I haven’t checked my internet value for 4 months till not too long ago. That wasn’t on function, as a result of usually, since 2012, I test a minimum of thrice per week utilizing Empower’s free app. The one motive I finished was as a result of I might now not log in.
Someday, I used to be all of a sudden locked out of the app. I attempted to log in on my laptop computer as a substitute. Similar outcome. My password, which I hadn’t modified, now not labored. No huge deal, I assumed. I’d simply reset it. Besides each time I went by way of the reset course of, I’d get an e-mail confirming the change, then instantly get a warning that the brand new password didn’t work and that I’d be locked out for twenty-four hours after two extra makes an attempt. After 5 rounds of this circus over a month, I gave up.
Though I appreciated the seriousness of Empower’s safety, I used to be pissed off. Life was busy. Summer time rolled round. I took the household to Honolulu for 5 weeks. As soon as faculty began for my youngsters on August 27, I lastly determined it was time to name the helpline (1-877-216-4014, for anybody who finds themselves in my footwear).
After a 7-minute name, I used to be again in motion. The help rep defined that Empower had migrated dashboards to a brand new system, and a few accounts like mine bought caught in a loop. All I needed to do was unregister, then re-register with my current Social Safety quantity and zip code, and voilà—I used to be again in with all my current linked accounts.
Didn’t Have A Nice Urge To Verify My Web Value
What stunned me most wasn’t that it took 4 months to repair. It was that I didn’t really feel a powerful urge to repair it instantly. If I actually wished to, I might have known as the helpline instantly.
It’s not like my internet value was going to fade simply because I wasn’t taking a look at it. I knew the tough numbers in my head already—my fairness publicity, my bond allocation, my actual property worth, and so forth. Plus, when the market was tanking in April 2025, I wasn’t itching to see the injury anyway. Typically, not trying is one of the best ways to remain calm.
It jogged my memory of social media: the much less time you spend scrolling X, Instagram, or Fb, the happier you are typically. Checking your internet value too typically might be the identical kind of psychological junk meals, so I experimented with staying away. Except you obtain a big monetary windfall, your internet value is not altering a lot from everyday.
That stated, the four-plus months off taught me one thing precious. There are actual advantages to not commonly checking your internet value.
The 5 Advantages Of Not Checking Your Web Value Commonly
Listed below are 5 that stood out most.
1. Decrease Stress And Anxiousness
When markets are down, gazing your internet value each day is like poking at a bruise, it solely makes the ache worse.
In March and April, the S&P 500 dropped sharply, and bonds weren’t serving to a lot both. Had I been logging in each morning, I might have watched lots of of 1000’s in paper losses pile up. As an alternative, by not logging in, I prevented the day-to-day sting.
It’s like weighing your self every single day while you’re making an attempt to shed extra pounds. In the event you fluctuate up and down, it’s demoralizing. However should you solely test as soon as a month, you’re extra prone to see the actual development and fewer prone to give up.
Not checking your internet value commonly protects your psychological well being. You continue to know roughly the place you stand, however you aren’t continually reminding your self of volatility you may’t management.
2. Extra Focus On What Truly Issues
Once I wasn’t checking my internet value, I seen my power went elsewhere: my kids, my writing, my time in Honolulu visiting my parents. As an alternative of being distracted by a inexperienced or purple quantity on a display screen, I used to be extra current. In fact, I nonetheless had the urge to test my funding accounts individually once in a while.
Each time you test your funds, you employ up a few of your restricted each day consideration. In the event you test thrice per week like I often do, that’s over 150 psychological interruptions a yr. Multiply that by a long time, and also you understand how a lot headspace you’ve given up.
By not checking, I used to be pressured to concentrate on what I might management: engaged on new articles, being with household, and staying wholesome. In the long run, isn’t that why we’re constructing wealth within the first place?
3. Helps Break Your Cash Habit
Let’s be frank, monitoring internet value can really feel addictive. The little dopamine hit from seeing your portfolio go up is actual. It is why a few of us prefer to gamble. However like all addictions, there’s a value.
When your temper is tied too intently as to if the market is up or down, you’ve given away management of your happiness. That’s harmful. Sadly, I am all the time moodier when the inventory market is correcting as a result of I am in charge of the family’s finances. When the funds are going backwards, I am unable to assist feel like a failure for not higher safeguarding our most important supply of freedom.
By taking 4 months off, I broke that cycle. I rediscovered that I might go weeks with out understanding my “rating,” and life went on simply nice. My relationships didn’t endure. My money circulate didn’t dry up. The world didn’t finish.
