How often should I look at my 401k or IRA portfolio?
Co-Authored and Reviewed by Gagan Sandhu, MBA - The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, CEO of Xillion
Posted on . 2 min read
401k & IRA are great for saving and investment because they can be on autopilot most of the time and provide great returns. But this is also one of the biggest problems: we expect everything will work perfectly on autopilot no matter what. In reality, autopilot only works if you have all the inputs right. This only takes a few minutes, but it can make the difference of whether you get to your desired financial destination or not.
So how often should I look at my 401k or IRA portfolio?
Based on our experience working with customers, checking on your portfolio every six months is a good practice. Why? Because the market changes over time. Sometimes fund options change as well. This is especially important if you have old 401k accounts with your previous employers, where the old plan administrators can make drastic changes for ex-employees.
What tools can I use to make it easier?
Plan administrators like Fidelity, Vanguard, Prudential, etc. don’t make it that easy to see and compare things easily (we suspect it is by design). Xillion’s 401k Optimizer analyzes and improves your portfolio in minutes by helping you compare different investment options quickly and clearly. The 401k Optimizer makes it super easy for you to keep tabs on different 401k & IRA accounts in your household. It helps you visualize how your investments are doing across different accounts.
How often should I rebalance my 401k portfolio? And how?
It is generally a good idea to review and rebalance your 401k / IRA portfolio every six months or so. Xillion 401k Optimizer helps you do this in less than five minutes. It also lets you rebalance portfolios across different accounts.
What are some examples of how the 401k Optimizer has helped some of your customers?
One customer discovered that one of their IRA accounts had $50k cash sitting in it for a few years. Since their account always showed a stock-like ticker against this amount, they weren’t aware that it was in fact cash. By investing this amount into low cost index funds, this customer is likely to grow this money into around $1.5m over the next 30 years.
How can I use this product?
Connect your 401k accounts with Xillion, go to 401k Optimizer and follow the instructions to reach a more secure financial future!
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at hello@xillion[.]co