When holiday trimmings begin appearing in stores, you know what time of year it is: It's time for you to give your portfolio a thorough year-end checkup.
Key points to cover include:
Asset mix: Your mix of U.S. stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, and cash.
Investment style: Does your portfolio still match your style and goals? Remember, portfolios can shift over time, as some investments perform better than others.
Overconcentration: You may discover you own more of a stock than you think. You have to be especially careful if you own mutual funds, as an overlap of holdings occurs regularly.
Foreign exposure: Perhaps you believe you don't have any. But you may be surprised. Most large companies have international operations, and these count as foreign exposure.
So how do you rebalance?
First, go to Portfolio X-Ray on Morningstar Library Edition. Here you can enter your holdings. Once you do, you can check everything mentioned above, and more, including fees and expenses. You can dig down to the individual holdings level to see how your stocks, funds, and ETFs are performing, all from the privacy of your home or business.
Second, consult a reference on ways to conduct a portfolio review. Doing so ensures you don't overlook something important. We suggest you refer to the Portfolio courses in the Investing Classroom on Morningstar Library Edition. While we think you will find the entire section invaluable, you'll find two tracks in particular that deal with the task at hand: Portfolios 301 and 302--How to Monitor Your Portfolio, Parts 1 and 2.
What are you waiting for? Click here to begin!
Armed with these tips and tools provided free by your library, you'll be ringing in the new year in great financial shape!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment