In the long-run, does consistent market timing really matter to be a successful investor?Indeed, even among those investors who don't try to consistently time the markets, many think they can still call a top and act opportunistically. It's at these times when an investor who speculates often sits on the sidelines and looks for better opportunities to put money into the market.Individual investors who focus their efforts on timing the market typically miss chances. For example, many investors have overlooked chances to benefit from buying the Basic Materials stocks at the first opportunity, by attempting to buy them during a pullback only to see these stocks accomplish new unsurpassed highs: US Gold Corp (USAU), Sappi Ltd. (SPPJY), Trecora Resources (TREC), Balchem Corporation (BCPC), Arconic Inc. (ARNC)Dread and exuberance regularly propel investors into merely 'reacting' to market volatility, rather than envisioning market trends.Fruitful market timing requires three key parts: 1) A solid sign to guide you when to get in and out of stocks (or securities, gold or different kinds of investments). 2) The capacity to act on the sign accurately. 3) The control to follow up on it.Many investors believe that market timing is a short-term investment strategy. There is a less known, more effective, longer-term market timing approach that has been used successfully by astute investors like Warren Buffet.Rule 1: Attempting to time tops and bottoms is lose-lose situation.Abandoning the objective to time the tops and bottoms conclusively gives you the flexibility to profit, and extends your chance to benefit from the equity markets over the long-term whether your specific market timing calls are right or wrong.Rule 2: Don't sell during minor crashes - instead, have the patience to weather the storm, or even better, milk the opportunity to buy low.Warren Buffett has made his fortune based of this straightforward guideline. He cautions not to sell amid little crashes and to instead endure the temporary hardship and profit by concentrating on the long haul.There is a big difference between a stock market crash and small correction. No matter what happens in the stock market, chances are that the stocks you own will eventually come back to their pre - crash value; hanging on to your original positions, or opportunistically averaging down, during market downs can be the shrew distraction to take. Warren Buffett takes this thought one step further by often buying outsized positions in value stocks he likes across the board when markets turn, essentially leveraging his bottoms-up analysis and stock picking acumen.A Risk Adjusted Trading Strategy Should be Followed for Your Retirement AssetsIt's just human that many surrender to emotions and attempt and game the framework by timing the market. But consider this: Nobel Laureate William Sharpe found in 1975 that a market timer would have to be accurate 74% of the time to beat a passive portfolio. Even a slight outperformance probably wouldn't be worth the energy - and given that even the experts generally fail at it, market timing shouldn't be your exclusive investing strategy of choice, especially using assets earmarked for your retirement.Actively trading for alpha, outsized, short - term gains through market timing and other high - risk trading strategies is fine with a small portion of your investable assets, but for your longer - term retirement assets, a "risk -adjusted focused" investment solution generally makes more sense.If you'd like to learn how to 'super-charge' your retirement assets, get our free report:Will You Retire as a Multi-Millionaire? 7 Things You Can Do Now.This report can help you maximize your retirement nest-egg without the high risk of attempting to successfully time the markets. Click here for free report>> US Gold Corp (USAU): Free Stock Analysis Report Balchem Corporation (BCPC): Free Stock Analysis Report Sappi Ltd. (SPPJY): Free Stock Analysis Report Trecora Resources (TREC): Free Stock Analysis Report Arconic Inc. (ARNC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research