Stupid to Look at Portfolio Too Often

[jacksonM]

It's nice to know there is math to confirm it but I seem to have figured this out instinctively already.

I thought HB said in his book to only look once a year unless you happen to notice something extraordinary going on in the economy. I was therefore surprised to see there were a lot of portfolio watchers not following his advice.

For those who do look often, what positive benefit can you actually point to for doing that?

[flyingpylon]

I come to the forum for all the late-breaking Permanent Portfolio news.

I check my own portfolio about 2 times per quarter, mostly just to update cash balances (contributions go to cash). When I made a commitment to my current allocation it was with the understanding that it had to be left alone in order to work as expected, and I seem to be fine with that.

[ochotona]

Yes, I need to stop looking. I still look at the Momentum score every month, but the portfolio itself... not necessary to look at it.

[sophie]

I justify looking at the portfolio once a month in order to log into my accounts. I pick up messages and it keeps them active, and if the account were broken into I'd be more likely to detect it in time to do something about it.

I was thinking about going to once per quarter, but not less than that. And if I'm actually systematically logging into the accounts I might as well peek at the portfolio, right? However, I don't do anything to it unless a rebalance band is crossed...just look.

[Tyler]

After years of portfolio watching, I've come to the conclusion that the true problem isn't the act of looking but the reason you're looking. If you're looking because you're terrified of losing money or desperate to make money as fast as possible, it's an indication that you're looking to your portfolio to save you from something. Fix that something, and your investments will feel like a curiosity to keep an eye on rather than a daily struggle. Just not looking at all will definitely help kick you of the habit but won't fix the root cause of your financial insecurity and will leave you highly susceptible to regularly falling off the wagon.

[dualstow]

That's good advice, Tyler. I forgot to mention I also look at indy stocks, with my rationalization being I have to decide when to sell!

Thanks, Barrett. : - )

[buddtholomew]

After years of portfolio watching, I've come to the conclusion that the true problem isn't the act of looking but the reason you're looking. If you're looking because you're terrified of losing money or desperate to make money as fast as possible, it's an indication that you're looking to your portfolio to save you from something. Fix that something, and your investments will feel like a curiosity to keep an eye on rather than a daily struggle. Just not looking at all will definitely help kick you of the habit but won't fix the root cause of your financial insecurity and will leave you highly susceptible to regularly falling off the wagon.

Now that I am aligned with prosperity I feel more comfortable; this was one of the factors that personally caused me so much grief these last years.

[jacksonM]

After years of portfolio watching, I've come to the conclusion that the true problem isn't the act of looking but the reason you're looking. If you're looking because you're terrified of losing money or desperate to make money as fast as possible, it's an indication that you're looking to your portfolio to save you from something. Fix that something, and your investments will feel like a curiosity to keep an eye on rather than a daily struggle. Just not looking at all will definitely help kick you of the habit but won't fix the root cause of your financial insecurity and will leave you highly susceptible to regularly falling off the wagon.

Now that I am aligned with prosperity I feel more comfortable; this was one of the factors that personally caused me so much grief these last years.

I probably learned to avoid looking at my portfolio because I got a late start in building it and I didn't want to be depressed to see how far off I was from being able to retire. My worse fear was that my career would come to an abrupt end before getting anywhere near what I thought I would need for a decent retirement. Since there was really nothing I could do about it except to live within my budget and invest all I could afford I figured the best thing I could do was just to plow forward and hope for the best.

I eventually did get laid off by my employer much to my surprise because I was still one of the most productive people in the company. I think it was probably the result of an email I sent one night when I was drunk and felt like expressing my opinion about something I shouldn't have.

Any way I got six months severance pay and when I checked my portfolio afterwards I was jubilant to find out that I had reached the figure I had in my mind as a retirement goal almost to the dollar. And I did that using the PP. Whether I could have done better with another portfolio or not is a question I really have no interest in. It did what I wanted it to.

[Cortopassi]

Email is a bad thing when emotions are high...

[barrett]

After years of portfolio watching, I've come to the conclusion that the true problem isn't the act of looking but the reason you're looking. If you're looking because you're terrified of losing money or desperate to make money as fast as possible, it's an indication that you're looking to your portfolio to save you from something. Fix that something, and your investments will feel like a curiosity to keep an eye on rather than a daily struggle. Just not looking at all will definitely help kick you of the habit but won't fix the root cause of your financial insecurity and will leave you highly susceptible to regularly falling off the wagon.

Now that I am aligned with prosperity I feel more comfortable; this was one of the factors that personally caused me so much grief these last years.

I probably learned to avoid looking at my portfolio because I got a late start in building it and I didn't want to be depressed to see how far off I was from being able to retire. My worse fear was that my career would come to an abrupt end before getting anywhere near what I thought I would need for a decent retirement. Since there was really nothing I could do about it except to live within my budget and invest all I could afford I figured the best thing I could do was just to plow forward and hope for the best.

I eventually did get laid off by my employer much to my surprise because I was still one of the most productive people in the company. I think it was probably the result of an email I sent one night when I was drunk and felt like expressing my opinion about something I shouldn't have.

Any way I got six months severance pay and when I checked my portfolio afterwards I was jubilant to find out that I had reached the figure I had in my mind as a retirement goal almost to the dollar. And I did that using the PP. Whether I could have done better with another portfolio or not is a question I really have no interest in. It did what I wanted it to.

Interesting story. When did you start investing in the PP?

[jacksonM]

Now that I am aligned with prosperity I feel more comfortable; this was one of the factors that personally caused me so much grief these last years.

I probably learned to avoid looking at my portfolio because I got a late start in building it and I didn't want to be depressed to see how far off I was from being able to retire. My worse fear was that my career would come to an abrupt end before getting anywhere near what I thought I would need for a decent retirement. Since there was really nothing I could do about it except to live within my budget and invest all I could afford I figured the best thing I could do was just to plow forward and hope for the best.

I eventually did get laid off by my employer much to my surprise because I was still one of the most productive people in the company. I think it was probably the result of an email I sent one night when I was drunk and felt like expressing my opinion about something I shouldn't have.

Any way I got six months severance pay and when I checked my portfolio afterwards I was jubilant to find out that I had reached the figure I had in my mind as a retirement goal almost to the dollar. And I did that using the PP. Whether I could have done better with another portfolio or not is a question I really have no interest in. It did what I wanted it to.

Interesting story. When did you start investing in the PP?

About 10 years ago.

[Tortoise]

Email is a bad thing when emotions are high...

At least 80% of my communication with coworkers is via e-mail (I get literally hundreds of work e-mails every day, at least a few dozen of which I have to read and respond to).

And my emotions at work are frequently running high due to perpetual frustration with my coworkers' lack of communication and articulation skills.

Recipe for disaster? LOL!

[jhogue]

I check my portfolio almost every day. I find it mildly entertaining rather than stressful.

As for positive benefits of looking daily, seeing how the components bounce around in random, un-correlated fashion has convinced me that the HBPP dampens overall volatility and gives me a much smoother ride than the stock-heavy portfolio I previously had.