While the improved returns for do-nothing investors don't sound like much, over time they can significantly boost your nest egg. You could improve your performance by 1 percentage point by adopting a static, low-cost portfolio and putting your contributions on autopilot.

Let's say you started out with $50,000, were earning a 6 percent return and contributing $500 a month. Your nest egg would hit $1 million by 2050. What if you boosted your return to 7 percent? You'd hit seven figures three years sooner. Of course, you'd do even better if you lowered fund expenses and saved more.

There's a fly in the ointment, though: To reap the higher returns, you may have to short-circuit your own brain and stop trying to guess whether the market is too high or too low. You'll need to adopt a "dollar-cost averaging" strategy that invests equal amounts every month.

That way, you're buying at a broad range of market prices and getting lower prices (and more shares) when the market dips. You can do this with any stock, mutual fund or retirement account.

This may sound counterintuitive, but if you keep your long-term investing cheap and simple, you'll be a lot richer down the road. Less is more when it comes to achieving better returns.

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Here are 3 ways to close the investment timing gap - CNBC.com - CNBC