Bar, Yes, staying the course has been the best approach by far over the long term.
Trying to time the market requires too many decisions (when to get in, when to get out), which each have to be correct. With buy/hold forever, there are no timing decisions to go wrong, and if one uses the S+P 500, no stock or sector decisions either. So logic says get in / stay in, and forget about it.
An MIT guy once said -- “The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment”.
So what investors really need is a foolproof way (the dog) to keep us away from the 'sell' button :o)
---
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
