3 Reasons I’ve Been Ignoring My Wallet Lately | Smart Change: Personal Finance

The last time I checked in, my investment was down about 30% since the beginning of the year. That was a few weeks ago.

In fact I haven’t looked at my portfolio since the beginning of June. I intend to continue to ignore them for these reasons.

Years ago, I had a bad haircut that I wasn’t really happy with. Instead of torturing myself by looking in the mirror every few minutes for the following days, I instead slapped a hat over my head and went about my business.

I take a similar approach to the current market pullback. Since I am well aware that my business is disrupted, looking at my balance daily or weekly is not going to do much to my mental health other than possibly making it worse. Instead of putting myself in a situation where I might get so upset or panicked that I’m driven to sell shares at a loss, I’d rather stay out of my portfolio for now.

The only exception to this rule is if I choose to add stocks to my investment mix. Because stocks are down, this is a great time to buy, so I might log in occasionally to buy stocks of companies I follow. But other than that, I’ll stay logged out.

A lower portfolio is a major problem for anyone who needs to liquidate investments to cover living expenses. Some retirees, for example, might be in this boat if they are currently pulling out of a heavy stock 401(k) or IRA.

But I have no plans to sell any of my shares anytime soon. I’m not retired, and I have plenty of emergency cash on hand, so if extra cash is needed, I’ll look at my savings first. As such, I don’t feel the need to keep track of my work.

Before you buy shares in a particular stock, it is important to determine how that investment relates to your overall strategy. And to do this, you need to have a good idea of ​​what your current holdings will look like. This will help ensure that any stock you add gives your portfolio a great deal of diversification.

But I am well aware of the stocks I own at the moment, and I know which investments are right for me and which are not right at the moment. So I don’t feel the need to keep looking at my work – and seeing those pesky losses on screen.

Downturns in the stock market are fairly common and nothing new – but that doesn’t necessarily make them easy to deal with. While I’m not overly concerned about the state of my wallet, I also know that checking it is not a good use of my time or mental energy at the moment. That is why I ignore it as much as possible.

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