Poor decision making?

February 2019- In this day of easy internet access to virtually everything, investor surveys continue to reveal that the more time investors spend checking their portfolios, the less likely they are to keep to their plans. Loss aversion (the fact that we dislike losing money more than we like making it) is exacerbated by regularly checking our portfolios, which too frequently then affects our risk tolerance. Periods of volatility often increases our risk aversion, which then compels us to make poor decisions and sell investments at the worst time. Studies show that the more frequently people trade, the less they actually earn in the long run. Just because you can check your portfolio more easily and often doesn’t mean you need to do so. Remember your goals and don’t agonize about short term market volatility.