Why time can be an investor's greatest ally

What's the biggest advantage an investor can have? Many people assume it's knowing exactly when to buy and sell.

In reality, it's often something much simpler: time.

Markets will always rise and fall in response to economic news, company results and world events. While these movements can seem dramatic, they're a normal part of investing.

Giving investments time to grow can help investors look beyond short-term market movements and focus on their longer-term goals.

1. Volatility isn’t just risk - it’s movement

Warren Buffett famously advised that investors should “be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”, a reminder that maintaining perspective in turbulent times can help uncover opportunity.

Over the past 150 years, there have been many market ‘crashes’. While unsettling, they’ve often given disciplined investors a chance to buy into quality companies at attractive prices and to benefit when confidence returns.

You don't have to get the timing perfect

It's natural to wonder whether now is the "right" time to invest.

If markets are rising, you might worry you've missed your chance. If they're falling, you might wonder whether they'll fall further.

The challenge is that no one knows with certainty what markets will do next. Even professional investors find it difficult to consistently predict short-term movements.

Rather than trying to buy at the perfect moment, many investors choose to focus on time in the market rather than timing the market.

The power of investing regularly

One way many investors take a long-term approach is by investing regularly.

Instead of worrying about when to invest, regular investing allows you to build your investments gradually over years. Some months you'll buy when prices are higher, and other months when they're lower.

Over time, this disciplined approach can help remove some of the emotion from investing and make it easier to stay focused on your long-term goals.

Looking at the bigger picture

The chart below compares investing £1,000 at the start of each tax year between 1999 and 2025 with keeping the same amount in an average Cash ISA.

Over that period, investing a total of £27,000 in the IA Global sector would have grown to around £92,349, compared with around £36,290 in an average Cash ISA. 

Past performance isn't a guide to future returns, and future outcomes will be different. However, it illustrates how different approaches can produce very different results over the long term.

A valuable habit you've already developed

If you've participated in a Sharesave scheme, you've already demonstrated one of the qualities many successful investors share: consistency.

Saving regularly over several years requires patience and discipline. Investing draws on many of those same habits. Rather than focusing on short-term market movements, it's about taking a longer-term view and allowing time to do some of the hard work.

Markets will continue to rise and fall, and investments can go down as well as up. But for many investors, time can be one of the most valuable tools they have.