As it gets closer to the end of 2026, it looks like the market has a fair chance of scoring another year of double-digit gains. Anything can happen over the next five months, but year to date, the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.06%) is up 13.4%. If it remains steady or rises further, it will be the fourth consecutive year with a double-digit gain.

Bull markets tend to last for a long time, but they can't go on forever. There are signs that the market is looking frothy today as artificial intelligence (AI) stocks drive it higher, but there are already some cracks. Memory has been the major AI trend this year, but the three top memory stocks, Sandisk, Micron Technology, and SK Hynix, are all down year to date.

Data by YCharts.

Does that mean the AI is already starting to pop? If so, it's being held up by some of the market's favorite safe stocks, including Warren Buffett-favored stocks like Coca-Cola and Apple, which continue to rise.

If AI stocks continue to fizzle and eventually lead to a market rout, history has good news for investors: It's always rebounded from previous crashes and gone on to new records. To make the most of it, the single most important thing to do is to keep investing.

The counterintuitive move to generate wealth

It might seem like the right move to pull your money out of the market if it crashes, but that would be exactly the wrong thing to do. Selling when the market is down reduces your total gain and removes your exposure to the recovery. It's called panic-selling, and panic isn't usually a successful tactic.

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It may take some courage to watch your investments plunge without taking them out, but selling when the market is down just turns your unrealized losses into real losses. Investing at the bottom may also seem counterintuitive, but that gives you access to the best deals and the highest potential for gains.

Since no one knows what the highs and lows will be, the best investing method is to invest at all times, consistently. Consider that the S&P 500 has delivered an annualized gain of 10.9% since 1990. That includes all of the dips, corrections, and crashes since then, including a 37% loss in 2008. If you had sold your stock that year, you'd have missed out on the 931% gain since then.

Not only that, but the past 10 years, again inclusive of corrections and crashes, have seen a remarkable bull market, with annualized S&P 500 gains of 15.4%.

Data by YCharts.

If you don't want to miss out on life-changing, market-generated wealth, stay in the market and keep investing.