Financial Answer Center

It is your responsibility to manage your portfolio, both before and during retirement. It is important to track how your investments are performing, to keep an eye on results, and to determine if your portfolio needs to be modified.

Monitoring Your Portfolio

Here are some tips to managing your portfolio:

• Keep an eye on results. Monitoring the performance of your investments is the key to maintaining a healthy portfolio.
• There are pitfalls of trying to time the market. Prudent investors realize that the market will ebb and flow like the ocean tide. Ride the waves and you'll likely see your money grow in the long run.
• Follow your fund's performance. Don't make the mistake of investing in something and then ignoring changes in the business climate, the investment itself, or changes in your own life that would make it wise to sell. You should review your portfolio thoroughly every year, or when there are other circumstances that might prompt a review such as a shortening of your time horizon, changes in tax laws, a significant decline or rise in the stock market, or a significant change in the price of a stock or bond.
• Avoid following the market too closely. Try not to watch all your investments fluctuate on a daily basis. Remember that a good portion of your portfolio is invested for the long term, so don't move your money around constantly in an effort to stay ahead of the market.
• Don't get into more investments than you can monitor. To diversify fully, you may be tempted to own so many investments that you do not have time to follow them all carefully. Remember that, sometimes, less can be more. Make your portfolio only as complicated as you can easily handle.