How Often Do You Check Your Investments?

Much has changed in financial markets over the past several months. Have the market’s changes changed you?

I received a quarterly statement from my retirement plan last week. Over the weekend, I decided to check things out on-line and I encountered a couple of problems: username and password.

Photo by rocksee, courtesy of flickr

It had been so long since my last login that I couldn’t recall either item!

Once I logged in, I saw last quarter’s losses had been recovered in the two weeks since the statement’s closing date.

That’s nice, but after yesterday a portion of those gains were reversed. For some people, the ups and downs can cause them to be stressed out about money or investments.

Aside from my sudden interest over the weekend, my habits haven’t changed. I look at the statements when I receive them.

I don’t have to look at my account as much since I keep up with the markets and have a pretty good idea of my investment choices.

The May issue of Money Magazine published the results of a CNNMoney.com poll which asked people “In the past six months, how often have you looked at your investments?” Here are the results:

Once  a week - 18 percent

Every day – 22 percent

Every month or so – 26 percent

I can’t bear to look – 34 percent

Have you checked your investments more often, less often or just as often in the past six months?