# Playing Dead for Better Returns > Investors who stop reacting to market noise earn higher returns by staying hands-off. - Title: Playing Dead for Better Returns · Kiplinger | Shortify - Summary: Investors who stop reacting to market noise earn higher returns by staying hands-off. Investors who avoid panic-selling and emotional reactions to market… - Keywords: fidelity study, deceased accounts, password forgotten, market volatility, long-term returns, investor behavior, emotional trading, passive investing, Playing, Dead, Better, Returns - Source: Kiplinger — https://kiplinger.com/investing/wealth-management/how-playing-dead-can-maximize-investment-returns - Published: 2026-10-03T14:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: fidelity study, deceased accounts, password forgotten, market volatility, long-term returns, investor behavior, emotional trading, passive investing ## Fidelity Study Finds A Fidelity study reviewed thousands of brokerage accounts and found the best-performing accounts belonged to deceased account holders. > The best-performing accounts belonged to deceased account holders. ## Why Deceased Accounts Excel Deceased accounts outperformed accounts where people forgot passwords, showing the benefits of not actively managing investments. > The best-performing accounts belonged to people who had simply forgotten their passwords. ## No Panic-Selling Investors who don't panic-sell or time the market avoid emotional reactions that hurt long-term returns. > The least-engaged accounts are effectively emotionless — no second-guessing when markets spike, no panic when they drop. ## Market Predictability Markets have historically averaged 10% annual returns and been up in three out of every four calendar years. > Markets have historically averaged roughly 10% annual returns and have been up in about three out of every four calendar years. ## Emotional Trading Hurts Active investors who constantly tweak portfolios often underperform passive investors who stay hands-off. > Categorically, the highly engaged, informed, opinionated investors tend to fare worse than the ones who stay mostly hands-off. ## Retirement Risk Retirees reacting emotionally to market downturns can damage long-term portfolios by selling at the wrong time. > A retiree reacting emotionally to a downturn — selling at the wrong moment, abandoning a withdrawal strategy, chasing yield into something unfamiliar — can do lasting damage to a plan that took decades to build. ## Passive Investing Works Investors who stay invested and avoid short-term noise achieve better returns than those who react to market fluctuations. > No one has to be dead to earn great long-term returns, but acting a bit more like it — staying invested, resisting the urge to tinker and tuning out short-term noise — might be the closest thing to a reliable strategy that exists. ## What Matters Most Long-term returns depend on staying aligned with goals, not reacting to market headlines or financial news. > The goal isn't to ignore the markets entirely — it's to stop reacting to every headline or talking head on a financial news show. ## Key takeaway Investors who avoid panic-selling and emotional reactions to market volatility achieve better long-term returns than active traders.