An Annual Portfolio Review Checklist
A structured way to look at your investment accounts once a year, before the next statement arrives and the review gets pushed to next year again.
Investors who haven't looked closely at their accounts in a year or more and want a repeatable way to check whether the portfolio still matches the plan.
Portfolios drift quietly. Holdings get added a few at a time across different accounts, and by the time anyone steps back, the mix on paper often looks different from the mix someone intended.
- How to restate your objective and time horizon in one sentence
- A way to check actual allocation against a target and measure drift
- How to spot concentration and overlap across separate accounts
- What to look at when comparing costs and expense ratios
- Why tax location of holdings matters as much as selection
- How to size cash and near-term spending needs honestly
- A fair way to compare performance against a benchmark
- 1
Restate the objective and time horizon
Before looking at a single holding, write down in one sentence what this money is for and when it's needed. A portfolio built for income in five years should look different from one meant to grow for fifteen. If you can't state the objective clearly, that's the first thing to fix, not the allocation.
Questions to answer- · What is this specific account meant to accomplish?
- · Has the time horizon changed since we last set it?
- · Would a stranger reading our statement guess the same goal?
- 2
Compare current allocation to target and measure drift
Markets move at different speeds across asset classes, so a portfolio set to a target mix a year ago rarely sits there today. Add up actual holdings by category across every account, not just one, and compare the total to the original target. A gap of a few percentage points is common; a gap of many is worth a conversation about whether to rebalance.
Questions to answer- · What is our actual mix today, across all accounts combined?
- · How far has that mix drifted from the original target?
- · Was the drift caused by markets, contributions, or both?
6 more sections in the full guide.
Here is exactly what is still to come. Add your name and email above to keep reading on this page and print a copy. Two fields — never account balances or account numbers.
- Check for concentration and overlap across accounts
It's common for a household to hold the same fund, sector, or single stock in more than one account without realizing it, especially when accounts were opened at different times or by different people.
Includes: “Does any single company or sector show up in more than one account?”
- Review costs and expense ratios
Fund expense ratios, advisory fees, and trading costs all reduce what an account keeps over time, and they're often listed in places investors don't routinely check.
Includes: “What is the expense ratio on each fund we hold?”
- Look at where holdings sit, not just what they are
The same investment can behave differently depending on whether it sits in a taxable account, a traditional retirement account, or a Roth account, because of how dividends, interest, and gains are taxed.
Includes: “Which holdings generate the most taxable income each year?”
- Size cash and near-term spending needs honestly
A review isn't complete without checking whether the amount held in cash or cash-like instruments matches what's actually needed in the next year or two.
Includes: “What will we need to withdraw from this portfolio in the next year?”
- Compare performance against a fair benchmark
Comparing a diversified portfolio to a single stock index is rarely a fair test, since the two carry different risk.
Includes: “What benchmark actually matches our asset mix?”
- Document the reason for keeping each holding
For every position of meaningful size, write one line explaining why it's still held.
Includes: “Can we state a current reason for holding each major position?”
No spam. We never sell or share your details, and you can ask us to stop contacting you at any time.
Official sources
Rules change. Confirm anything that affects a decision against the current official source.
Where this fits in our work
This guide accompanies our investment management work. Joe Donti meets with Arizona households by appointment — in the Scottsdale office, by phone, or on Zoom.
Related reading
This guide is general education and is not individualized investment, tax, legal, Medicare, or insurance advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy or sell any product or security. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Insurance and annuity guarantees depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing carrier. Rules and figures change — confirm current details with the official sources above and with your own tax, legal, or insurance professional.