How often do you...

[saluki9]

Just bored and it only takes a few minutes..... sometimes I am surprised what it has done since the last time...

Also, why do you check anything you do not plan on doing something with IE, how often do you check the air pressure in your tires? It rarely goes down, but it is recommended once a week...

There is a difference. I drive my car every day. I don't need money from my portfolio for quite a while.

 

[Sandy]

I check stocks daily and mutual funds at least 2 times per month, more if there have been large market shifts or activity on my part.

 

[Alan]

I glance at Vanguard 2 or 3 times a week, once a month I update it with the new postings into our 401(k) funds and DW's Fidelity IRA's, and I re-balance if needed twice a year.

I also monitor and update an online fitness log every day, watch Sky Sports News most days, check the car's tires and fluids every month, and I checked on the Turducken in the oven on Xmas day FAR more often than necessary ...

Just a creature of habit, but as long as I stick with re-balancing twice a year I don't think I'm doing any harm.

 

[renegade]

I track seven portfolios daily. My "real" portfolio, and six hypothetical portfolios that each have a slightly different mix of US, INTL and bond funds in them. Monitoring these against world events, market fluctuations, commodity fluctuations, etc helps me to compare volatility versus long term gains in each, compared against such benchmarks as S&P 500, Wilshire 5000, Vanguard total market, etc.

If, over a one-year period, I can determine that an adjustment to the mix would either produce a less volatile mix or a more profitable mix without increased volatility, than I'll adjust my "real" portfolio at year end to more closely mimic that desired result.

 

[Delawaredave]

Why not just calculate your own WAB (weighted average beta)?

There's several funds in my Megacorp 401K that don't have regular ticker symbols - so I don't have betas.

I think I can also get a weighted average beta from M* with X-Ray.

 

[redduck]

mickeyd writes:
A Q for you guys that often check your accounts: What are you looking for or do you just like to see your assets increase or occasionally decrease? Isn't this like watching someone sleep? Breathe in, breathe out...

I guess it all depends who you're watching while they're sleeping. The right person breathing in, breathing out...well, that's a story for another time. I usually check my portfolios 2x's a day--before I leave for work and after I come home. I do it because I like to do it. I find that if I hear the market has gone up a whole bunch, I look forward to seeing how well I've done. If it's gone down a whole bunch...well, sometimes I don't look at all.

 

[justin]

I forgot I'm on the investment committee that manages our company's pension plan investments - so I keep up with market activity daily to stay in touch. We meet roughly monthly and I have to know what is happening.

 

[Nords]

A few more thoughts:

An action-adventure author used to write: "If you're going to kill them then you'd damn well better be able to stand there and look at them." I feel the same way about investing, especially noting my feelings during a prolonged bear market. It's how you learn about your risk tolerance & investor psychology. Someone has to look at those things-- and if it can't be you then you might need to be in Treasuries & CDs.

Of course it's not so essential to share those daily feelings with one's spouse, but it's taken me a couple decades to realize that.

I don't know about you guys, but I visually check the car's tire pressure every time I'm in the garage. (I've finally managed to slack off to twice a year for the spares.) I constantly listen to everything around me and I hear or smell mechanical/electrical problems long before anyone else. I'm always looking at things and wondering how they're running or what's wrong with them. I can't walk by running equipment without hand-checking its temperature. I even watch toilets flush and sinks drain as a status check. Maybe it's too many years of submarine watchstanding but I just can't turn it off... isn't everyone like that?!?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I don't know about you guys, but I visually check the car's tire pressure every time I'm in the garage. (I've finally managed to slack off to twice a year for the spares.) I constantly listen to everything around me and I hear or smell mechanical/electrical problems long before anyone else. I'm always looking at things and wondering how they're running or what's wrong with them. I can't walk by running equipment without hand-checking its temperature. I even watch toilets flush and sinks drain as a status check. Maybe it's too many years of submarine watchstanding but I just can't turn it off... isn't everyone like that?!?

Only since that little man started following me everywhere I go. I know he's out to get me but can't seem to get rid of him.

