Don't Let The FOMO Buzz Affect Your Investments

Most of us would have experienced the concept of fear of missing out (FOMO) at least once in our life. It could trigger when your neighbour buys a bigger car than you, your friends post pictures of holidays abroad or fancy eating places and the like.

- Rishabh Raj

If you have ever given in to that trigger and ended up spending what you can't really afford, you would have borne the financial repercussions, too. That can lead to debt and throw your savings completely astray. But when you give in to that behavioural aspect in investing, it's likely to throw your investments in disarray and take you farther from your financial planning goals on the back of indiscreet decisions.

Back in 2020, during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vodafone Idea was in the news almost every day with rumours flying that tech giant Google was considering a sizeable stake in the struggling telecom operator. That's when Piyush Aman, a 27-year-old finance professional based in Delhi, took a trade in the stock.

"I saw the news and heard people talking about it at work, so I just bought it," says Aman, who did not want to miss out on the opportunity.

And, it worked. Aman invested around 10,000 at around 4 per share and exited at 11.25 per share within a few weeks. That made him feel in control of his decisions and investments.