It's easy until you're alive

This post was written by Associate Wealth Advisor, Arman Hundal.

If I told you there was a specific demographic of investors whose portfolios outperform almost everyone else, your first question would probably be: who are they? Your second question would be: how do I join them?

Now imagine I told you that you wouldn’t want to be part of that demographic.

Why would you not want to be a part of the best-performing demographic?

Well, because they’re dead.

According to a study attributed to Fidelity Investments, a review of client accounts found that the best-performing portfolios belonged to investors who had either died or completely forgotten about their investments. Fidelity has never actually acknowledged the study, which is not much of a surprise given their desire for accounts to be active.

There’s no mystery here. Those accounts weren’t special. They weren’t traded frequently. They weren’t adjusted every time the market got uncomfortable. They were left alone.

They went through market ups and downs. They lived through volatility, recessions, and scary headlines. And because they stayed invested, they captured the long‑term returns.

Sounds easy. Until you’re alive.

It’s harder to stick with a plan when you can check your portfolio every day and when news articles are constantly telling you why now is the time to worry. It’s not usually the investments that get people into trouble. It’s the urge to do something.

We don’t want our clients to be dead or forget about their accounts. But we do want them to behave like that demographic of investors. A big part of our job is helping clients stay on track, especially when markets get volatile and emotions creep in.

Volatility is uncomfortable, but it’s also unavoidable. It’s the price you pay for long‑term growth. The goal isn’t to eliminate it. The goal is to stay disciplined while going through it.