# How often do you check your trading account?



## Juggernaut92

Hello all,

I am relatively new to investing (started around march when the pandemic struck). I am trying to read a lot of books on stocks and stock markets and how they work etc. One of the advice I have heard over and over is not to check your stock account and prices of stocks on a daily basis. For myself I was thinking of checking and managing things once a quarter as my new strategy. I wanted to know what other peoples strategies are for when they make purchases and how often do they check how their investments are doing?

Also, I am an investor that is trying to invest $100-500 in the stock market every month. If there are other traders who invest on a monthly basis then how do you invest often without logging into your account all the time and making trades
?

Any feedback would be appreciated.


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## MrMatt

Check, 2x monthly, because I update all my financial statements monthly, I also double check to make sure I paid all my bills etc.

Consider doing anything investingwise, quarterly-ish, though it could be "when I get $5k cash consider buying investment X".
Look at the recent drops, and think of all the panic sellers... don't be one. Really just never react, by the time retail investors know what changed, it's too late.


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## AltaRed

I use Quicken software with auto update (button) for securities, so I will update 1-2 times a week for that purpose, but not to look at individual line entries. I will check my brokerage accounts online a few times a month to capture transactions (e.g. distributions/dividends) to enter into Quicken.

If not for keeping Quicken updated, and if I relied on brokerage statements only, then it would be only when statements are issued monthly.

Added: It would be fair to say that during the Feb/Mar meltdown, I was looking 2-4 times a week at every entry to see whether I had security swap opportunities, tax loss selling, or otherwise to top up a holding at a 'steal' price. There are times to be on top of one's securities and times when it is just noise.


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## like_to_retire

Juggernaut92 said:


> Hello all,
> One of the advice I have heard over and over is not to check your stock account and prices of stocks on a daily basis. For myself I was thinking of checking and managing things once a quarter as my new strategy.


The reason for the advice to not check often is because many novices will react improperly to standard market volatility. You're going to have to learn to not over-react. I don't think that education comes from not observing volatility. A whole lot of horrible can occur if your interval of checking your account is quarterly.

I check my brokerage every day.

ltr


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## newfoundlander61

I keep track of it more using a spreadsheet rather logging into my trading account. Usually only do that if trading & update my spreadsheet monthly most of the time.


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## Juggernaut92

@MrMatt :That is interesting. Yes I was considering purchasing every few months as in 2021 I will be putting in less money than I did this year.

@AltaRed : I see. That is interesting that you do that. Does your brokerage not show you your account activity? Or do you like to make sure it is in quicken as well? what do you mean when you say individual line entries? Yes looking a lot at stocks in march made sense because of the fluid situation.

@like_to_retire :Yes that is exactly what I have heard. Yes for sure. i think for me checking my brokerage every day is a bit over stimulating and I would not want to get sucked into it every day. But at the same time I do realize that trading equities is a fluid situation and things can change very quickly. Maybe I will lean more towards one month. I recently bought some NKLA stock because it went down to $18 per share and I thought it was a good deal. After though I thought it was dumb that i bought it and I should of just stuck to putting money into VOO. I am thinking something like this could have been avoided if I was not checking so frequently. You do not feel overwhelmed by checking daily? what do you check your account for?

@newfoundlander61 :I see. that makes sense as well.


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## birdman

I'm bad and thankfully retired as I check it several times a day just to see how the market is doing, my watchlist, my portfolio, etc.


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## gardner

I am in mine a few times a month. I download everything to spreadsheets once a month, but go in to get statements, transfer dividend cash to my regular account and so forth.


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## like_to_retire

Juggernaut92 said:


> I am thinking something like this could have been avoided if I was not checking so frequently. You do not feel overwhelmed by checking daily? what do you check your account for?


It's a hobby. I'm never overwhelmed by checking it. There's lots of things to check - prices, dividends, interest payments, news, research, watchlists, etc., etc.

ltr


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## james4beach

like_to_retire said:


> It's a hobby. I'm never overwhelmed by checking it. There's lots of things to check - prices, dividends, interest payments, news, research, watchlists, etc., etc.


Same here. I like checking mine too... almost every day. It's fun.

I also occasionally do a weekly thorough review and tracking of things. In fact I'm about to sit down to do this right now.


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## AltaRed

Juggernaut92 said:


> @AltaRed : I see. That is interesting that you do that. Does your brokerage not show you your account activity? Or do you like to make sure it is in quicken as well? what do you mean when you say individual line entries? Yes looking a lot at stocks in march made sense because of the fluid situation.


I have all my financial accounts, from banking to investments, from all institutions, in one file in Quicken software. The value of Quicken is I can aggregate my entire financial net worth and generate reports on it in a few? hundred different ways. Every stock traded security and mutual fund is loaded with its trading symbol and with the click of a mouse, I can get an instant update on market prices. Others like GICs and bonds need to be market price updated manually (which I do quarterly only). It is an 'all in one' location for all my financial activities.