 

[HFWR]

I don't know about you guys, but I visually check the car's tire pressure every time I'm in the garage. (I've finally managed to slack off to twice a year for the spares.) I constantly listen to everything around me and I hear or smell mechanical/electrical problems long before anyone else. I'm always looking at things and wondering how they're running or what's wrong with them. I can't walk by running equipment without hand-checking its temperature. I even watch toilets flush and sinks drain as a status check. Maybe it's too many years of submarine watchstanding but I just can't turn it off... isn't everyone like that?!?

Yes... Too many years as a tech...

 

[dmpi]

I check our 401K accounts about once a month.
Broker account get checked one a day.
I'm really just looking for someone stealing from the account or something like that.

 

[Donzo]

When I first retired (6 mo. ago) I checked the portfolio every day - I have it set up for one click and full info pops up - less two funds that do not have
"ticker" symbols
Now I check it 2x per week on average - - and only discuss the activity with the DW if the info is very positive

I also check tires visually and look for any liquid under all our vechicles - and others......

 

[audreyh1]

Since we have automatic read out on our tire pressures - both in the motorhome and car (and both when towing the car) we do pretty much check it every day!

I just always felt it was important to be able to know within a day the market value of all my assets. That doesn't mean I take action (I rarely do). I just want the data and the history and it's so easy to pull the info into Quicken that I do it daily out of habit.

When you've looked at daily data over many years you become inured to daily fluctuations - even to market corrections!

I also check bank account and credit card transactions every few days - a little more work, but worth the vigilance.

Audrey

P.S. I remember once upon a time it was a little freaky to see daily changes in net worth equal to what used to be my annual salary early in my career, but you even get over that in time.

 

[donheff]

Now I check it 2x per week on average - - and only discuss the activity with the DW if the info is very positive

Ha - me too. She doesn't want to hear the bad stuff. But she didn't get excited when we went into free fall after 2000 - she couldn't avoid hearing about that.

 

[AltaRed]

I typically update Quicken each evening to capture equity prices. At the minimum, I update at the end of each week. I usually am checking bank accounts every few days anyway and it is easy to simply click the Update icon at the same time.

 

[DRiP Guy]

[while raising hand] "Hi, I am DRiP Guy, and I have a problem..."

I check at least once a day lately, and have done so for the last couple of years.

I also checked frequently when I first started investing in the early 90's.

However, after the bear started in earnest in 2000/2001, I did not check at all for months at a time for a couple of years. I chuckle when I look at my homemade spreadsheet, you can see the chunky granularity in the update rate during that time. To my credit, however, I did stay the course, continue to DCA and not sell or move anything. It was good experience.

When I used to be a roller coaster guy, I would look at them going uphill, but close my eyes at the top and going down. However, I would take the challenge to ride every one that they could put in front of me, no matter how scary.


I wonder if we could predict our investing style based on our RCWM (Roller Coaster Willingness Model):

1. Will you ride a coaster at all, Yes/No?
2. Will you ride ALL coasters, no matter how scary? Yes/No?
3. Assuming one of the first two was a yes, will you watch All of the ride, Yes/No?
4. Assuming one of the first two was a yes, will you watch some of the ride, Yes/No?
5. Assuming one of the first two was a yes, will you at some point in the ride, experience a total freak out and scream that they need to stop this $%@#*&$ before you kill some ^%@#$%&*!!!!
6. Did you answer No to the first question, but still insist on hanging around near the coaster, telling others how they ought to ride?

 

[lowflyer]

A few more thoughts:

Of course it's not so essential to share those daily feelings with one's spouse, but it's taken me a couple decades to realize that.

Now there's a good point. I check my (our) stuff at least every day. Unfortunately, I'm too vocal about the ups and downs. DW thinks I'm nuts, but she does enjoy the money!

One other thing...Before we were into fixed income-type investments, I'd check stuff several times a day when it was going up and once a week or less when it was down. Unless I was trading, all I knew was that it was "less than it was yesterday" and I'd bury my head in the sand. What a plan, huh?

 

[kcowan]

Inspired by Nords, one of the things we have worked at to enjoy retirement is reducing the number of random inputs that are not positive. For example, we do not watch any of the Bush (pre-election, state-of-the-nation, war-in-Iraq, ?) TV speeches. We seldom read newspapers.

In spite of that, we seem to stay informed.

I do not check tire pressure until I feel something wrong while driving.

We try to limit our Domain of Concern to our Domain of Influence. That seems to create more consistent happiness for us.

