Behavioral finance biases are untrue preconceived notions regarding current or potential investments that can seriously limit your investing success. It’s not easy to recognize that you have these biases and changing your beliefs can be a challenging task.
However, it’s worth the time and effort to learn to put your biases aside when making investing decisions. This way, your investment choices can be based on effective research and an understanding of the true risk of the investment.
Use these tips to make wise investment decisions by removing the beliefs that are limiting you:
1. Recognize if biases are affecting your perspective. Recognizing the issue is always the first and most necessary step.
2. Consider the situation in which the bias occurred. Do you want to know a great way to become extremely successful? Try not to repeat your mistakes.
• Avoid making the same mistakes again by fully recognizing and analyzing the situation in which they occurred.
• We tend to behave the same ways in the same situations until we make a concerted effort to change.
3. Realize the harm the bias caused. Consider what the bias has cost you in the past. What likely result would you incur if you continued to operate under the same belief?
• Understand the negative consequences of allowing behavioral finance biases to continue to taint your decisions.
4. Decide how you can do better the next time. What do you need to change? How can you prevent the same error from happening again?
• Develop a plan that will allow you to work around your natural tendencies.
• These tendencies are simply a result of human nature.
• Be diligent in order to do better the next time around.
5. Create a new routine. Make a new routine that will eliminate your bias. Develop a series of questions that will make it clear if you’re being affected by a bias. Questions are a great way to change your focus.
• For example, if you are challenged by Herd Behavior (always going along with the crowd), ask yourself why you’re interested in a new investment. Do you really understand the investment? Would you still invest if it weren’t so popular?
6. Think about the advantages of not being influenced by the biases. You’ve considered the negative consequences of keeping the biases. Now, consider the advantage of changing your perspective.
• New behaviors are easier to implement if the advantages of changing are clear.
7. Continuously monitor your thoughts and decisions regarding your finances. Diligence is the key. Always review your decisions to see how they’re affecting your investments.
• Behaviors and thought patterns can take time to change, and some may be harder to stop than others.
• Monitor yourself and you’ll surely overcome these biases.
8. Continue to work through this process. Continuous working on overcoming these biases is a great way to keep you from backsliding. It’s okay to ask yourself, “How can I do even better the next time?”
• Remember that you can always get better with everything that you do.
• Avoid becoming satisfied too easily.
Removing behavioral finance biases is something that should be undertaken by nearly all investors. The quality of your investments is directly correlated with the quality of your decision-making. The various biases simply reduce the quality of your decision-making and negatively impact your investment outcomes.
Take the time to learn more about behavioral finance biases and monitor your approach to your investments. Change your approach if necessary. You’ll be rewarded with better returns and greater success.
The post How to Free Yourself From Behavioral Finance Biases appeared first on Finance-411.