By entering all security distributions, dividends, interest and accruals(account activity from each brokerage account and banking account), I can then determine CAGR performance of every security individually, or by asset allocation, or by brokerage account or in aggregate for all accounts for whatever period I wish. The possibilities are almost endless I think.

When I commented on updating Quicken 1-2 times per week, but not looking at line entries, I meant I don't look at how each stock is doing in each of my brokerage accounts once or twice a week. For me, that would be a mind numbing use of time for no reason at all. I wouldn't be doing anything with that information anyway.


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## MrBlackhill

like_to_retire said:


> The reason for the advice to not check often is because many novices will react improperly to standard market volatility. You're going to have to learn to not over-react. I don't think that education comes from not observing volatility. A whole lot of horrible can occur if your interval of checking your account is quarterly.
> 
> I check my brokerage every day.
> 
> ltr


@Juggernaut92 I'm also a beginner and I'm watching my investments everyday and even multiple times during the day. That way, I get used to every single event which could occur and how I feel watching it. I recently saw one of stock drop -15% in a single day. I've also witnessed one of my stock soar +175% within 5 days after I bought it. I've watched daily one of my stocks drop almost every day during 4 months for a total drop of -40%. It helps me understand how I feel. It helps me ask myself "what should I do" and see how the different scenarios ended. It helps me to get used to many different situations and understand how I react, what mistakes I could have done, what good moves I could have done. I also read the live comments on stocks to see how I can be influenced, how people can be biased. It helps me gather a lot of information to rationalize.


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## doctrine

If you own individual stocks, especially risky ones, you have to be checking at least every couple of days, and especially when there are big movements. If something fundamentally changes, you may have to take action.

Index investing is much easier and facilitates sleep. I can reliably ignore my fully indexed accounts for long stretches, i.e. as much as monthly.

I put up with individual stock investing because I enjoy it and I seem to be able to outperform the indexes, especially the Canadian one. If I wasn't outperforming, I would stick with the indexes. That day may come.


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## Rusty O'Toole

It all depends on how you trade. I check mine several times a day but don't need to, once a day would be adequate. I would think even the dullest buy and hold investor would check at least once a month.


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## dotnet_nerd

I wrote myself an iOS app for my phone that gives me my portfolio balance in real-time.

But then I'm, a .NET nerd, that's what I do 😉

On my desktop I use an Excel sheet to track everything and display an allocation piechart


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## Beaver101

Rusty O'Toole said:


> It all depends on how you trade. I check mine several times a day but don't need to, once a day would be adequate. *I would think even the dullest buy and hold investor would check at least once a month.*


 ... I used to do that from semi-annually but now need to check at least monthly (if not bi-weekly) on my brokerage accounts due to the linkage with my bank accounts which require an increase in monitoring because of those sneaky banking fee (mostly increases) amendments, "guaranteed" every 6 months plus the 30 days T&C that the customer is responsible for errors and omissions on their statements.


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## Manestream

I am retired, living 100% off of my dividend income. I check my portfolios throughout each and every trading day. Whether that is right for you depends to a great extent on your own personality. Are you the type of investor who is terrified of volatility? Do you trust yourself not to sell in a panic? Do you have a plan for your portfolio that you can stick to in ups and downs? I think that it is important for a new investor to understand the amount of volatility in the markets...so coming from a learning perspective...it is important to watch your portfolio daily. You need to learn to control your emotions to be a good long term investor. I know that I have done so and as a result did NOT react by selling when my portfolios dropped over a million dollars in March of this year. They have recovered more than 100%, just as they have done several times throughout my investing history. I think it is good to see this and know that over a long enough holding period you will be fine...if you have a plan and stick to it! Remember that you are saving for your retirement...hopefully that will be several decades in length. Essentially your investment holding period could be 30, 40 or 50 years...you can ride out any volatility if you think in that fashion.

I think it is also good to keep on top of news about both the stocks you own and the ones on your watch list. Things change, dividends can be cut...and you have to be aware to consider how you will use that information. An excellent source of news is seekingalpha.com.


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## GreatLaker

I also use Quicken as my main financial management and tracking tool. I have a Google Sheet on my phone that looks up stock quotes and gives my portfolio value (ticker symbols only, excluding mutual funds, bonds and GICs). I check these regularly, but just a quick glance. I log on to my brokerage account weekly to check my holdings and values, and monthly I d/l my statements, verify against Quicken, and calculate my returns (using Longinvest's wonderful returns spreadsheet).

A better way to avoid stressing over market movements and portfolio fluctuations is to understand how markets move. Teach yourself that 10% drawdowns are not unusual, bear markets happen every couple of years and big crashes like 2000-2003 and 2008 happen every decade or so. Choose an asset allocation in alignment with your risk tolerance and investing timeline. You need to strike a balance between understanding your financial situation and investments, yet not getting stressed or engaging in unproductive responses to investment news and market fluctuations.

There are lots of great books and online resources to help.

If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly is a free ebook by William Bernstein. The author says more in 16 pages than many do in hundreds. It is US based but the same principles apply in Canada. Another great in-depth book by the same author is The Four Pillars of Investing.

Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam is an inspirational book about frugal living and low-cost investing.

Finiki, the Canadian Financial Wiki is an excellent online resource for Canadian Investors

Stock Series by JL Collins is another learning resource, although more advanced than the above ones.


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## Gator13

AltaRed said:


> I have all my financial accounts, from banking to investments, from all institutions, in one file in Quicken software........


Which Quicken software package do you use? Thx


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## cainvest

dotnet_nerd said:


> On my desktop I use an Excel sheet to track everything and display an allocation piechart


I also use a spreadsheet and normally update it a few times a year. I loosely follow the market a few times each day unless I'm active in buying or selling, then I may do it more frequently. Also after I update my main spreadsheet I set prices points for any buying/selling I'm thinking of doing.


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## Mechanic

I also look at my portfolio and my trading platform most trading days. My portfolio and income streams were hit hard in March but I have made quite a few trades and changes since and it has helped to recover quite a bit, although I still have a ways to go. I didn't sell very many of my holdings but am actively taking profits on an ongoing basis, where available.


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## AltaRed

Gator13 said:


> Which Quicken software package do you use? Thx


Home and Business in order to get all the features I want. It is a subscription model now as per Quicken Package Comparisons Deluxe may be good enough for most. 

Many users objected when Intuit sold Quicken and it became an annual subscription model (like MS Office Personal 365) because of the increased cost. It is more costly than it should be but I find it to be worth it for the flexibility and friendliness it offers. Plus it is something my POA could easily take over to manage my affairs. Plus I detest purpose built spreadsheets.

It is a matter of personal choice. I have used Quicken since at least 1995 for all financial records and will continue for as long as I remain cognizant.


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## Juggernaut92

@like_to_retire : Hmm I see. I dont know if overwhelmed is the right word. For me it is kind of like going on facebook and then getting sucked into it for a ridiculous amount of time. That is what I want to avoid and I am just trying to find a good balance. In this case checking your trading account is more important and productive than facebook.

@james4beach : Yes I am definitely into the weekly or monthly reviews just to keep track of everything. That is pretty cool.

@AltaRed :ahh that is pretty cool and sounds quite convenient. I was thinking of finding out a way as well as to how my investments are doing over a year period. I may start using that software as well.Now that makes sense. Yes I am with out in terms of that information is not helpful to see all the time.

@MrBlackhill : I see. I see some of your posts on the forum but was unaware that you are a beginner. That is good that you are being on top of it and trying to absorb as much info as you can. For me I want to strike some kind of balance between checking/trading and doing everything else in my life. I feel like after a certain point I just cant absorb more info or it does not make sense to regarding checking the prices of stocks and/or how my securities are doing

@doctrine :Yes for sure. i am mostly trying to go with ETFs and blue chip companies as I want to invest but do not want to spend tons of time watching my account. Seems like you already know this. That is a good point about stocks beating the ETF for canada.

@dotnet_nerd : That is pretty cool

@Beaver101 : seems like linking to your bank account is a headache. What sneaky fees are you talking about? inactivity fees?

@Manestream : Thanks for that information. That is quite helpful. Yes for sure I get that part about news. Recently riocan cut their dividends a bit and I am holding them in one of my accounts. It seems like you almost trained yourself over the years and that is how you knew your portfolio would bounce back.

@GreatLaker :Thanks for sharing that info. I may try and setup a system similar to yours. Yes for sure understanding the market is important. I started investing this year but am aware that every 10 years or so a recession happens and stocks usually take a big hit. I have read millionaire teacher and thought it was an excellent book. I will try and check out the other resources as well. I am really trying to simplify my portfolio by investing into mostly index funds.

@cainvest : interesting. i do have a spreadsheet as well.

@Mechanic :Yes it would make sense to check your account this year a lot because of the pandemic.


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## GreatLaker

If you want to track your investment returns this spreadsheet works well.

Investment Performance Spreadsheet - Financial Wisdom Forum 
Calculating personal returns - Bogleheads 

Or if you want to do your own calculations this thread shows how to use the XIRR function in a spreadsheet. Note that XIRR is money weighted return. Returns for <1 year will not be annualized, and if you have large deposits or withdrawals relative to your account balance they can affect the calculations.
Question to OpenOffice users: how to calculate XIRR? | Canadian Money Forum


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## marina628

Lately every day as I have been quite active.


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## Thal81

Daily too, just before starting work. I've noticed that I forget to check often when I'm on vacation, so it's definitely something I do for work motivation...


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## Juggernaut92

Thanks Greatlaker. I will check those out.


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## kcowan

I do it once a quarter because a couple of my holdings require extra effort. 

Once in a while if doing an NG or buying or selling a position, I spend a day or two.

During the recent period of volatility, I checked a few extra times but I conclude that is because I am not busy enough in my isolated life.


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## MrMike

I do log in almost every day; not necessarily to do anything, just to look around  

Disclaimer: I have the type of personality that I could log in, see red and not worry.


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