 

[DRiP Guy]

I do not check tire pressure until I feel something wrong while driving.

We try to limit our Domain of Concern to our Domain of Influence. That seems to create more consistent happiness for us.

Hmmm... I agree with you philosophically, and appreciate the input -- I do need to learn to tune out the excessive inputs, myself.

But on the tire pressure thing specifically, unless you have run flats with a warning system like my vette, I would suggest that you do check your pressures once a month or so. Nothing to get worked up over, but I see underinflated tires on cars around me as I drive, pretty much every day (and not just 'radial bulge - talking near flat).

 

[Nords]

I wonder if we could predict our investing style based on our RCWM (Roller Coaster Willingness Model):
1. Will you ride a coaster at all, Yes/No?
2. Will you ride ALL coasters, no matter how scary? Yes/No?
3. Assuming one of the first two was a yes, will you watch All of the ride, Yes/No?
4. Assuming one of the first two was a yes, will you watch some of the ride, Yes/No?
5. Assuming one of the first two was a yes, will you at some point in the ride, experience a total freak out and scream that they need to stop this $%@#*&$ before you kill some ^%@#$%&*!!!!
6. Did you answer No to the first question, but still insist on hanging around near the coaster, telling others how they ought to ride?

I'm married to a roller-coaster freak who would add:
7. How many times will you exit the ride and squeal "Again!!"?

I gazed from afar as she did 10 consecutive rides on Disney's "Tower of Terror". They started each ride with their hands in the air and their feet off the ground. At the eighth ride there were reports of experimenting with Newton's laws of motion by observing the behavior of coins placed on laps. I thought a more appropriate experiment would be Russian Roulette...

I do not check tire pressure until I feel something wrong while driving.

Too late!

 

[DRiP Guy]

I'm married to a roller-coaster freak who would add:
7. How many times will you exit the ride and squeal "Again!!"?

True; I had forgotten the oddly addictive nature of sheer terror! In my younger days, when there was a new coaster (esp the 'stand-up' or 'hanging' type), we would often ride back to back, if they would let us, for several times.

 

[Patrick]

I'm married to a roller-coaster freak who would add:
7. How many times will you exit the ride and squeal "Again!!"?

I gazed from afar as she did 10 consecutive rides on Disney's "Tower of Terror". They started each ride with their hands in the air and their feet off the ground. At the eighth ride there were reports of experimenting with Newton's laws of motion by observing the behavior of coins placed on laps. I thought a more appropriate experiment would be Russian Roulette...
Too late!

Has she tried "X" at Magic Mountain? It's absolutely the best coaster I've ever ridden. Here's a review: http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/reviews/x/

 

[jazz4cash]

A few more thoughts:

I don't know about you guys, but I visually check the car's tire pressure every time I'm in the garage. (I've finally managed to slack off to twice a year for the spares.) I constantly listen to everything around me and I hear or smell mechanical/electrical problems long before anyone else. I'm always looking at things and wondering how they're running or what's wrong with them. I can't walk by running equipment without hand-checking its temperature. I even watch toilets flush and sinks drain as a status check. Maybe it's too many years of submarine watchstanding but I just can't turn it off... isn't everyone like that?!?

No, everyone is not like that,.......... and many that are won't admit to it.
In fact, most that are not that way believe our this behaviour is not a good thing.

 

[unclemick]

I ah er - had a bad habit of measuring the leak decay rate of a tire on my pickup over a period of time and pontificating whether it was correlated to summer or winter - when a certain female - 'quit screwing around measuring and go to Direct Tire - it will take em about 40 minutes to fix the fricking thing.' I showed her - it took 36.758 minutes.

heh heh heh heh

 

[d]

In my younger days, when there was a new coaster (esp the 'stand-up' or 'hanging' type) ...

in my younger days, before there were any but rickety wooden coasters, i once did 50 consecutive rides. still "lust in my heart" ... but would likely pass today. that said, i keep my eye on the market throughout most days, and check my portfolio at least once a week.(no doubt the market has, on occasion, provided a more healthy (?) substitute for the roller-coaster.)

I'm always looking at things and wondering how they're running or what's wrong with them. I can't walk by running equipment without hand-checking its temperature. I even watch toilets flush and sinks drain as a status check.

this seems like perfectly normal behaviour ... and i'm not an engineer.