I can understand being afraid of the stock market. I'm invested fairly risky, and since I started back in 1998, I've seen two 40%+ hits to my portfolio. The first was somewhat long and drawn out, during the tech bubble burst, 9/11 tragedy, and ensuing recession. I lost about 5.4% in 2000, then another 30% in 2001, and 23% in 2002. It took about 2 1/2 years to gain back those losses.
The second time was in the "Great Recession", where I lost about 42% in 2008. But, this time, I recovered in maybe a year and a half, if that.
But, what about a strategy of investing, a little at a time, into stocks that pay around 3-5% annually in dividends? They usually keep growing the dividends over time. And, while the stock values will rise and fall, they tend to go up over time, as well.
In general, stocks in that range tend to be less volatile than growth stocks that pay very little dividends, like Apple and such. And also less volatile than stocks that pay higher dividends. Of course, there's always the possibility you can lose your shirt. So, just don't put your whole portfolio into them!