How to read the news without increasing your anxiety

Long gone are the days of waiting for a newspaper to drop through the letterbox, featuring mainly news from yesterday.

Today, we live in a world of permanent connectivity, with news, social media, information (and misinformation) at our fingertips 24/7.

In some ways, this is a good thing. We can access data and people in an instant and see real-time news as it unfolds.

But on the flip side, how good for investors is this perpetual cycle of knowledge and noise? In particular, in these heightened times of President Trump’s tariffs and global unrest, with conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine causing financial volatility.

Overexposure to media is causing investors anxiety

At the slightest sign of turmoil, headline writers have a field day, turning every report into a sensationalist scream. With sales and clicks top of the media’s priority list, the churning anxiety investors can feel is often overlooked or underestimated.

Reuters reported “high anxiety” amongst investors on 11 April, with President Trump’s rollercoaster tariff announcements leading to huge market volatility and swings in both directions.

But while this response is understandable, investors responding wildly to every twist and turn in daily events could find themselves losing out. The best course of action is generally to stay calm and focused on the long term.

There are some active steps you can take to keep yourself informed, without going into anxiety overdrive in the process.

1. Choose your news sources carefully

With so many blogs, social media posts, and news forums, along with more traditional outlets, trying to read and listen to everything can feel like an onslaught.

Do your research and choose a few reputable sources for your news, and stick with them. There will inevitably be an element of political bias and sensationalising from any source, but knowing that what you’re consuming is likely to be factual is important.

Social media can be a hotbed of misinformation. Don’t take anything as gospel, and if you do use it to glean news from, make sure to confirm the facts.

2. Avoid checking your investments every day

The headlines can send you straight to your portfolio in a panic, convinced you need to take immediate action.

But shifting your investments around on a whim, or cashing in, is very rarely a long-term solution.

In fact, Schroders found that, historically, switching to cash even under the very worst market conditions would have incurred more losses than staying put.

Investors cashing in investments in 1929, after the first 25% fall of the Great Depression, would not have broken even until 1963, compared with a break-even date of 1945 if they’d remained invested. And an investor shifting to cash in 2008 after the first 25% of losses resulting from the global financial crisis would still be behind in their portfolio today.

Moving to cash means that your wealth will be at the immediate mercy of inflation, and you could see a drop in its real-terms value.

So, the moral of the story is to check your portfolio on a schedule agreed with your financial planner, usually annually, not one that’s dictated by scaremongering.

3. Use apps to avoid doomscrolling

Catching up on the day’s news is one thing. But spending hours on your phone going deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole of doom and gloom is quite another.

Using an app or in-built feature to regulate what you can access, and for how long, is a good way of keeping you in control, rather than letting your device control you. Try Digital Wellbeing for Android, or iOs Screen Time in Apple, both free.

Or there are a variety of other free or paid-for apps you can download to mitigate screen time, simplify your interface, and help you customise your content. Look around and you’ll find multiple apps that can help you “digitally detox” and shift away from habitual reliance on your device.

You could designate a “news-free” day every week where you take a complete break. You’ll soon realise that this is not only achievable, but it can be highly enjoyable.

It can also be a good idea to review your social media occasionally, removing yourself from any sites or pages you’ve found to be particularly triggering.

Remember, your online habits will be used by algorithms to suggest similar content, and it’s all too easy to find yourself in a curated bubble of anxiety-inducing feeds. Make the decision to shape your own social media, without it shaping you.

4. Take a balanced view

Bad news is far easier to sensationalise and sell, so inevitably this is what we primarily see. Good news tends to be reported with much less fanfare and can be harder to tap into.

There are specific sites devoted to good news, if you feel like you need a daily dose of positivity.

You can also look to history to see how headlines can distort facts. According to Schroders, 10% falls in world stock markets occurred in 30 of the 52 calendar years prior to 2024. Yet the US market delivered strong average returns over those 52 years.

And while we might see headlines about the bumps and hurdles, it’s rarer to read about the quiet afterward. So, when it comes to your investments, always seek a balanced view.

5. Keep your long-term goal in mind

Think about why you decided to invest in the first place. Are you saving for retirement or to fund your children’s future education? Whatever your goals, it’s unlikely they’ll be met by making a knee-jerk decision based on a few negative headlines.

Keeping yourself educated, informed and updated as to what’s going on in the world of finance is one thing. Sending yourself into a tailspin of doubt is another. Having a clear purpose and goal, and not being swayed by sensation, is the more likely pathway to success.

Get in touch

If you’re worried about global news headlines and market uncertainty, please talk to us to discuss your financial strategy. We’ll always offer a calm, rational response and take a long-term approach to your wealth’s wellbeing.

Email us at info@harperlees.co.uk or call 01277 350560 to find out more, and we’ll be very happy to help.

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.

The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up, and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.