Why Time in the Market Beats Timing the Market — Every Time
- Silivere Bakomeza
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
There’s a reason Warren Buffett said his favorite holding period is “forever.”
Because the longer you’re in the game — the harder you are to beat.
But most people don’t get that. They try to outsmart the market. Predict tops. Catch bottoms. Jump in and out based on fear, hype, and headlines.
And then they wonder why they’re still broke 10 years later.
Let me show you the truth that changed my life — and why time in the market is how real wealth is built.
The Trap Most People Fall Into
Timing the market feels smart.
It feels like control. Like strategy. Like you’re “in the know.”
But here’s the catch:
You only need to miss a handful of the best days in the market… to destroy decades of progress.
Just missing the 10 best days in the S&P 500 over a 20-year period would cut your returns in half.
And guess when the best days usually come?
Right after the worst ones.
That’s why so many people sell at the bottom… and miss the run.
They get out when it feels scary.
They miss the recovery when it comes silently.
My Own Journey: From Market Dabbler to Long-Term Builder
Before I started BakoInvest.com, I used to chase.
Chase hot tips.
Chase cheap stocks.
Chase “the next Bitcoin.”
But it wasn’t until I made one change — one tiny shift — that everything clicked:
👉 I committed to investing $50/day into MicroStrategy (MSTR) every single market day, for the next 20 years.
No guessing. No timing. No emotions.
I call it the $50/Day System. And it changed the way I think about wealth.
Because suddenly I wasn’t playing for next week anymore. I was playing for 2045.
Timing Feels Good — Until It Doesn’t
When you try to time the market…
You second-guess every dip
You chase every pump
You let headlines control your emotions
You turn investing into gambling
And worst of all?
You miss compound interest doing its quiet work.
You don’t build wealth by trading perfection.
You build it by giving time enough time to work.
The Math Doesn’t Lie
Let’s say you invested $1,000 into the S&P 500 in 2000 and held it through 2020.
Final value: ~$3,597
Miss the 10 best days? Value drops to ~$1,772
Miss the 20 best days? ~$1,099
It gets worse the longer you’re out.
Meanwhile…
If you had just stayed invested and done nothing, you would’ve nearly quadrupled your money.
My MSTR Strategy: A Real-Time Case Study
Here’s where I stand as of Week 7:
✅ 8.519 MSTR shares held
✅ $3,207 invested
✅ Average cost: $375.60
✅ 7 straight weeks of discipline
✅ 0 viral posts
✅ 100% belief in the long game
I don’t time dips.
I don’t sell rips.
I just buy every market day — because I believe in what I own.
And the results speak for themselves.
Why Most People Still Don’t Get It
The reason most people don’t follow this?
It’s boring.
Boring doesn’t go viral.
Boring doesn’t feel like winning in the moment.
But boring gets rich.
Boring owns assets that 100x in silence.
Boring outlasts noise, crashes, and clickbait.
Time in the market feels boring — until you look up and realize you’ve built something unshakable.
What If You Miss the “Perfect” Entry?
Let me say this as clearly as I can:
Perfect timing is a myth.
Even if you bought the top in 2007 before the financial crisis — and held through the pain — you’d still have doubled or tripled your money by now.
And if you DCA’d all the way down?
You’d be crushing it.
Wealth doesn’t come from buying bottoms.
It comes from staying invested through chaos.
Tools That Make It Easy to Stay in the Market
Here’s how I automate and stay consistent — all links below support my blog and are tools I personally use:
✅ Robinhood — Easiest way to automate $50/day into MSTR
✅ Webull — Great for tracking BTC/MSTR/SPY over time
✅ Coinbase — Clean UI for buying and holding BTC
✅ Crypto.com — Good for long-term holders and Visa cashback
✅ Acorns — Invest your spare change automatically
No emotion. No timing. Just systems.
What I Tell Every Beginner
If you’re new to investing, start with this mindset:
Pick a vehicle you believe in (like MSTR, BTC, SPY)
Create a daily/weekly investing habit
Ignore the noise
Let time do the work
You don’t need a perfect strategy.
You need one you won’t quit on.
A Message to the Person Still Trying to Time the Market
If you’re reading this and thinking:
“But what if the market crashes tomorrow?”
Good.
That’s the test.
Buy anyway.
Because if you only invest when it’s comfortable, you’ll never get the best rewards.
The best buying days always feel scary.
And the best wealth stories are written by people who did it anyway.
Why I’m Betting 20 Years on This System
I didn’t start this blog to get rich quick.
I started it to prove something deeper:
That discipline wins over dopamine
That conviction is louder than hype
That you can build wealth from nothing, in public, with full transparency
This is what it looks like before the world believes you.
And when they finally do?
It’s because you stayed in the game when others quit.
Recap: Why Time in the Market Wins
✅ You can’t predict the best days — but you can make sure you’re there
✅ Compound growth needs uninterrupted time
✅ Crashes are temporary — discipline is forever
✅ DCA > Timing. Every time.
Time multiplies everything — if you let it.
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Join the Long Game Before It’s Obvious
If this post hit home…
🧠 Subscribe to the blog: BakoInvest.com
📺 Watch my journey on YouTube: BakoInvest on YouTube
📬 Reach out anytime: bakoinvest@gmail.com
Legacy is built with time — not timing.
Let’s build it together.