A message popped up in the parents’ WhatsApp group for our kids’ school last week. To celebrate the 100th birthday of David Attenborough, the children would be planting seeds in the flower beds and learning about life cycles, growth and how things change over time.

It got me thinking about investing because, at its core, investing is really just about one thing: time.

For most of us, David Attenborough feels like he’s always been there. Yet I imagine if you asked him, he’d probably tell you it’s all passed in the blink of an eye.

There’s actually a scientific reason for that. Our brains build what are known as neural pathways – essentially mental shortcuts formed through repetition and habit. The more familiar life becomes, the less ‘new’ information the brain has to process and the faster time appears to move. It’s why childhood summers felt endless, yet years in adulthood seem to disappear overnight.

Unless, of course, you’re watching your football team cling onto a one-goal lead in stoppage time. After our five-a-side game last week, we watched the Arsenal match. Those final minutes of added time felt like they lasted an entire evening. It shows just how much emotion can change how we perceive things.

This emotional dimension matters for investors, because history shows us the biggest threat during volatility isn’t the market movement itself. It’s the emotional urgency to do something, when being patient, staying invested and focusing on the long term is generally a much wiser response.

To illustrate this point, our chart this week highlights how historically the S&P 500 has recovered following falls of more than 10%. After the most serious crises, the recovery process takes time – 1,166 trading days after the Dot-Com crash, for example.

Every crisis is different though, of course, so the time the market takes to recover varies dramatically. After last year’s ‘tariff tantrum’ the bounce back took 55 trading days. And from the sharp falls triggered earlier in the current Iran conflict it took 11 trading days for the S&P 500 to recover (after a 9.1% drop), according to our chart.

The crucial message though is history shows us that stock markets have always bounced back from these setbacks.

The rapid market rebound from the falls triggered by the Iran conflict also underlines just how quickly markets can move today. Information travels globally in seconds. Trading is increasingly automated and machine-driven. And with artificial intelligence accelerating decision-making even further, market reactions are becoming faster and sharper than ever before.

This is also why trying to time markets – seeking to sell out to avoid falls and buy back to capture gains – has never been more difficult. The strongest recovery days often happen when uncertainty still feels highest. Miss just a handful of them, and long-term returns can look very different.

That’s why we so often remind clients that investing success is usually less about ‘timing the market’ and more about ‘time in the market’, by which we mean:

• Invest early.
• Invest consistently.
• Think long term.

Because the reality is many people today will live far longer than previous generations because of huge advances in healthcare, better nutrition and greater awareness of the value of health, fitness and wellbeing.

Key takeaway

The chances are that retirement may last far longer than many people imagine. Which brings us back to David Attenborough – someone who officially reached retirement age decades ago, yet continues to spend his time doing meaningful work, exploring the world and sharing knowledge with millions.

And perhaps that’s what investing is really about. Not simply accumulating wealth. But creating the freedom to spend more time doing the things that matter most.

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This article is provided for general information purposes only and should not be construed as personal financial advice to invest in any fund or product. These are the investment manager’s views at the time of writing and should not be construed as investment advice. The opinions expressed are correct at time of writing and may be subject to change. Capital is at risk. The value and income from investments can go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. An investor may get back significantly less than they invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future performance and should not be the sole factor considered when selecting funds.