Each spring, we hear echoes of a favorite line among many market watchers: the months of May through October have proved the worst of all in terms of return for U.S. investors, so better to watch out. Perhaps even cut and run. Among other such compartmentalizations of historical returns, the goal presumably is to show that there are ways to profitably time exposure to the market. Let it be known that we’ve yet to see such a review consistent enough to warrant a drift from our long-term approach to investing.

• It’s true that the months of May through October seem to have been less favorable from a total return standpoint over the years
• The return is still positive, however, just less so than during other months of the year
• The upshot is that remaining invested throughout the year still has proved a more fruitful strategy than attempting to time market moves
• And that’s before one considers the generally strongly more positive tax implications of a long-term-oriented approach