Why tinkering too much with your portfolio won't pay off

Knowledge @ Wharton | The Wharton School | 02 August 2013

Investors run the gamut, from fire-and-forget types who buy managed funds and leave them alone for decades, to those who watch their portfolios minute by minute, ready to buy or sell with every up and down.

But is there a golden mean that would allow the investor to act when it will really pay off, while avoiding counterproductive tinkering? Common sense says that this Goldilocks zone must exist, but theorists have had a hard time nailing...