This is question 2 of 4 of Money Magazine’s questions and this one is just as important as question number 1. Why should you keep track of your retirement progress? To make sure you are still on track and so you can make any course corrections you may deem necessary.
Rebalancing is a very important part of this annual check-up as well. Let’s say you want 50% small cap and 50% large cap, if over the course of the last year you notice that your small cap is now more like 60%, then you’ll want to make a change. You’ll want to shift 10% of the funds in your small cap back into the large cap. This simple check-up basically forces you to buy low and sell high!
So, if you haven’t seen your retirement account balances in the last year, check them out right now to see if you need to make any adjustments.