Poll:How often do you check your financial holdings?

[EastWest Gal]

Roughly monthly for investments. More often for banking. I get a text message for each credit card transaction, and emails if balance greater than X.

 

[Qprkid]

Daily, with Personal Capital.

More if the markets are going crazy one way or the other.

Love that app !

 

[audreyh1]

Quicken makes it easy to download quotes and update all accounts in just a few seconds. I usually do this weekly to avoid a break in the data. I usually take a look at my asset allocation drift from target monthly, and calculate YTD performance quarterly.

But I could just check AA drift annually if I wanted to. I deliberately set things up to be hands off except for the once a year withdrawal and rebalance.

 

[FIREd]

Checking account: daily
Credit cards: I automatically get alerts when someone charges over $100. I review alerts as needed and check my account once a week.
Investment accounts: once a week
CDs and savings bonds: once or twice a year

 

[Cobra9777]

I set up push notifications from Fidelity. So I get daily updates on balances and positions in my inbox. I glance at it to get a sense of where things are. If something looks unusual, I log in to check. But I only update my spreadsheet 3 or 4 times per year. This includes checking performance for each holding, AA, and several other things. Since the poll asked how often you "actively" check holdings, I answered: Occasionally (less than monthly). Glancing at a daily push notification is not really "actively" checking.

For cash management and credit cards, I also get daily push notifications for balances, plus alerts for any unusual activity. Since my smartphone is always with me, in effect, I get real time monitoring. On average, I log-in to Fidelity about 3 times per week. That's when I do a more thorough check on the cash management and CC accounts.

 

[happy2bretired]

My credit cards are set up for direct entry into my Banktivity software on my Apple computer so they usually come in soon after I make a purchase or at least daily.

 

[calmloki]

Quicken and I have a close personal relationship. The stocks and bonds get recorded pretty much daily but the variances don't make an impact. However, payments going out or coming in are scrutinized closely and recorded. Guess I'm a watch the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves kinda guy. Or maybe I'm pennywise and pound foolish.

 

[scrabbler1]

I don’t worry about my investments levels so much, but I tend to keep a careful eye on credit cards, checking and savings accounts, and any transfers and other transactions in my investment accounts, etc. This is keeping an eye out for fraud or errors. Statements are reconciled monthly and I have email alerts set up to notify me of any transaction, etc.

This pretty much sums up what I do. I check my investments when I have made transactions or need to post data into my spreadsheets, the latter a few times a month. With my personal banking, I have more transactions so I end up checking the account a few times per week. So, overall, I answered "weekly" to the poll.

 

[SumDay]

Quicken and I have a close personal relationship. The stocks and bonds get recorded pretty much daily but the variances don't make an impact. However, payments going out or coming in are scrutinized closely and recorded. Guess I'm a watch the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves kinda guy. Or maybe I'm pennywise and pound foolish.

Ditto. Quicken and I are joined at the hip. I like catching banking and credit inconsistencies before they become an issue. For example, we opened a HELOC a couple of years ago with no intention of using it. About 2 months later I noticed (thanks to Quicken) I had a $2500 balance on that account. It was their error, which they were very embarrassed about.

While I do watch, I don't worry about investment performance on a daily basis.

 

[Midpack]

I usually check investments quarterly, and rebalance once a year at most. We look at checking accounts and charge statements monthly, using a home grown spreadsheet that tracks our spending in detail vs budget. Looking often doesn't change anything, and I am NOT a market timer, so why bother? I know investments fluctuate...

 

[pb4uski]

I ususally run a Quicken One-Step Update at least once a week, typically on Fridays. It updates all my financial accounts (bank accounts, investment accounts, credit card accounts).

At the same time, I usually run a Quicken holdings report and copy and paste it into a spreadsheet that updates my AA versus target and YTD return... sounds complicated but it takes about two minutes.

 

[Al18]

I check and record all investments every 2 weeks, but check at least weekly. I check the market performance in general daily - to see if there are any good bargains paying a sustainable dividend.

 

[Sojourner]

We do a total NW calc about once a month

[...]

