Five Years Away From the Market May Have Helped More Than Hurt

For long-term investing, constantly trying to “keep your finger on the pulse” can do more harm than good.
Five years away from financial news may have improved your odds more than five years spent reacting to every market move.
A better approach is to focus on earnings reports, company filings, and broad index funds.
Keep long-term investing as the core strategy, and treat active trading as a separate, much smaller account.