Hi everyone, thank you for coming back to my blog. I hope you found my last blog interesting and useful, where I covered ‘5 Reasons Why Trying To Time The Market Is A Mistake’.
In this blog, I’m going to cover the reasons why you should avoid following the herd when it comes to making an investment decision, as it can have a hugely negative impact on your gains.
One of the most common behavioural finance biases is herd behaviour. Most of us tend to believe that a large group of people couldn’t possibly all be incorrect about something, and studies have shown this belief greatly affects our decisions.
Humans are also very sociable and following the group is a natural behaviour for most of us, because who doesn’t want to be part of the group? But just because something’s natural doesn’t mean that it’s wise. The desire to eat chocolate is common, but giving in to that desire on a regular basis could have negative consequences too.
Examining the dangers of herd behaviour will assist you in avoiding it in the future.
Be aware of the following reasons why you shouldn’t succumb to herd behaviour when it comes to investment decisions:
1. You lose your true advantage
The greatest parts of you are the parts that are different from everyone else. Copying others is never the ultimate path to excellence.
· Your greatest investments are likely to be those where you made your own inspired decisions.
2. Your investment decisions aren’t based on facts
Good decisions require accurate information, and the opinion of a large number of people doesn’t necessarily provide you with that type of information.
· You’re likely to cut your due diligence short when you follow the herd.
3. Your investment decisions aren’t rational
A decision could be based on fact but still, be irrational. Herd behaviour usually excludes a rational examination of the information that’s available.
4. The herd is frequently off-track
History is full of examples of a large group of people being incorrect. At one point, essentially, no one believed the world was round.
· Imagine all of the things people might incorrectly believe now.
· Just because a lot of people believe something doesn’t mean it’s true.
5. It’s often too late by the time it becomes a trend
By the time many investors jump on the bandwagon, it’s too late to profit, but it’s never too late to lose money.
· Herd behaviour has more potential risk than potential gain.
· Most investors are too late getting into herd investments and too late getting out.
· Most great investments are not very time-sensitive.
6. If you followed the herd in, you’ll follow the herd out
If following the herd was your primary reason for getting involved with an investment, you may lack the criteria for getting out of the investment.
· You’re putting yourself in the position of only being able to follow the other investors out. How will you know if they’re right?
· When other investors start dumping an investment, the value of the investment falls.
· Unless you’re one of the first to get out, you’re putting yourself in the position to lose money.
7. The herd forces an investment to be over-valued
When investors flock to an investment, the price is driven up by excessive demand.
· It isn’t uncommon for the price of investment to rise above the intrinsic value of the investment.
· The price of a stock routinely rises or falls to its true value, and over-valued stocks eventually return to reality.
8. You’re more likely to churn through investments
Constantly buying and selling investments is costly. There aren’t only the transactional costs, but you’re also potentially subjecting yourself to more taxes by taking your gains more frequently.
Following the herd is a poor investment strategy because you lose the ability to make informed and intelligent decisions, so avoid putting your trust in the herd.
Remind yourself that it isn’t always smart to follow the herd and be aware of the risk to which you’re subjecting your investments. Make your own decisions and make them wisely because you can do better than the herd.
Until next time, stay safe, and please share this blog with anyone who might find it useful. Thank you!
** If you do follow me on Instagram or TikTok (@easy_peasy_money_net), you will no doubt be aware, I launched my new and improved website (www.easypeasymoney.net)! It now offers you some awesomely cool FREE stuff, like an eBook written by me — “Top 10 Financial Habits That Matter The Most” and a FREE budgeting tool created by me — “Wealth Building Plan Template.” It also has two additional eBooks and a 5-day goal-setting course, again written and created by me. Have a look! I promise you won’t be disappointed!**
**On a side note, if you’re interested in starting a side hustle or making passive income, I highly recommend this 30-day course to get you started — One Funnel Away Challenge. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made to date, and I can’t recommend it enough, so go check it out.***
Check out our new platform 👉 https://thecapital.io/
https://twitter.com/thecapital_io
https://medium.com/media/3b6b127891c5c8711ad105e61d6cc81f/href
8 Dangerous Reasons Why You Should Avoid Herd Behaviour In Investing was originally published in The Capital on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.