Time, not timing, is what matters.

When it comes to investing in the market, we believe, it is not the market, but rather time in the market that truly matters. So many investors spend time trying to "guess" what the market is going to do. But any way you slice it, in our experience, timing the market just doesn't work.

Rather, it is our belief that investors who have stayed the course through the long haul - even through periods of declining stock prices - are in a much better place when all is said and done.

For some, this may be extremely difficult to do - especially during times when it appears that the market is in a state of decline. Nobody likes to sit and watch their money "disappear". So it can be tough to stay the course.

But even though selling when there is a sudden downward movement in the market may limit your short-term losses, you may also miss out on an upward swing in the market. According to Market Analysis, Research and Education (MARE) group, a unit of Fidelity Management & Research Co., the investors who sold and remained out of the market (S&P 500 Index) after it fell by 20 percent on October 19, 1987, would have missed out on the 15 percent climb over the following two days.

Likewise, an investor who sold after eight down days in the fall of 2008 would have missed out of the 6th largest one-day gain ever on October 11, when the S&P rose by 12 percent, also stated by MARE. This, too, highlights the importance of investing for the long-term, and not getting caught up in the "hype" of short-term market movements.

All indices are unmanaged and investors cannot actually invest directly into an index. Unlike investments, indices do not incur management fees, charges or expenses. Past performance does not guarantee future results.The S&P 500 Index is a broad-based measurement of changes in the stock market conditions based on the average performance of 500 widely held common stocks.