We began our investment journey in early 2020 after reading Andrew Tobias’ book The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need. Things were looking up. The stock market was soaring. Life was completely normal. You could sneeze at a restaurant and everyone would say “bless you.” The best investment advice we knew about had to do with buying mutual funds and holding onto them. It’s great advice. But we quickly learned it’s not the best.

When I say we started investing in early 2020, I mean very early on in the year. It was pre-pandemic beginning. I was at work one day and saw a man run out of the office right before my lunch break. I spotted him outside on the phone with a wife or a broker. He was telling them it was time to sell everything.

People were panicking all around me in this pre-work from home office environment. Older colleagues were discussing how they were going to pull things out of their 401K plans despite not being at the age to do so without penalty. This was the day before I got a message from my boss that we would be working from home going forward and the stock market crashed.

Jenny and I witnessed what everyone with investments was panicking about. In mid-March, just a few weeks after we began our investment journey, we were beginning to lose money. We checked daily because it was such a new thing for us. We didn’t follow the real best investment advice anyone can receive.

The best investment advice you can get is to not check every day

Unless you enjoy bad news on a regular basis, it’s best to not check your investments every single day. Day trading is different. You should probably stay away from that anyway. You’re better off picking NFL scores or rolling dice at a sleazy Atlantic City hotel. The buy and hold strategy is wonderful investment advice and what we intend to continue following. In our first year of investing, we learned exactly why.

We were at a loss for a long time after our initial investment. Then, as the economy improved in 2020, we saw our numbers go up again. It was great! We could see the light at the end of the tunnel called retirement.

Then the rollercoaster called the stock market changed again in 2022. We’re now living through another downturn. This time, more so than before. Inflation has people worried and that’s usually what creates a bear market; panic!

Checking our investments daily is something we’d love to do. People natural love statistics. It’s why baseball is popular in some circles. I constantly keep the live stats page open for websites I write for. We love numbers. We especially love to see them go up. The stock market is different. It goes up only to come down again.

I don’t check the stock market quite as much as I used to. I’ll gander once a week expecting the worst while hoping for a major turnaround. Because we’re boring buy and holders, there’s no need to suffer through the agony of seeing ourselves lose money we should gain back within a few years at the most. The stock market always goes up eventually. To save yourself the days, weeks, months, or even years of feeling the urge to pull everything out, check in occasionally but not too often. Think of the stock market as an in-law you like but wouldn’t want to take a road trip with. You already know which one I’m referring to.

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The book that convinced us to start investing and being more proactive with our money and lives: The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias

The gear we use to make our YouTube videos at the Practically Humans YouTube Channel

• Sony ZVE10 Camera
• Sony Retractable Zoom Lens
• MOVO Shotgun Microphone
• Audio Cable
• Memory Card
• RGB Lights
• Studio Light

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