I haven’t checked my net worth for four and a half months until recently. That wasn’t on purpose, because normally, since 2012, I check at least three times a week using Empower’s free app. The only reason I stopped was because I could no longer log in.
One day, I was suddenly locked out of the app. I tried to log in on my laptop instead. Same result. My password, which I hadn’t changed, no longer worked. No big deal, I thought. I’d just reset it. Except every time I went through the reset process, I’d get an email confirming the change, then immediately get a warning that the new password didn’t work and that I’d be locked out for 24 hours after two more attempts. After five rounds over a month, I gave up.
Although I appreciated the seriousness of Empower’s security, I was frustrated. Life was busy. Summer rolled around. I took the family to Honolulu for five weeks. Once school started for my kids on August 27, I finally decided it was time to call the helpline (1-877-216-4014, for anyone who finds themselves in my shoes).
After a 7-minute call, I was back in action. The support rep explained that Empower had migrated dashboards to a new system, and some accounts like mine got stuck in a loop. All I had to do was unregister, then re-register with my existing Social Security number and zip code, and voilà—I was back in with all my existing linked accounts.
Didn’t Have A Great Urge To Check My Net Worth
What surprised me most wasn’t that it took four and a half months to fix. It was that I didn’t feel a strong urge to fix it right away. If I really wanted to, I could have called the helpline immediately.
It’s not like my net worth was going to vanish just because I wasn’t looking at it. I knew the rough numbers in my head already—my equity exposure, my bond allocation, my real estate value, and so forth. Plus, when the market was tanking at the end of March and early April 2025, I wasn’t itching to see the damage anyway. Sometimes, not looking is the best way to stay calm.
It reminded me of social media: the less time you spend scrolling X, Instagram, or Facebook, the happier you tend to be. Checking your net worth too often can be the same type of mental junk food, so I experimented with staying away. Unless you receive a significant financial windfall, your net worth isn’t changing much from day to day.
That said, the four-plus months off taught me something valuable. There are real benefits to not regularly checking your net worth.
1. Lower Stress And Anxiety
When markets are down, staring at your net worth daily is like poking at a bruise, it only makes the pain worse.
In March and April, the S&P 500 dropped sharply, and bonds weren’t helping much either. Had I been logging in every morning, I would have watched hundreds of thousands in paper losses pile up. Instead, by not logging in, I avoided the day-to-day sting.
It’s like weighing yourself every day when you’re trying to lose weight. If you fluctuate up and down, it’s demoralizing. But if you only check once a month, you’re more likely to see the real trend and less likely to quit.
Not checking your net worth regularly protects your mental health. You still know roughly where you stand, but you aren’t constantly reminding yourself of volatility you can’t control.
2. More Focus On What Actually Matters
When I wasn’t checking my net worth, I noticed my energy went elsewhere: my kids, my writing, my time in Honolulu visiting my parents. Instead of being distracted by a green or red number on a screen, I was more present. Of course, I still had the urge to check my investment accounts individually from time to time.
Every time you check your finances, you use up some of your limited daily attention. If you check three times a week like I usually do, that’s over 150 mental interruptions a year. Multiply that by decades, and you realize how much headspace you’ve given up.
By not checking, I was forced to focus on what I could control: working on new articles, being with family, and staying healthy. In the end, isn’t that why we’re building wealth in the first place?
3. Helps Break Your Money Addiction
Let’s be frank, tracking net worth can feel addictive. The little dopamine hit from seeing your portfolio go up is real. It’s why some of us like to gamble. But like all addictions, there’s a cost.
When your mood is tied too closely to whether the market is up or down, you’ve given away control of your happiness. That’s dangerous. Unfortunately, I’m always moodier when the stock market is correcting because I’m in charge of the family’s finances. When the finances are going backwards, I can’t help feel like a failure for not better safeguarding our main source of freedom.
By taking four and a half months off, I broke that cycle. I rediscovered that I could go weeks without knowing my “score,” and life went on just fine. My cash flow didn’t dry up. The world didn’t end.
4. Prevents Knee-Jerk Reactions That Could Lose You Money
One of the biggest dangers of constantly checking your finances is the temptation to unnecessarily tinker. You see your portfolio drop and suddenly you want to sell (or hopefully buy the dip). You see a hot IPO go up 333% on the first day, and due to intense FOMO, you want to buy at the top.
As the old saying goes, “Time in the market is more powerful than timing the market.” The less you check your net worth and investment portfolios, the less temptation you will have to trade.
This type of overactivity often leads to worse long-term returns. The best investors are usually the ones who set up an allocation and then largely leave it alone.
By not regularly looking for four plus months, I gave myself a natural “cooling off” period. I wasn’t tempted to make drastic investment decisions. My portfolio allocation stayed largely intact, which is exactly how compounding works best.
Think of it like a farmer. If you dig up your seeds every week to check on them, they’ll never grow. Sometimes, the best move is to leave things buried and let nature do its thing.
5. A Chance To Test Financial Independence
The ultimate goal of financial independence is to not worry about money all the time. You want to move money in the background so you can spend time doing the things you really enjoy. If you need to track your net worth daily just to feel secure, you’re not truly free.
During my four-month break, I got an unfamiliar preview of what it feels like to live without constantly measuring. My bills were still paid. My investments still grew (or shrank). Life speed kept accelerating. Our money was taking care of our family, as intended. The less time I spent managing our money, the more rewarding the money felt. In other words, my Return On Effort improved.
If you want to know whether you’re really financially secure, try not checking your net worth for at least a quarter. If you find yourself panicking, you may be too dependent on external validation. But if you find yourself relaxed, you’re probably in good shape.
This test is powerful. It shows you whether you’ve built a fortress solid enough that you can step away without fear. You know where all your money is. That’s real independence.
Striking A Balance When Tracking Your Wealth
When you finally check your net worth months later, you might be pleasantly surprised to see a bigger jump in wealth than you expected, especially if you’re in a bull market. It’s like seeing other people’s kids after summer break. Their growth feels dramatic because you weren’t watching them inch taller every day. Parents, on the other hand, often hardly notice the change.
After four plus months away, I’m back to tracking my net worth closely. Old habits die hard, and I still believe there’s value in keeping an eye on things, especially for someone like me, who writes about personal finance for a living.
I was happy to finally update the amounts in three private venture capital funds, which had $60,000 worth of capital calls during these four months. I also logged the additional $100,000 I invested in the Fundrise Innovation Fund at the end of June this year. Private funds are manually tracked in the Empower dashboard.
This time off taught me that balance is key. For most people, checking once or twice a month is ideal. It keeps you informed without letting the numbers dominate your mood.
Personally, I’m aiming to scale back from three times a week to just twice a week. One practical trick? Move the Empower app off your home screen and bury it on page three or four of your phone so you’re not tempted to tap it out of habit.
Don’t Let Your Net Worth Control You
If you’re in debt or working toward a savings milestone, you might check more frequently for motivation. If you’re already retired or financially independent, you can afford to check less. The important thing is making sure you control the numbers, not the other way around.
I never planned on taking a four-month break from checking my net worth. But thanks to a stubborn login issue plus my own disinterest, I got the unexpected chance to experience life without my usual financial dashboard. And you know what? It was liberating.
If you’re someone who refreshes your portfolio daily, try taking a step back. Go a week, a month, or even four months without looking.
You may find, like I did, that the less you check, the more you actually enjoy your wealth.
Readers, how often do you check your net worth? Do you believe there’s a strong correlation between frequency and results? After all, people who are obsessed with something often end up getting better at it.
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