How Often Should You Check Your Brokerage Account in 2023?

It's important to keep tabs on your portfolio without going overboard.

You'll often hear that your brokerage account isn't something you should set up and forget about. Rather, it's a good idea to check up on your portfolio and see how your investments are performing.

But how often should you check in on your brokerage account this year? Once a week? Once a month? Believe it or not, you may want to peek in less frequently than that.

Why a quarterly brokerage account review is ideal

The stock market can be very volatile, so the value of your portfolio can swing wildly from one day to the next. That's why checking your portfolio every day or every week is generally not advisable.

If you review your brokerage account too frequently, you may grow scared or frustrated when you see your portfolio balance continue to dip. And that might drive you to make rash decisions, like selling off stocks when they're down and locking in losses rather than waiting things out and avoiding any sort of financial hit.

But even if you're a seasoned investor who knows not to sell off stocks in a panic, seeing your brokerage account balance shrink from one day to the next can be very disheartening. And it can really mess with your mental health. Why subject yourself to that?

That's why a quarterly portfolio checkup is really much more appropriate. A lot can happen in the course of a quarter, but this way, you'll have a pulse on your portfolio without having to get too caught up in the day-to-day details.

Also, in the course of three months, the value of different investments in your brokerage accounts can change. And that could lead to a scenario where you're not as diversified as you want to be.

If you discover that, you can make changes that lead to a better balance in your portfolio. But that imbalance may not be so obvious from one day or week to the next. Rather, it's more likely to happen over time, which is why checking your brokerage account once a quarter is a good pace to set.

What about your IRA?

If you have separate investments in an IRA account, checking on those once a quarter is a smart move as well. As is the case with your brokerage account, your IRA portfolio could become less diversified over time, so it's good to keep tabs on it.

But checking in on your IRA too frequently could make you miserable, especially during periods of market volatility. And since your IRA isn't something you'll be tapping until retirement (ideally), you don't need that stress.

Even if you're hoping to tap your brokerage account sooner than your IRA, you still shouldn't make the mistake of checking in on it too often. A quarterly review should help you strike the right balance and avoid too much mental anguish during periods when the stock market is being glaringly unkind to investors and there doesn't seem to be much of a light at the end of the tunnel.