What a Couple of Days Away From the Stock Market Can Teach You
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(This article originally appeared on The DIV-Net) I have recently completely relocated my family from our comfortable lives in Canada to a much different life in Norway. My company has moved me and so far it has been the experience of our lives. Many new sites, things to do, and cultural experiences to learn from. Like any move, whether it is down the street or to a completely different continent 1000’s of kilometers away, there are always issues that come up. One such issue has been the set up of our internet service and keeping a secure connection
Norway is a very technically advanced country. In many ways I believe they are many years ahead. Banking is a good example. The entire banking system here is a seemless well oiled machine. There is absolutely no paper involved and things just work. However, my internet connection has not been as reliable, primarily because of some faulty setup of our modem. Completely at random, we continue to lose the connection to the internet and my blogging activities and ways to be connected with home disappeared – we use VoIP as our phone which means that when the internet is down so is our phone. However, as I was reflecting on the post I needed to write for this blog as the deadline was looming, one thing occurred to me - it was actually nice not to have to look at the market or even think about investing for a couple of days! And you know what, nothing happened while being disconnected and my stocks ebbed and flowed as they always do.
The lesson for me in all of this, is that it is ok not to watch the market all the time and worry about how your positions are doing, especially if you are a long-term investor. Stocks are going to go up and down. Your portfolio is going to go up and down. If your portfolio is well structured and you have a balanced asset allocation, then things will turn out just fine. Overactivity can actually be an investor’s downfall – fees, emotional reactions etc. Disconnect yourself for a while and you will see!
Now I am going to go pick the kids up from school and take them to the beach to enjoy the sun.
4 Comments on this post
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MultifolDreamS said:
I use to check the market daily, but some experiments show that long term investors who monitor their stock positions only few times a year outperform those following it daily. Simply they can’t take so often impulsive decisions …
August 28th, 2008 at 9:09 pm -
Nurseb911 said:
I can totally relate to where you’re coming from!
Having spent most of the month away from the markets completely in various activities I was surprised at how infrequently thoughts of the markets crept into my head. Even now that I’m back in the swing of work I find that I enjoy those moments of disconnect that help you, as a long-term investor, put your strategy to work with near complete confidence.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
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