This article is a part of a month-long Morningstar Money Challenge. You can find the details here.
You made it! It’s the final day of our month-long Morningstar Money Challenge. If you've have been following along for the last few weeks, you're well on your way to getting in the best financial shape of your life.
If you missed a few days, or tasks, that’s not a problem – you can find the collection of all the days and all the daily challenges here. We started by getting organized, and articulating our plans. We then moved on to specific goals, from very short term, to medium term, and finally retirement.
The task for today is very easy – yet it’s something most of us end up putting off for one reason or another. All you have to do is schedule regular check-ups. This is a very important task, as Morningstar’s director of personal finance Christine Benz explains.
“Investors often make the mistake of checking up on their portfolios too frequently, or worse yet, only after big market moves, when they're most inclined to make rash decisions. To help avoid that pitfall, schedule regular check-ups in advance. For most people, one comprehensive portfolio review per year is plenty, and much better than obsessing on a daily basis. Year-end--ideally around Thanksgiving, before the holidays gear up--is a good time to conduct your annual portfolio review, because you can still make adjustments for the year,” she says.
If you feel there are specific areas that need more work, you can go back to any one day of the challenge to find relevant articles and tools to help you. If you feel information overload setting in, here are some tips Benz recommends to help you focus on the most important factors: Create an Investment Policy Statement and also follow the steps in my "quick and dirty" portfolio checkup.
Benz’s book 30-Minute Money Solutions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Finances has a complete section on keeping your portfolio in peak operating condition, and provides step-by-step guidance to help you complete a host of other financial-planning tasks.
Most importantly, remember that you’ve gotten this far in your money journey – sit back for a few minutes and enjoy it.
Congratulations!