In the world of investing, I’ve seen way too many folks glued to their screens, obsessively refreshing their brokerage apps like they’re checking Instagram Trust me, I get it When you’ve put your hard-earned money into the market, it’s tempting to monitor every tiny movement. But lemme tell ya something important checking your stocks everyday is a terrible habit that could actually harm your financial future.
As someone who’s been in the investment game for years, I wanna share why constantly checking your portfolio is counterproductive and what you should be doing instead. So put down that phone, take a deep breath, and let’s talk about a better approach to managing your investments
Why You Need to STOP Checking Your Stocks Every Day
Let’s be honest – if you’re wondering whether you should check your stocks everyday, you’re probably already doing it too much. I see this all the time with new investors. The slightest dip in the market sends them into panic mode, ready to sell everything and hide under their bed.
My advice? STOP CHECKING YOUR DAMN STOCKS EVERY DAY.
This isn’t just me being dramatic There are solid reasons why constant portfolio-checking is a recipe for disaster
- It triggers emotional decision-making
- You’ll focus on short-term noise instead of long-term trends
- It creates unnecessary anxiety and stress
- You might make impulsive trades that hurt your returns
- It distracts you from your actual investment strategy
One of the biggest mistakes I see is investors treating their portfolio like it’s a Twitter feed – something that needs constant attention and reaction. This is NOT how successful investing works!
What Happens When You Obsessively Monitor Your Stocks
When the market takes a dip (which it WILL do, repeatedly), your instinct might be to sell and “cut your losses.” This is exactly the wrong move in most cases.
Remember 2009? During the financial crisis, many panic-sellers locked in their losses by getting out of the market. Meanwhile, those who stayed invested eventually recovered and went on to enjoy one of the longest bull markets in history. Selling in 2009 would have cut your losses temporarily… and permanently cut your future gains.
Think about it – the stock market has historically trended upward over the long term, despite regular short-term fluctuations. By checking your stocks everyday and reacting to these fluctuations, you’re setting yourself up to:
- Make emotional rather than rational decisions
- Miss out on the power of compounding over time
- Pay more in transaction fees and potentially taxes
- Experience way more stress than necessary
The Truth About Stock “Experts” and Financial News
Let’s talk about something that drives me absolutely crazy – the so-called “experts” on financial TV and investment websites. These folks make their living by creating drama and urgency around daily market movements.
Notice how they only ever talk about the “sexy” stocks? There’s a reason for that. They’re not trying to make you rich – they’re trying to get ratings and clicks.
Ask yourself this important question: Do these pundits make money when their readers make money? Or do they make money from ratings and clicks? The answer is obvious.
Here are two critical things to remember about stock market “expertise”:
1. The professionals are almost always wrong
This isn’t just my opinion – it’s backed by data. The stock picks of pundits and professional money managers barely ever beat the market benchmark. As William Bernstein, author of The Intelligent Asset Allocator, brilliantly puts it: “There are two kinds of investors, be they large or small: Those who don’t know where the market is headed, and those who don’t know they don’t know.”
2. Daily market news is mostly just noise
If you’re a long-term investor (which you absolutely should be), daily changes in stocks are almost meaningless. I only check my investments once or twice a month, and that’s just to make sure my automation is working properly.
Think about it – very few of your investments will be significantly impacted by a single day’s news. The daily ups and downs are almost entirely noise.
Context Matters More Than Daily Movements
When I used to teach investment classes, I would show students a graph of a rapidly declining stock and ask, “What should I do with my stocks?”
The responses were always split – some would shout “Sell!” while others said “Hold!” and a few brave souls whispered “Buy more.”
But here’s the thing – none of these answers were exactly right without more context.
If a stock like Apple falls significantly, smart investors ask questions like:
- Is the whole market falling, or just this stock?
- Are competitors (like HP, Dell, etc.) experiencing similar drops?
- Has this stock performed this way before? What happened then?
Answering these contextual questions provides much better insight than just reacting to a single day’s movement.
If a stock is falling but competitors are doing fine, it will often bounce back. But if an entire industry is cratering… well, then you might want to take a closer look.
A Better Approach: My Set-It-and-Forget-It System
Instead of constantly checking your stocks, I recommend a system that allows you to take a “set-it-and-forget-it” approach to investing. This is the same strategy recommended by Nobel laureates and legendary investors like Warren Buffett.
My portfolio basically runs on autopilot, with my money automatically going where it needs to go. Here’s how you can do the same in two simple steps:
1. Choose low-cost, diversified index funds
Instead of trying to pick individual “winning” stocks (a losing strategy for most people), invest in funds that give you exposure to the entire market. These index funds provide automatic diversification and typically have lower fees than actively managed funds.
