Consistent Investing Habits: A Disciplined Process

The best investors are deliberate and consistent. And, they don’t let their emotions get in the way. Instead, they create consistent investing habits. Day after day, week after week, year after year; the most consistent and disciplined investors succeed. While fickle, emotional, and impulsive investors flounder.

So, how can investors encourage consistency in their investing process? This blog post will share some insights for investors seeking consistency and simplicity. And then provide examples of healthy investing habits.

Consistency Fosters Discipline

Consistency and discipline go hand in hand. When you commit to doing something consistently, you’re training your mind to form a habit. Consistency breeds discipline because your habits make you resistant to change. So those good habits become easier over time. Consistent habits also allow your positive results to compound.

To achieve your health goals, you may commit to eating vegetables with each meal or exercising five days a week. Whereas healthy investing habits include making one new investment each week or updating your investment policy each year.

Once you’ve created some healthy investing habits, you become more resilient when obstacles do emerge. For example, when you’re in the habit of buying a new stock each week and the stock market falls, you’ll view this more as an opportunity to buy your favorite stocks more cheaply rather than a loss in the value of your current portfolio.

Simple Habits Are Easier to Adopt

When something’s complex and difficult, it’s harder to turn into a habit. But, when you break down a complex difficult goal into discrete tasks that are easier to accomplish individually, you increase your chance of success.

So, once you have some overall investment goals such as saving for retirement or funding your philanthropy, break those goals down into discrete manageable tasks that can become habits. Or, get your family office to form these habits for you.

Creating Consistent Investing Habits

Let’s say your big investing goal is “retirement”. And, to accomplish this goal, you’ll need to save and grow your investment portfolio over a long-period of time using a consistently profitable portfolio. But “retirement” is a such a big goal that it can be overwhelming. So, break it down into smaller habits that you can accomplish more easily. Create a monthly savings habit, make a new investment each week, visit your investment advisor each quarter. These are all healthy investing habits.

Consistent Investing Habits Include:

• Dollar cost averaging (or investing a consistent amount each period, week, month, etc).
• Reviewing your portfolio in a consistent way at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, annually).
• Tracking your dividends in a spreadsheet each month.
• Texting/e-mailing your tenant(s) each quarter to inquire if any repairs need to be made (schedule check-ins).
• Visiting your investment properties in person each quarter/year to determine whether any maintenance is required (curb appeal).
• Scheduling an annual review with your accountant each year (outside of tax time).
• Conducting a quarterly review with each of your investment advisors/managers (quarterly).
• Saving a digital copy of each of your bank and brokerage statements to an organized cloud-based folder each month/quarter.
• Creating and updating a watch list of stocks you want to buy rather than buying stocks ad-hoc as your emotions dictate (or you receive a tip from a friend/colleague or you read a post online).
• Updating your investment policy statement once per year.
• Holding a regular meeting with your spouse, or family, or friends where you review your investment portfolio together and give each other advice.

Cultivating a Healthy Investing Mindset

When it comes to successful investing, adopting a structured and disciplined approach works best. Just as the most successful athletes follow rigorous training regimens, investors must also develop routines that foster consistency and discipline. But it’s not just about the habits themselves; it’s about the mindset behind them. When we shift our focus from reacting to market fluctuations to consistently building positive investing habits, we move from a place of uncertainty to one of confidence and clarity.

Leverage Your Consistent Investment Habits

Hopefully, the simple habits outlined in this post can serve as a blueprint for creating your resilient investment strategy. These practices, from dollar-cost averaging to regular portfolio reviews, are more than just tasks – they are stepping stones towards realizing your financial goals. They help mitigate the risks associated with emotional decision-making and impulsive reactions to market volatility. By ingraining habits like these into your investing routine, you’ll find that the path to achieving your objectives, whether it’s retirement or philanthropy, becomes clearer and more attainable.

Embrace Simplicity in Your Investment Journey

At Markdale Financial Management, we understand that everyone’s journey to financial success is unique. That’s why we emphasize simplicity and transparency in our approach. We believe in empowering each investor with the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions, by aligning our client’s investments with their values and long-term objectives.

Conclusion: Building a Strong Investment Foundation

The key to successful investing lies in forming consistent investment habits using a disciplined, clear, and well-defined strategy. Embracing simple, yet effective habits can significantly impact your investment journey, paving the way for a more secure financial future. If you’re looking to establish a strong investment foundation, consider reaching out to us. We offer a complimentary review of your current financial situation, helping you align your investment strategy with your goals. Or, stay engaged with our insights by signing up for our free weekly newsletter here: