- I check the mail everyday.
- I check Google Reader twice per day.
- My email is in a state of “constantly being checked.”
- So is my voicemail.
- As a blogger and business owner, there are about 100 other things (revenue, traffic, incoming links, etc.) that I check fairly often.
And from what I gather, I’m fairly normal in this regard. For most people, if something is:
- Important to us,
- Easy to check, and
- Frequently changing/being updated,
…then we tend to check it frequently.
Account balances clearly fit all three requirements. There’s no way to argue that your IRA balance isn’t important. It’s no harder to check your 401(k) balance than it is to check your email. And your brokerage balance changes (sometimes dramatically) everyday.
And That Makes Investing Difficult.
Checking your portfolio everyday can get you into trouble. On a day-to-day basis, the fundamental returns (i.e., the earnings of the companies you own) are invisible. If we assume a fundamental return (dividends plus earnings growth) of 8% per year and we assume 252 trading days per year, that works out to a daily return of just 0.03%. If you ask me, that’s basically invisible.
In fact, in an entire month, the fundamental return would only be two-thirds of one percent: still pretty close to invisible.
If you check your portfolio everyday or even every month, all you’re seeing is the noise. You can’t possibly notice the slight fundamental return that’s buried within a mountain of P/E-related effects. Yet, dividends and earnings growth are the primary drivers of long-term returns. They are what we should be paying the most attention to.
So How Often Should We Check?
Of course, you can’t completely ignore your portfolio. You have to check every once in a while to rebalance and to see if you’re on track to meet your goals.
As for me, I check 2-3 times per year. (One is scheduled; the others are because curiosity gets the better of me on occasion.) What about you? How often do you check your portfolio?
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Two to three portfolio checks per year sounds just about perfect to me.
Rob
I check my portfolio in the evening on the last day of the month. I update my net worth and make sure that all my deposits and dividends posted correctly. Other than that I don’t sweat if the numbers are lower, though lately they’ve been higher. Rebalancing over the years has kept my 401k higher than my investments.
Probably the 28th or 29th of this month I’ll do my annual birthday rebalance of my retirement accounts.
I check about twice a month, just to see.
It’s not real, though. It’s a virtual £15,000 in a ‘training’ account. The figures are real, the provider is real, just the money isn’t mine.
Shame, really. I’m 14% up on 2 months ago.
I check my portfolio once a month while updating my net worth.
Target retirement funds make life really easy.
Anytime I look at mint, my portfolio comes up, but I pay more attention to the value when I calculate my net worth at the end of each month.
I think being a young investor is what affects my frequency.
I check dozens of times every day.
I’m a professional option trader. I don’t trade every day, but do when I see opportunity. I also actively manage risk and always want to own a portfolio that is within my comfort zone.
My computer screen is tuned to the markets all day, every day. I take time out to write, but the market is not far away.
Mike: I’m sure you truly recommend checking only occasionally. But truthfully, when you don’t check, aren’t you curious? Even if it’s noise.
“But truthfully, when you don’t check, aren’t you curious? Even if it’s noise.”
Nope. When you really see it as irrelevant, it becomes a lot less curiosity-inducing. It’s not like I’m struggling to check only a few times a year. I simply have no interest (and see little point) in doing it more often.
Mike,
You truly are the oblivious investor. I assume you believe that serves you well.
I just don’t see how you can suggest that other people follow the same course.
If you believe in re-balancing your portfolio, it does not have to be done on a pre-arranged schedule. A large market move in one direction or another may give you the perfect time to re-balance. If you are oblivious, you miss that opportunity. I’m not talking about an opportunity to time the markets. Just the opportunity to re-balance your holdings and thereby reduce risk.
How can that be beneficial to you? You gain nothing by not looking – and that’s true even when you gain nothing by taking the time to look at your holdings.
Mark:
Take a look at the chart on page 6 of the following study:
http://www.tdainstitutional.com/pdf/Opportunistic_Rebalancing_JFP2007_Daryanani.pdf
It shows that, historically, the benefit of checking even every day compared to checking annually has been rather slim. (And depending upon your rebalancing bands, the benefit has even been negative sometimes.)
To me, checking everyday in the hopes of gaining an incremental 0.2% annual return just isn’t worth it–especially given that there’s no guarantee that that bonus return will even continue to exist.
Also, I’m entirely convinced that (for most investors) the more frequently they check their portfolios, the more likely they are to try and get creative–to try to outsmart their own system in one way or another. I don’t see this as a good thing.
You are mis-interpreting my words.
I did not, nor would I ever, suggest that you check “everyday in the hopes of gaining an incremental 0.2% annual return.” Why would you make up that story?
I asked if you were curious. Being curious suggests a desire to learn something – there is no suggestion of taking any action. NONE.
The problem with your approach is: You believe something as ‘good for most traders’ (and I agree) and then automatically make the assumption that it is good for everyone. That’s not a good thing.
This is the major failing of otherwise excellent PF bloggers. The ideas have much value. But they do not recognize that it’s not right for EVERYONE to follow 100% of the time.
Whoa there.
The 0.2% annual return was the incremental return provided by checking daily in the study I just linked to. (Or, more precisely, it’s a rough approximation of the incremental return, as it varies depending upon rebalancing bands.)
You were discussing checking one’s portfolio more frequently in the attempt to capture extra return. I referenced a study and provided a relevant figure. At no point did I say I was quoting you.
Also, as a blogger, which is more helpful:
To write about strategies that are likely to work for the majority of readers, or
To write about strategies that are likely to work for only a few readers?
I’d rather write about the first one. A part of my reasoning, by the way, is that I think most investors have a poor time at judging their level of sophistication. So if I write about something and say it’s for “advanced investors only,” what’s to stop any number of people who really shouldn’t be using that strategy from attempting to implement it?
I agree that you write for the majority. And give your reasons. But to me, that’s where it ends. I tell readers to think for themselves.
OK. I’ll return your blog to you, but I believe it’s very much against human nature to avoid learning something interesting – even when no action is planned.
Best regards