when you have the money,” says Berger Associates founder Bill Berger.
 
Google Books
Generation of Wealth:
Time-tested rules for worry-free investing
By Julius Westheimer
Baltimore, MD: Bancroft Press
1997
Pg. 9:
Don’t be a “market timer.” The best time to invest is when you have the money.
   
Google Books
The Wall Street Journal Book of International Investing:
Everything you need to know about investing in foreign markets
By John A. Prestbo and Douglas Sease
New York, NY: Hyperion
1997
Pg. 24:
His stock answer (you should pardon the pun): “The best time to invest is when you have the money.”
       
7 March 1998, Marysville (OH) Journal-Tribune, pg. 8, col. 1:
The best time to invest is when you have the money available and when you have financial goals that need to be met.
 
Google Books 
Comfort Zone Investing:
Build wealth and sleep well at night
By Ted Allrich
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
2007
Pg. xi:
The best time to invest is when you have money.
— Sir John Templeton, founder, Templeton Funds
 
Doesn’t help much, does it? You probably already knew that.
 
Motley Fool - msnbc.com
You Missed the Best Day to Buy
But you still haven’t missed your chance.
By Rex Moore
updated 2:00 a.m. CT, Wed., July 8, 2009
(...)
Consider John Templeton, founder of Templeton Growth Fund and widely regarded as one of the best investors of his generation. His advice about getting into the market is simple: “The best time to invest is when you have money. This is because history suggests it is not timing which matters, it is time.”