![time in the market beats timing the market time in the market beats timing the market](http://www.befreeandwealthy.com/content/images/2020/01/Screen-Shot-2020-01-09-at-8.20.56-AM.png)
For example, a hypothetical investment in the S&P 500® Index on 1 January 1999 would have grown nearly 6x by 31 December 2021 (not including any applicable fees, taxes or costs). The old adage, its not about timing the market, but about time in the market, has been proven true over the years. The reality is, timing the market rarely works, and more often it comes at a high cost to investors. Past performance does not predict future returns. No representation is made that hypothetical returns would be similar to actual performance. Note: Hypothetical performance shown here is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual performance of any client account. It has been adjusted to show the impact on overall performance if that investment was taken out of the market after significant periods of volatility, thereby missing the subsequent market rebounds. This shows the hypothetical return of a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 Total Return Index between 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2021, not including taxes, fees or costs. Equity markets can get volatile in the short term, but over the long term they tend to. While of course it’s important to consider current risks and, if necessary, make portfolio adjustments, we believe it’s important to first stop, take a step back and pause before making potential changes out of emotion or fear of loss. Its important to understand that trying to time the market seldom works. Unfortunately, the reality is that the machinations of the market are usually diametrically opposed to our emotional intuition and our instinctive reactions to market swings can often be the opposite of what’s in the best interest of long-term returns. The other investor was not so lucky and actually picked the worst day (market high) each. At the very least, investors often feel the need to do something – anything at all – in response to drastic market losses and, at the very worst, instinct tells us that we need to react to large losses by selling and large gains by buying. The average annual return on that investment would have been 9.16.
![time in the market beats timing the market time in the market beats timing the market](http://www.befreeandwealthy.com/content/images/2020/01/Screen-Shot-2020-01-09-at-8.20.48-AM.png)
#Time in the market beats timing the market professional
Timing the market is a strategy by both professional investors and amateur stock-pickers. But constant repetition doesn’t make it any less relevant today. It’s a common investment adage, sometimes described as the golden rule of investing.
![time in the market beats timing the market time in the market beats timing the market](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lqjNruYYn0w/maxresdefault.jpg)
When emotions are high and portfolio returns are in the red, it is very easy for that fear and panic to lead investors to make drastic decisions about their investments. Time in the market beats timing the market. not buying at the top before a huge market crash or. When this fear is added to the existing challenges of rising rates and high inflation, it quite logically leads to questions about the implications for investment portfolios. By investing over time, investors are basically diversifying the timing risk in regards to the market i.e. As with most major geopolitical events, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has caused fear to sweep across global markets since it began in late February.