I mean folks are always talking about their retirement funds and such, but does anyone ever bother to look at or inspect things without some other impetus? Like when was the last time you checked to see how much was there? Or when was the last time you look over how the stocks were going if your company goes with a stock option? I personally like to keep an eye on mine, but then again I grew up with the Enron thing... so yeah.
looking at your retirement fund is not a bad idea at all. If you will just keep in mind what it was intended for and you are more excited how much it grew overtime, then I agree and it gives you more motivation to add more to it. However, if you think that you might get something from it to spend for something you just "want", then it is better to leave it alone and thank yourself for doing that when the actual date finally arrives.
I check the Dow just to get a general idea about the market several times a week. I check my retirement accounts quarterly. I think if you check more often than that you risk driving yourself crazy just due to the normal fluctuations of the market being what they are.
I think the best advice I ever got with regards to this (I'm investing in index funds) is to put it in the index and then forget about it until you want to retire. Sounds like sound advice! Especially when you hear that index funds beat actively managed funds a majority of the time. THAT SAID it is nice to have a general idea of how much you have in there and how much you would want in there at this point in your life.
