Based on what you might encounter in the media, it looks like some people spend 100% of their time immersed in handling and dealing with money and finance. Maybe all of them work in finance. Or so it would seem.
I don’t work in finance and never have. But I thought it to would be of interest to me if I sat down and calculated how I spend my time regarding money. How much time each day or week do I deal with money?
Here are some results.
Every morning I check my primary checking account so see what deposits or withdrawals might have occurred in the last 24 hours. It takes **one to three minutes a day** if there are any transactions.
The reason why
I check my checking account so I can mark posted checks and deposits in my check register. I wish to know what my bank thinks is my balance. But the main reason is that I want to be assured no unexpected attempt was made to withdraw from my account.
If you are old enough, you might recall waiting for the monthly paper statement in the mail that came with your canceled checks. So in this sense, technology has improved our situation.
Investing
As mentioned in The Mechanics of Money (Part 3): How I Invest, I have second checking account at a different bank. This second account is the one from which I make my investments and to which some cash dividends get deposited. This account has the feature where I can get automated alert messages whenever a deposit or withdrawal is made. Since I only use this account for investments, I set up to get alerts for all transactions.
I enter all transactions regarding this account in a spreadsheet. You can download a free sample of this spreadsheet (AccountBalance.xlsx) from the Downloads page .
So it takes **zero to three minutes a day** to enter all transactions regarding this account in the spreadsheet. If no alerts, no time. If I get an alert, it might take 1 to 3 minutes to enter that data.
Stocks
I have another spreadsheet in which I enter all transactions for each stock I own. You can download a free copy of this spreadsheet (StockSpreadsheet.xlsx) from the Downloads page.
I enter every dividend and every purchase, whether dollar cost averaging or from dividend reinvestment, in this spreadsheet. This spreadsheet has an individual page for each stock, and a summary page that shows all stocks.
I might spend **two to three minutes** entering the information when I receive a dividend or make a purchase (direct or automated dollar cost averaging).
Net Worth
I update my net worth after the close of each quarter. I have a spreadsheet to enter this data that allows me to see at a glance the history of my net worth. To update this data, I check my bank and brokerage accounts (at least) quarterly. It takes about **ten to fifteen minutes** per quarter to update this information.
New investments
Periodically I consider making a new investment. The research is not always quick, and may stretch over days or weeks, a few minutes at a time. So for this activity, I cannot give an estimate. On the other hand, at this stage of life I make far fewer new purchases than I used to, so in reality there is not a lot of time on this process.
The Blogosphere
I read many blogs and websites, many of which are related to personal finances, news, and other topics. For this I use an RSS reader. There are many such readers around, and I have tried a few. These days I like and use Feedly for this task.
The amount of time I use for this activity is indeterminate, as it depends on how busy I am or what other time commitments I have. There are days I do not have time to catch up on these sites at all. At other times I often use “wait time” to catch up on this reading. For example, if I am on hold on the phone, I will use that time to do some reading. Or sometimes I skip it altogether.
Setup
While maintaining financial information as mentioned above seems like a small amount of time, it took much more time to set up than it takes to maintain it. And it took some trial and error to see what the most efficient and effective methods for me.
It Was Worth It
It was worth the time spent to set up all these spreadsheets and track my financial condition. Knowing where I stand has given me several benefits. I know my situation. I know the state of each account. By knowing these things, I know how much risk I am willing to tolerate in any new financial activity.
How much time do you spend regarding money? You can let me know on the Contact page.
The 1936 photograph of plowing on Maryland farm is from the Farm Security Administration and is now housed at the Photography Collection of the New York Public Library.
The plant illustration is from a volume titled “Expedição Portugueza ao Muata-Ianvo. Os climas e as Producções das terras de Malange á Lunda, etc. pt. I”, published in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1889, and is housed at the British Library.
The illustration of a turkey buzzard is from “Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands: containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants: particulary the forest-trees, shrubs, and other plants, not hitherto described, or very incorrectly figured by authors. Together with their descriptions in English and French. To which are added, observations on the air, soil, and waters: with remarks upon agriculture, grain, pulse, roots, &c.”, 1754, and is housed at Biodiversity Heritage Library of the Smithsonian Institution.
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