Do You Feel Urged to Act? I was listening to episode 421 of the Rational Reminder podcast, and one part of their conversation with Barry Ritholtz really stood out to me. The idea was pretty simple. Financial media, news and social media create an environment of action. There always seems to be something we should be doing. Someone called a stock correctly. Someone found the next great ETF. Someone changed strategies and is outperforming. Markets are falling. Markets are climbing. Interest rates are changing. And then the algorithm keeps feeding us more of it. It creates FOMO. It makes us wonder what everyone else knows that we donāt. Eventually, doing nothing can start to feel like weāre making a mistake. Iām definitely guilty of this. Iām constantly trying to learn more, and Iāve changed my investing style over time as Iāve learned. I see investments doing well and wonder if Iām missing something. I look for that next piece of information that might give me an edge. Iām human. I feel that same pull toward action. But this conversation made me ask myself a really simple question: Does my portfolio actually need me to do anything? Because sometimes that action can actually be detrimental to our long-term results. Thatās also why I try to consume information from a wide range of sources. I donāt think the answer is to stop learning or ignore good financial advice. Even as a DIY investor, having a financial plan and understanding why Iām investing the way I am matters to me. Thereās even some irony in posting this on Blossom. Blossom is an amazing place to learn. But every day weāre also exposed to other peopleās portfolios, returns, stock picks and strategies. Someone is always doing better somewhere. Seeing that doesnāt mean we need to change what weāre doing. When I started investing, I really wasnāt sure where to begin. My investing has certainly evolved since then, and Iāve made mistakes along the way. But the more I learn, the more I keep coming back to some pretty basic things. Starting matters. How much I contribute matters. Having a plan matters. Time matters. And compounding needs time to actually compound. Maybe constantly searching for the next edge can sometimes get in the way of the very thing weāre trying to accomplish. So Iām curious: Do you think the financial information you consume creates FOMO or makes you feel like you need to take action with your portfolio? https://open.spotify.com/episode/4toYGV6MW1hGz8Wn18CkjG?si=rMEHhQo1SQe77smoLw-c9A&utm_source=copy-link
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15 Comments
Mr Financial@mr.financial Ā· 22h
Me acting, means more work. And me acting usually means a worse outcome. So essentially, I work more for less return. Not the kind of action I want to be taking
M @pantomimepotato Ā· 19hEdited
Turns out the secret to being financially successful is being lazy (which Iām very good at).
Catherine @ffcatherine Ā· 21h
I bought & sold & changed my portfolio so many times in the first few years & the only thing that saved me as entering into a bull market so all these mistakes didnāt cost too much (except no one strategy got to compound at first) ā¦ When you first start itās so confusing & everyone is doing better & FOMO is REAL I also realized that when I listened to others & bought stocks or ETFs I didnāt believe in to ādiversifyā I regretted & ended up selling those .. So itās important to slow down, reflect your own beliefs & ignore all the non stop unsolicited advice everyone loves to throw your way although you never asked for it ..,
ETF Go@etf.go Ā· 22h
Great post! š While I take a more active rebalancing approach myself this is a great reminder how running simple portfolios with fewer rebalances can be so powerful. And why the people quietly compounding in the background are often the best people to follow. šš