2. Automate your investing
Set up automatic transfers from your bank account to your investment account on a regular schedule (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly). This ensures you’re consistently investing without having to think about it or make emotional decisions.
Automation is seriously one of the easiest ways to ensure you’re investing properly and consistently. It removes the temptation to time the market or react to short-term fluctuations.
How Often Should You Actually Check Your Investments?
So if everyday is too often, what’s the right frequency? For most long-term investors, checking your portfolio once a month is plenty. Some successful investors only review their holdings quarterly or even just twice a year!
The key is to check infrequently enough to avoid emotional reactions to normal market volatility, but regularly enough to:
- Ensure your automation is working correctly
- Rebalance your portfolio if needed (usually 1-2 times per year)
- Make adjustments based on major life changes (not market changes)
Remember, investing should be boring! The most successful investors are typically the ones who make a solid plan and then mostly ignore their investments as they quietly grow over decades.
FAQs About Checking Your Stocks
What are the risks of checking stocks too frequently?
Checking too often leads to emotional investing and impulsive decisions based on short-term market noise. This typically results in worse performance over time and creates unnecessary anxiety and stress in your life.
Can checking my stocks too frequently actually hurt my returns?
Absolutely! Research has consistently shown that investors who trade more frequently tend to earn lower returns than those who follow a buy-and-hold strategy. The more you check, the more likely you are to make emotion-driven trades that hurt your long-term results.
Is it okay to completely ignore my investments for long periods?
While you shouldn’t obsess over your portfolio, completely ignoring it for years isn’t ideal either. A periodic check-in (monthly or quarterly) helps ensure everything is working as expected and gives you a chance to rebalance when needed.
Should new investors check more frequently to learn?
If you’re brand new to investing, it’s natural to be more curious about how things work. Just be careful not to develop bad habits! Maybe check weekly at first to understand how markets behave, but with a commitment to gradually reduce frequency as you gain experience.
My Personal Approach
Personally, I’ve found that the less I look at my investments, the better they perform. Not because ignoring them magically makes them grow faster, but because it prevents me from interfering with a proven long-term strategy.
I set up automatic investments into low-cost index funds, and then I basically forget about them except for a monthly check to make sure everything is running smoothly. This approach has served me well, and it’s consistent with what financial research shows works best.
Starting Your Investment Journey
If you’re just starting out with investments, congrats on taking this important step! The single most important factor for building wealth through investing is simply starting early. And if you think you’re late to the game, don’t worry – the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second best time is today.
Yeah, I know that sounds like something from a fortune cookie, but it’s true!
Remember that successful investing isn’t about picking hot stocks or timing market movements – it’s about consistency, patience, and letting the magic of compound growth work in your favor over many years.
So put down that phone, close that brokerage app, and trust in your long-term strategy. Your future self (and your mental health) will thank you for it!
Bottom Line: Chill Out and Let Your Money Work
The key takeaway here is simple: checking your stocks everyday is a habit you need to break if you want to be a successful investor. Instead, focus on:
- Setting up a solid, automated investment system
- Choosing low-cost, diversified index funds
- Checking in occasionally (monthly or quarterly) to ensure everything’s on track
- Staying focused on your long-term goals rather than short-term market noise
Trust me, your investment returns (and your blood pressure) will benefit from this approach. Now go enjoy your life while your money quietly grows in the background!
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With investing apps, its easier than ever to get instant information on the status of your portfolio. In fact, a new survey by Select and Dynata found that almost half (49%) of investors are checking their investments performance once a day or more.
While its certainly easy to get caught up in the excitement of the stock market, being highly engaged can backfire. In many cases, frequently checking your portfolio can actually be a detriment to your performance. Dan Egan, managing director of behavioral finance and investing at Betterment, calls this habit “high-frequency monitoring.”
“Looking at your portfolio frequently can make you feel like its performing worse than it actually is, and the less likely youll invest correctly for long-term success,” Egan says. Excessive monitoring of short-term returns can lead to knee-jerk reactions and impulsive decision-making that doesnt lend itself to letting your money grow over time.
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How to avoid myopic loss aversion
Research shows that the more frequently investors monitor their portfolio, the riskier they perceive investing to be, says Egan. This is also known as myopic loss aversion: When investors constantly check their investments, they become more sensitive to losses than to gains.
“The more frequently you monitor your portfolio, the more likely you are to see a loss since you last looked,” Egan adds.
Investors are more willing to accept risks if they evaluate their investments less often. Research on myopic loss aversion and stock performance shows that an investor who checks his or her portfolio quarterly instead of daily reduces the chance of seeing a moderate loss (of -2% or more) from 25% to 12%. “And that means he or she is less likely to feel emotional stress and/or change allocation,” Egan says.