Everything consumed in excess has risky if not toxic results. Moderation is always crucial in decision making while ascertaining firmness and rational bias. The current world has seen excessive information penetrate the investments industry leaving most consumers as their own gatekeepers. While gatekeeping is relative and dependent on a consumer’s or investor’s financial knowledge, the risk of information overload challenges their investment decisions.
Causes of Information Overload
Information overload has several causes to an investor which includes panic and bad decisions. An investor who has been exposed to too much information will find himself or herself in a dilemma that hinders the very necessary step of execution. The investor will panic invest either by buying or selling an asset. Information overload might make the investor fear missing out on opportunities. At the same time, the investor might be hesitant to make a sell or buy decision based on his practical experiences. The mix of the two sets of information leads to panic selling or buying. accentuate the investor’s financial life and if not careful can lead to immense losses. Another significant bad decision is trusting wrong people to invest of on behalf of the investor.
The wrong person at something will most likely produce poor results. Wrong persons include amateurs, cons, inexperienced advisors and unqualified people. These people are a threat to an investor’s portfolio and can easily cause irredeemable losses. Consequently, bad decisions accentuate the investor’s financial life and if not careful can lead to immense losses. Another significant bad decision. Equally noteworthy is information underload. Too little information leads to uninformed decisions for an investor and leaves him or her with little to no investable options.
Reasons for information overload
The quantity of information being too much to an extent it confuses the investors. Sometimes, the information is not digestible for execution exposing the investor to even more risk. Too many options also cause information overload. A person might know of many tradeable financial assets that rake in profits and leaves the indifferent about what to partake. Similarity of tradable financial instruments cause the same effect as seen with the aforementioned “too many options”.
Solutions
- Ask for sufficient information about your investment
An investor or rather client must be sufficiently informed about an investment. There is no need to excessively feed on information that will compromise your understanding of an investment decision.
2. Focus on what you can control
The financial markets have a variety of options that present good leverage for profit. It is always good to remember the market can hardly be controlled. You therefore have to focus on what you can control. For instance, buying a stock and it plunges, should not lead an investor to panic selling rather the investor should understand the long terms plays or the market, compound effects and his or her investment targets.
3. Ask questions
Questions will lead to calmness and avoidance of doubt. Importantly, have a checklist of what you need to know about an investment. If the answers you get do not align with your logical investment’s goals, it is wiser to look elsewhere for terms that suit you. Remember to ascertain or verify an investment manager’s credibility and experience.
4. Patience and discipline
As an investor or financial assets manager, do not be an in a rush to make investment decisions. Avoid too much information that will affect your conventional way of profitable investing. Be patient and disciplined through market volatility noting your goals.
5. Limit yourself to minimal trusted sources or information
Minimize your sources of information to avoid clouding your judgement. Look at these trusted sources of information when relaxed to avoid stress and ensure rational decision making. You will notice most negative headlines do not mean little and will incline you to knee jerk reactions that will hurt your investments.
6. Have structure around your investment decisions
Structure in investment decisions is very crucial. Structure dictates a practical and workable action plan. Know your risks, understand your leverage, embrace your interests and outline your goals.
Conclusively, less is more!
Fredrick Munyao
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