Knowing the latest stock market movers and shakers makes you sound brilliant when you’re chatting around the water cooler. But knowing too much about what’s going on in the markets could negatively impact your portfolio’s growth potential. When an event is fresh in your mind—like a stock market dip—you’re nervous that it’s going to happen again. And that could convince you to change your investment strategy to be more conservative.
If you’re investing for the long term, like for retirement, resist the urge to get too caught up in what’s happening in the financial world every moment. Sure, it can benefit you to keep up with investing trends. But be wary of making decisions because you got fired up over something you saw on a news broadcast. You probably don’t need to make any quick changes to your portfolio.