Don't try to time the market; it's time in the market that matters over the longer term.

Why timing the markets usually doesn't work

If you’d fallen asleep on 1 January 2004 and woken up on 31 December 2023, here’s what you’d have missed:

- Multiple wars and invasions

- A global banking crisis that almost collapsed the financial system

- A reality TV star as US president

- Skyrocketing inflation and interest rates

- A global pandemic that locked us in our homes for months

You’d probably wake up and think, “Blimey! The markets must have been obliterated.”

But you’d be wrong.

Despite all that chaos, the global market delivered a 9.7% annual return over 20 years.

And not only that but:

- If you’d missed the 10 best days in those 20 years, your return would have dropped to 5.5% annual return per year.

- Miss the 30 best days? Down to 0.7% annual return per year.

- Miss the 60 best days? Now you’re at -4.3%.

All it takes is missing 60 good days in 20 years to end up in the red.

The lesson here is to stay invested, stay calm and trust the process.

This is where a really good financial adviser shines!

Vanguard estimates that working with an adviser can add over 3% per year to your returns versus DIYing it.

And here’s why:

👉 Advisers keep you calm when the market isn’t.

👉 They remind you to focus on the long term, not the headlines.

👉 They help you ride the waves instead of panicking and jumping ship.

Markets will always fluctuate, but your success depends on riding the waves—not running from them.

Past performance is never a guide to future performance. All investments go up and down. Investing does carry an initial capital invested loss risk