Investment Is Not Consistency

Broker apps push the idea that you should constantly invest. Weekly! No, better - daily! Just add small amounts, savings to your trading account. Brokers have an obvious incentive: you pay comission on bought and sold stocks. But you also pay with your time: top-up account, browse stocks, buy, sell. And you also pay attention. Yes, it may be wise to follow the news about the stock market, but from a distance. Preferably without access to internet, on an uninhabited island. That's why you should invest once and stay away from the stock exchange. I used to be a day trader and think that I've made decent amount of money this way, about $2000 give or take. But day trading is a second job, where you risk burning the money instead of getting a paycheck. Now my investment strategy is this: Spend as little time as possible on the stock market and what surrounds it. Pick a small list of companies I believe in. (This is my way, do your own research!) Buy the dip only if it feels right (10, preferably 20% or more discount). The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that perfect strategy would be to buy once, hold and never sell. Allocate a fixed amount of money that, if lost, you'd just shrug and don't stress over it. Decide on a list of stocks/ETFs to hold indefinitely. Don't top up your account after that. Resist it as long as you can. This aligns well with Warren Buffett's idea that a holding period of a wonderful company is forever.