When gas prices change quickly at the pump, we notice. After all, gas prices are posted every few blocks in the city, so the frequency of gas price exposure is high. On average, every 10 cent increase in gas prices means an extra $3.10 per week in fuel expenses. In terms of an average American budget, the increase really isn’t as “terrible” as it feels.
But now imagine if you were exposed to changes in your retirement account values every few minutes or hours. If your investments started to fall for several hours in a row, do you think you’d feel like making a change? Frequency of exposure can hurt your long-term investment strategies. That’s one reason your financial service firm sends you quarterly statements, rather than weekly or monthly.
Maximizing Retirement Readiness 