When I first saw someone update a brokerage app over dinner in 2020, the world had just taken a strange turn. His thumb would twitch every few minutes while he kept his phone face-up by the bread basket. The figures were in red. He placed another wine order. He didn’t eat much. Even back then, I recall thinking that this could not possibly be a healthy way of living, but after six years, it has almost returned to normal. Nowadays, a whole generation of investors views market news in the same way that previous generations did the weather, with the exception that selling at a loss is rarely caused by bad weather.
Observing the current cycle, it seems as though the news has turned into an asset class. Sunday nights see the arrival of tariffs. By Tuesday, currencies decline. You are expected to have an opinion by Friday, when a new round of commentary has already declared the system either finished or fixed. It’s difficult to ignore how draining this is and how little it actually alters what a prudent person ought to do with their money.
| Topic | Managing personal finance media consumption during volatile markets |
| Most Common Symptom | Doomscrolling and emotional investing |
| Recommended Daily News Intake | Once or twice, not fifteen times |
| Most Recommended Mindset | Long-term, diversified, passive index investing |
| Core Risk to Avoid | Panic selling during a downturn |
| Useful Grounding Technique | The 3-3-3 anxiety rule |
| When to Call a Professional | When the news affects your sleep |
| Time Horizon That Matters | 5–30 years, not 5 minutes |
Despite their different accents, the advisors I’ve spoken to over the years tend to say the same thing. Continue to be diverse. Hold onto some cash. Recognize your time horizon. It may be the point that none of it sounds revolutionary. Financial planner Lazetta Rainey Braxton, whom I’ve previously quoted, calls it a “cushion account“—a dull term for the most crucial account most people don’t have. When your rent isn’t at stake, the headlines cease to be personal, so the cushion is what allows you to ignore them.
It’s more difficult than it seems to reorganize your news consumption. The 24-hour cycle is designed to make you nervous because a ticker that is bleeding red outperforms a chart of forty-year returns, and fear sells better than calm. The ability to close a tab in a browser may be the most underappreciated financial skill of this decade. In the morning, read once. Perhaps once more before going to bed. In between, fight the urge. You are not required to oversee the market.
Treating financial news like you would a small-town newspaper—as a helpful update rather than an emergency broadcast—has a subtly radical quality. The most knowledgeable investors were rarely the Bogles, the dull index buyers, or the investors who have performed the best over extended periods of time. They had the ability to remain motionless. It’s difficult not to feel that whoever can put down the phone first has the real advantage as you watch the current chaos unfold, with currencies declining, pundits yelling, and friends questioning whether they should pull everything out.
The markets will continue to move. They have consistently done so. When you stop mistaking motion for meaning, you have a healthier relationship that is worth practicing.