An Odd Way of Tracking Portfolio?

[marko]

I've recently added a few more columns to my 42,132 tab Excel sheet that tracks my portfolio.

Because I was always paid by the week, I now also track my YTD, 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 year performance into what it means as a weekly 'paycheck' (recognizing that that is different from my SWR). Performance in dollars divided by 52.

Interestingly--or as expected, the numbers are fairly close, steady and repeatable year to year but there seems to be some comfort in looking at a manageable, repeating number.

I know it's a bit lame, but at the same time, in times of high volatility like now, I think: "It's ok...you've been averaging $X a week for the past 15 years".

Anyone else do something similar or am I (as I often suspect) the weirdo with too much time on my hands and a computer?

And yes, I know that "past performance does not guarantee future results"

 

[pb4uski]

I'm retired and have better things to do. When I was working I didn't have the time.

 

[marko]

I'm retired and have better things to do.

Like posting here 5 times a day on average!

Just kidding.

 

[Dash man]

Sounds too much like work.


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[marko]

Sounds too much like work.


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Creating a few columns on a spreadsheet is actually pretty easy and only takes about a minute.

I only plan to check this data point once or twice a year as a reference.

 

[Dash man]

Creating a few columns on a spreadsheet is actually pretty easy and only takes about a minute.

I only plan to check this data point once or twice a year as a reference.

I was just kidding. I use a spreadsheet too. Quarterly I look at my net worth. Monthly I log how much I've spent in my checking account (difference between starting and ending balances without details) and replace the spent cash to bring the balance back up to the $20k starting point for each month. I don't worry about the details unless spending trends higher than expected in a month. We typically average $5k/month except when the property tax is due or we book a trip.



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[Andre1969]

I haven't done the weekly "paycheck" exercise, per se, but have probably done way too many other Excel calculations in my time.

You had me curious though. We're 5 weeks into the year so far. I'm up about $24,000. So, who-hoo, that's $4800 per week, YTD!

If only it would play out like that for the rest of the year...

**edit: roughly half of that $24K fell into my lap just yesterday. Oh, to make $12,000 per DAY...

 

[Cobra9777]

I don't translate performance into a weekly paycheck. But I do have lots of columns on the portfolio tab with various datapoints for each holding, such as ER, duration, distributions, yield, and various historical and expected total returns. I have 16 ETFs, so updating these data a couple times per year is quite simple. Then, every time I update the portfolio values, which is at least once per month, I have updated weighted averages for these other parameters as well. Some of this is utilized in other parts of the retirement model that deal with withdrawal strategy and future taxes.