I track a few smaller more volatile things more often, like some old company stock I'm hoping to sell and take the gains/income this year... it was doing quite well before the correction and I got greedy and waited...

This is exactly what I do, even down to the frequent/daily tracking of old company stock. I'm also hoping to sell and take gains this year... and the next several more years as I sell most of it off and slowly rework my AA.

 

[RonBoyd]

"Personal Capital" sends me a daily email with a listing of the previous day's transactions from all of my accounts. The email, also, lists to top (5?) gainers and losers in our portfolios.

I, also, use "Moneydance" that when opened updates all of the financial data and displays a summary on the opening screen. I open it pretty close to daily -- primarily to research previous purchases (model numbers for reorder, for instance) and/or to post new receipts.

 

[RonBoyd]

I should mention that the PC email has four times now notified me of fraudulent use of credit cards within 24 hour of the occurrence. That is a very valuable feature.

 

[audreyh1]

I should mention that the PC email has four times now notified me of fraudulent use of credit cards within 24 hour of the occurrence. That is a very valuable feature.

Not all my CCs do this, but two of them text me the second a transaction goes through, and a couple of others email me within a minute.

 

[O2Bfree]

I look at the DJI and my larger stock investments multiple times a day at w@rk, mainly for entertainment; though if there's a prolonged dip I might buy a little something. My spreadsheet with all accounts gets updated once a month. It's a manual process that I don't particularly enjoy, so I need to look into some automation for that.

I'm always surprised at how few people at w@rk keep an eye on the market. When I mention the larger ups and downs, I generally get blank stares.

 

[ABQ2015]

I usually check how the TSP index funds are doing once a day but rarely view my account. Check my TSP and Vanguard accounts maybe every other month if that since I'm not sure what action I would take anyway. Maybe rebalance if there was a big change?

I review my CC statements monthly and my bank checking account balance when I pay bills online which is 2-3 times a month. Unless I am traveling, I don't have that many CC transactions and I make relatively few online purchases. I try to keep my life simple and uncomplicated. Rarely look at Ally CD or online banking account.

 

[RonBoyd]

Not all my CCs do this, but two of them text me the second a transaction goes through, and a couple of others email me within a minute.

Yeah, Capital One and Chase do but the other's don't. On the other hand, I have not had a negative notification since those two banks started this policy... knock on wood.

 

[RobbieB]

I read and then load the 3 hole punched monthly statements into the binder after removing the previous.

 

[pb4uski]

I read and then load the 3 hole punched monthly statements into the binder after removing the previous.

Are you my Dad? He did that. Of course, he would be 89 if he were alive today.

 

[6miths]

Not very often. I only hold index products so anytime I hear the market reports I know roughly where I stand. Balances also come up for my brokerage account when I open my general banking page. Looked more when I was in accumulation phase and buying. Do check credit cards and chequing account more frequently and have alerts set up on credit cards.

 

[Amethyst]

You may very well be "a strange man," but not because you like data. To me, that just means you're of an analytic turn of mind.

For example, I might track how often we use the washer/dryer to see how much wear and tear they're getting;
how often the well pump comes on to fill the reserve tank, to see if there is unusual usage that could indicate a leak;
how often I'm taking a Tylenol to get to sleep, to see if it's time to ask the Dr. for a physical therapy recommendation.

I stop tracking data, once the original question that prompted it has been answered.

E.

I measure and record the rainfall, the number of times my furnace comes on, our electrical/water/gas usage (dollars and KWh/CF) etc etc. In my work days I'd record how long my commute was each day. Maybe from my days as a test technician where we took 'points' every hour (?)

I've created quite a few rat-holes for myself as I now have 15+ years of data and feel it would be a shame to not continue the drill. Mint, M* and Excel are my best friends! Charts! Graphs!

(as I write this I realize what a strange man I am)

 

[RobbieB]

Are you my Dad? He did that. Of course, he would be 89 if he were alive today.

Hehe, who do you think taught me that little trick?

 

[mickeyd]

I rarely check my investment accounts.

I keep abreast of financial markets in general so I'm never surprised whenever I drop by the VG website and quick peek. VG mails me all of the activity on my accounts and I generally look at those papers and mark them up.