BetterInvesting's Portfolio Manager Software - an ideal tool for helping you manage your investment records for better investment decisions.

For many investors, an investment record keeping system consists of shoe boxes in a closet, unopened envelopes in a kitchen drawer, or other similar disorganized collection of investment statements. Unfortunately these investment record keeping systems provide little, if any, educational benefit for managing your portfolio.

I would like to share some insight on the educational benefits of investment portfolio management and record keeping, and how investment portfolio management and record keeping improves your investing results.

* Knowing where you are, to get where you want to go.

Just as you need a map when driving to new destinations, you also need an understanding of your current investments, and what changes might be required to reach you long term goals. Often times, investors simply purchase securities based on news headlines, neighbor suggestions, cocktail party tips, or other such means. By adopting an organized record keeping system, you'll have the starting point for your journey as an investor, with the ‘map' in place to reach long term goals. Are you properly organized so you're able to find your starting point, and map out the directions you need to reach your investment goals?

* Reinforces the BetterInvesting guidelines for successful long-term investing.

BetterInvesting provides four empowering principles that are more easily accomplished by adopting an organized portfolio management and record keeping system. By investing a set amount regularly, and reinvesting earnings and dividends, you'll benefit from the proven strategies of dollar cost averaging and compounding growth. An organized record keeping system enables investors to track these regular investments without the paper work headaches. Another guiding principal is to invest in growth stocks and mutual funds. Without an organized record keeping tool, you'll be less equipped to measure the performance of your investments, and less able to weed your investment garden of laggards. Last but not least, diversification plays a critical role for investing success. Like a properly balanced meal, a properly diversified portfolio provides a solid foundation for investors. The organized investor is able to identify how their portfolio is currently diversified, and then able to improve the 'management' of their portfolio when deciding which securities to sell or to purchase to maintain proper diversification. Are you adopting these proven guidelines for your investing success? And if not, is the lack or organization acting as a hurdle?

* Simplifying complicated transaction accounting.

Corporate reorganizations are an increasingly common transaction as businesses try to maximize shareholder wealth. By merging with a compatible business partner, or attempting to unlock a business unit's hidden value through a corporate spin-off, corporations utilize reorganizations to focus on long-term potential. As a result, shareholders are faced with the complicated accounting for these transactions as part of their day-to-day portfolio management process. If you've ever needed to manually apply a spin-off, you know all too well how time consuming and involved this transaction activity can be. The process is even more daunting if you own multiple lots of the issuing company because each individual lot needs an adjustment. By adopting an organized record keeping system, you'll have the necessary tools to avoid what is potentially an accounting nightmare.

* Managing multiple portfolios

Adopting an organized record keeping system enables investors to easily review aggregate holdings when owning multiple accounts. For example, many investors have a taxable stock portfolio in addition to a non-taxable retirement account (401k, IRA, etc.). Sound familiar for yourself? And if so, are the mutual funds in your retirement account properly balanced with your individual stock holdings when considering sector, size and objective? Investors need to understand how all of their portfolios are interrelated in order to identify rebalancing needs for better long term results.

-Leads to greater self-reliance.

In summary, having an organized record keeping system enables the investor to better manage their investments, becoming more self reliant. And that's what BetterInvesting is all about - that with good education and the right investment tools; you can become a successful investor on your own.

If you have any questions, please ask. I'll do my best to answer them, and where relevant, show how BetterInvesting Portfolio Manager can be a helpful investing tool for organizing and managing your investment portfolio(s).