Psychology says people who won't look at their bank balance for weeks aren't bad with money — economists named it the ostrich effect after finding investors check their accounts far less often when markets fall, which means the avoidance peaks exactly when the information matters most

Psychology says people who won't look at their bank balance for weeks aren't bad with money — economists named it the ostrich effect after finding investors check their accounts far less often when markets fall, which means the avoidance peaks exactly when the information matters most

My stepdad has a routine every morning. Coffee, laptop, bank balance. He goes through the transactions one by one, and if something looks wrong, he catches it. He’s done this for as long as I’ve known him. I’m the opposite. I haven’t opened my banking app in about two weeks. I know exactly where the icon is. I’ve looked at it while scrolling past it to open something else. I’m not avoiding it on purpose, exactly. I’m just not opening it, which I…