Do you have any of the following symptoms?

- You have a compulsive need to check the newspaper everyday to see how much your mutual fund prices have changed

- Your anxiety level goes up if you can't find a paper or the mutual fund tables

- Your anxiety level goes higher if you do find the paper and your mutual fund prices have dropped... again

- You chart the daily prices for all your funds

- Every article you read about potential market downturns has you second guessing your current fund investments while every positive article restores your faith and you can't wait for tomorrow's paper to see how your funds did today

- You really can't wait for tomorrow's paper and you use your Internet access to dial into an information service that can give you an immediate update of your unit prices

- You think you're a genius because your portfolio has made over 40% this year and beat the pants off all of your friend's

- You want to throttle your financial advisor because your friend's portfolio has done over 40% and beat the pants off yours

Is there a problem? Well apart from having way too much time on your hands and maybe needing a new life, if many of the above symptoms apply to you, you need to reassess what all of this constant information means to you in the long term. We all know that in the long term: a) markets are going to go up and b) we will die. So if a) is a given why don't you spend more time enjoying your life before b) happens?
Information is so readily accessible nowadays and if you've noticed often contradictory so you can drive yourself and probably your spouse or friends crazy trying to decide who to believe. Information is a business feeding on your anxieties. Thomas Jefferson once said "Happier is the man who reads nothing, than he who reads only newspapers". You have to learn that a market downturn does not mean you have lost money...only that you have to be patient and wait for the next upturn which will inevitably come. If you truly believe this all the day to day nail biting is a waste of time. If your investment horizon isn't long enough to allow the wait then maybe you shouldn't be in the market.

My recommendation is to set up a portfolio you are comfortable with and then go fishing or take your spouse on a long trip. He/she probably needs the break.

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