An autopilot investment strategy can land you in the wrong place.

As seen in The Oakland Press

February 8th, 2026

An autopilot investment strategy can land you in the wrong place.

by Ken Morris

Every time my I use my laptop I’m amazed at the number of technological improvements there have been over the last year. I’ll take it a step farther and say that the capabilities of my smart phone have grown by leaps and bounds in just the past months. I actually refer to my iPhone as my outboard brain because it appears to make me look smarter.

With so many technological advances, it’s relatively easy for investors to establish their investment course and simply put it on autopilot. A strategy commonly referred to as "set it and forget it". As a financial advisor, however, I strongly discourage this approach for the long term. It’s too easy to lose track of your initial objectives. Let me show you what I mean.

Many investors utilize the S&P 500 Index and put things on autopilot. They invest in a mirror of the Index and think they’re properly diversified. After all, 500 stocks. Right? And in recent years, investors in the Index have been rewarded. However, the Index is not so diversified. It has evolved significantly.

How so? Well, because five tech stocks now account for almost thirty percent of the Index. In other words, it’s not 500 equal slices; it’s a weighted index. If you take time to analyze the Index, you might realize how much it has changed over time.

The S&P 500 Index has performed well, but what does that mean for your overall diversification strategy? Let’s say your plan was to have 20% allocated to global investments. With the recent appreciation in the S&P 500, it’s unlikely your global allocation is still at 20%. It’s probably less. Maybe a lot less.

In a set it and forget it strategy, it’s far too easy to get out of balance. That’s why you shouldn’t go through the years with everything set on autopilot. It’s a good idea to periodically review your portfolio, then make adjustments to keep your allocation percentages in line. Such rebalancing can go a long way to helping achieve your long-term financial freedom.

Over the years I’ve encouraged readers to stay the course and not pay too much attention to headlines. That being said, it is difficult not to have the onslaught of negative headlines weigh on you. Almost every day, there’s a news story that has you shaking your head in disbelief.

I mention this because the higher your emotions are, the more likely they are to take control of your investments. In recent years, most investors have seen positive returns. But eventually there will be negative headlines that rock the investment world. When that happens, I encourage you to avoid any knee jerk reaction. Study after study has shown that trying to time the markets seldom works.

Instead, I suggest you review both your year-end summary and current statements to get things rebalanced and into a position where you’ll be comfortable whether the markets are advancing or declining.

Be constantly aware of what you own and periodically review and make adjustments to keep your allocations on track. There will be wild swings, maybe up, maybe down. Either way, you need to be mentally prepared and ready to act. As for "set it and forget it", I say forget it.