Tracking Investments & Assets

[Anonymous]

Do you have a system for keeping track of various investments?

All your retirement accounts for various jobs, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, etc.

I’d like to get more organized in this area.

[Anonymous]

First roll all your previous emoployer 401ks into your current employer 401k.

[Anonymous]

I track everything in YNAB and still meticulously budget despite an 800k HHI.

[Anonymous]

Spreadsheet. I've been tracking for 15 years now, and it's really cool to see year-over-year growth. I have columns for savings account, IBonds, 401k, IRAs, brokerage, 529 plans, kids' UTMAs, rental real estate, and rental real estate mortgage, personal real estate, and personal real estate mortgage. When I do my annual net worth, I have 1 column for just investment accounts - 401k, IRAs, brokerage, iBonds savings, and rental real estate, less the rental real estate mortgage), then a column that adds home equity, and then a column that adds 529 and UTMA balances. TI consider the first column my "networth" but having the second and third columns let's me remember I have more money for other purposes.

I don't do any joint tracking - like my husband's retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, and even our joint checking account (which just covers our regular expenses) don't factor into my spreadsheet. We are pretty dysfunctional, so I just track what I can control and check in on his credit once in a while.

[Anonymous]

I use Quicken

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First roll all your previous emoployer 401ks into your current employer 401k.

+1

Then do something simple like an excel document with a separate column for 401k, Roth, taxable account, bank account, and total. It's much easier to stick with an investing plan if it's simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First roll all your previous emoployer 401ks into your current employer 401k.

I prefer to roll old 401ks into an IRA at a brokerage like Vanguard rather than put all my eggs in my current employer's basket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I track everything in YNAB and still meticulously budget despite an 800k HHI.

honestly sounds like overkill, but you do you!

[Anonymous]

I have a spreadsheet but only update it once a year. Better to pay less attention is my motto

[Anonymous]

We have a dashboard at our brokerage that shows all our accounts. (Checking and savings are on the bank side, so it is on the dashboard as well, but not included in our brokerage totals or calculations. We don't include the checking or savings in terms of retirement.) This provides so many charts that show various timeframes of performance.

We have rolled DH's previous 401Ks (2) into an IRA that is held in our brokerage so that it isn't part of his current 401K. He also has a SEP IRA, as do I. All shown on the dashboard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I track everything in YNAB and still meticulously budget despite an 800k HHI.

honestly sounds like overkill, but you do you!

Not the PP, but we do the same. We track everything so that we understand how much we really spend as we get closer to retirement. What you need to retire is dependent on how much you spend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a spreadsheet but only update it once a year. Better to pay less attention is my motto

Set it and forget it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First roll all your previous emoployer 401ks into your current employer 401k.

Not always the best option. I'm not rolling my long-term TSP into my firm's crappy 401(k) that has high fees despite being terrible.

[Anonymous]

I have 401ks littered across the landscape and I track them via yellow post it stuck under my laptop. No matter what, you’re more organized than I am - as is basically everyone. The only thing I got going for me is that I’m a set it and forget it kind of person and have managed to save millions that way.

[Anonymous]

I created my own spreadsheet and update quarterly. It wasn't that hard to learn the basic formulas for adding and multiplying the various columns and I'm no excel whiz. It was easier for me to have my own that I designed rather than try to use an example from the internet that wasn't intuitive. I put a formula in there that multiples my annual expected pension (only once vested) and turns it into an asset.