In his book Investing Made Simple, Mike Piper quotes Vanguard founder Jack Bogle: "Try and avoid the worst hazards of behavioral investing. Follow the basic rule that I follow: Don't peek. Don't look at your account. Throw the 401(k) (or in our case the 403(b)(9)) statement in the trash when it comes."
Of course you want to monitor your accounts over time, but only to track progress toward your long-term goals.
While we cannot control the market, we can control our behavior and continue to invest month after month and reap the benefits of dollar cost averaging. Dave Ramsey points out that financial success is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior.
Along the path to our Future Funded Ministry, we need to prepare ourselves for the inevitable market downturns by staying focused on what we can do versus being distracted by what we can’t. Not getting caught up in short-term market fluctuations is a key to financial success.