4. Prevents Knee-Jerk Reactions That Might Lose You Cash
One of many greatest risks of regularly checking your funds is the temptation to unnecessarily tinker. You see your portfolio drop and all of a sudden you need to promote (or buy the dip). You see a scorching IPO go up 333% on the primary day, and on account of intense FOMO, you need to purchase on the prime.
Because the outdated saying goes, “Time out there is extra highly effective than timing the market.” The much less you test your internet value and funding portfolios, the much less temptation you’ll have to commerce.
Any such overactivity typically results in worse long-term returns. The perfect traders are often those who set up an allocation after which largely depart it alone.
By not commonly on the lookout for 4 months, I gave myself a pure “cooling off” interval. I wasn’t tempted to make drastic funding selections. My portfolio allocation stayed largely intact, which is precisely how compounding works greatest.
Consider it like a farmer. In the event you dig up your seeds each week to test on them, they’ll by no means develop. Typically, the very best transfer is to depart issues buried and let nature do its factor.
5. A Probability To Check Monetary Independence
The last word aim of monetary independence is to not fear about cash on a regular basis. You need to cash cash within the background so you may spend time doing the belongings you actually get pleasure from. If it’s worthwhile to observe your internet value each day simply to really feel safe, you’re not actually free.
Throughout my four-month break, I bought an unfamiliar preview of what it feels prefer to reside with out continually measuring. My payments had been nonetheless paid. My investments nonetheless grew (or shrank). Life pace stored accelerating. Our cash was taking good care of our household, as meant. The much less time I spent managing our cash, the extra rewarding the cash felt.
If you wish to know whether or not you’re actually financially safe, attempt not checking your internet value for a minimum of 1 / 4. If you end up panicking, chances are you’ll be too depending on exterior validation. But when you end up relaxed, you’re in all probability in fine condition.
This take a look at is highly effective. It reveals you whether or not you’ve constructed a fortress stable sufficient which you could step away with out concern. That’s actual independence.
Placing A Steadiness When Monitoring Your Wealth
While you lastly test your internet value months later, you is likely to be pleasantly stunned to see a much bigger bounce in wealth than you anticipated. It’s like seeing different folks’s youngsters after summer time break. Their progress feels dramatic since you weren’t watching them inch taller every single day. Dad and mom, alternatively, typically hardly discover the change.
After 4 months away, I’m again to monitoring my internet value intently. Previous habits die arduous, and I nonetheless imagine there’s worth in keeping track of issues, particularly for somebody like me, who writes about private finance for a dwelling.
I used to be blissful to lastly replace the quantities in three non-public enterprise capital funds, which had $60,000 value of capital calls throughout these 4 months. I additionally logged the extra $100,000 I invested within the Fundrise Innovation Fund this yr. Personal funds are manually tracked within the Empower dashboard.
This day off taught me that steadiness is essential. For most individuals, checking a few times a month is right. It retains you knowledgeable with out letting the numbers dominate your temper.
Personally, I’m aiming to cut back from thrice per week to simply as soon as per week. One sensible trick? Transfer the Empower app off your private home display screen and bury it on web page three or 4 of your telephone so that you’re not tempted to faucet it out of behavior.
Do not Let Your Web Value Management You
In the event you’re in debt or working towards a financial savings milestone, you would possibly test extra often for motivation. In the event you’re already retired or financially impartial, you may afford to test much less. The essential factor is ensuring you management the numbers, not the opposite manner round.
I by no means deliberate on taking a four-month break from checking my internet value. However due to a cussed login subject plus my very own disinterest, I bought the sudden probability to expertise life with out my normal monetary dashboard. And you understand what? It was liberating.
In the event you’re somebody who refreshes your portfolio each day, attempt taking a step again. Go per week, a month, and even 4 months with out trying.
It’s possible you’ll discover, like I did, that the much less you test, the extra you really get pleasure from your wealth.
Readers, how typically do you test your internet value? Do you imagine there’s a powerful correlation between frequency and outcomes? In any case, people who find themselves obsessive about one thing typically find yourself getting higher at it.
Get A Free Monetary Evaluation Provide From Empower
When you’ve got over $100,000 in investable belongings—whether or not in financial savings, taxable accounts, 401(okay)s, or IRAs—you may get a free monetary check-up from an Empower monetary skilled by signing up here. It’s a no-obligation option to have a seasoned skilled, who builds and analyzes portfolios for a dwelling, assessment your funds.
A contemporary set of eyes might uncover hidden charges, inefficient allocations, or alternatives to optimize—supplying you with better readability and confidence in your monetary plan.
The assertion is supplied to you by Monetary Samurai (“Promoter”) who has entered right into a written referral settlement with Empower Advisory Group, LLC (“EAG”). Click on here to be taught extra.
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