Time In The Market Beats Timing The Market

Why time in the market usually beats trying to time the market

Disclaimer: The material in this article is purely educational and should not be taken as professional investment advice. Invest at your own discretion. Some external links in this post are affiliated.

What Does Time In The Market Mean?

Time in the market is a strategy where the investor or trader doesn’t try to guess when the market will be at its highest and lowest points to buy in but instead the investor buys the market with the belief that the timing might not be perfect and that eventually his/her investment will go up and the fundamentals matter more than the timing. Time in the market is a buy and hold strategy contrary to timing the market which is a buy low sell high strategy.

Does Timing The Market Ever Work ?

From many studies and common wisdom, timing the market loses the majority of the time and doesn’t work. Timing buy and sell orders just before prices go up or down is not easy. However there are investors who can and have profited from timing the market. Also, proponents maintain that successfully forecasting the ups and downs of the market can result in higher returns than other strategies, however the changes in a market trend can appear quickly…