We all know a watched pot never boils and the same can be true of your investments. Having 24-hour access to your accounts is a great thing but it can bring with it the temptation to look at them all the time. This temptation could become particularly hard to resist when you receive a notification from your platform provider. However, stay strong! We are in an in an era of increasingly tech-driven communication and most of these messages will be automatically generated transaction notifications (sent quarterly). As such you won’t need to look at them, they will be securely stored, and – we don’t often say this – they can safely be deleted from your email inbox.

Markets are in a constant state of flux. Among many factors, world events have an effect but even on a normal trading day it’s a moveable feast. So, the more you look at an investment, the less likely you are to see it do well!

As an example, the daily price of the global equity market has increased by 600% since 1990. But if you had watched the market every day over the same period you would have seen it negative for nearly half (46%) of the time! You probably don’t need us to tell you what this can do to how you feel about your investments – it leaves the door open to an emotional response. Imagine selling early only to watch the price move upwards again; that way madness lies! Despite the easy access to your accounts online we would encourage you to look at the long-term and check your investments less frequently. You will see better returns more often and will feel happier about your investment journey.