"Recency bias" is giving undue weight to the most recent information. In financial planning, it often stems from headlines reporting the most recent volatility in the market and, by implication, investment returns. Recency bias is one of over 50 different types of cognitive biases listed in Wikipedia , which are defined as "…systematic patterns of deviation from norm and/or rationality in judgment." Recent information appeals to our natural instincts, likely a leftover from when we lived in caves and needed to know what was going on near us to survive (avoiding saber tooth tigers, looking for food, etc.). Even today, we need these instincts ...