An Investment Checklist Example – Disciplined Investing (Why You Should Have A Checklist)

An investment checklist is handy, no matter your time horizon or investment style. The bare minimum is a mental checklist, but preferably it should be written. Like the aviation industry developed checklists to avoid disasters, investing is about error removals.

This article provides an investment checklist example and argues why you should have a checklist. You should have an investment checklist because it makes you avoid unnecessary mistakes, improve the outcome without increasing your skills, stay within your circle of competence, save time, and learn from your mistakes.

Why do you need an investment checklist?

It’s weird how a little tick on a notepad, or even just in your head, can give you assurance and better results without increasing efficiency or quality. Or the least, it may just contribute to your peace of mind. Well, checklists do have that sort of effect on an individual, especially for an investor or trader.

An investor has a thousand things to consider while looking at any investment. It might look like an easy matter of trade and gaining profits, but it does require a well sought out strategy and analysis. It’s no joke regarding checklists, especially when you hear that a business tycoon and investor like Warren Buffet has a checklist, even if it’s only in his head.

The investment checklist offers no magic but makes you disciplined. We argue your checklist should be as short as possible when you start out and gradually add items to the list as you learn. There is a good reason why both Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger keep an investment checklist.

Are you buying or selling shares too quickly without thinking? Did you buy it because your best friend did? Did you sell because of a rumor? Did you sell because you panicked and couldn’t stand the pain anymore? Even simple procedures often go wrong without checklists. We overest