How and when should I rebalance my portfolio?

Rebalancing means selling what's grown too large and buying what's lagged to return to your target allocation — say, trimming stocks back to 70% after a strong year. Two common approaches: rebalance on a schedule (once a year, often in January or on your birthday) or rebalance whenever an asset class drifts past a set band. Either works; the key is having a rule and following it instead of guessing. The simplest way to rebalance with no selling is to direct new contributions toward whatever's underweight, which nudges you back toward target automatically. Annual checking is plenty for most people — more frequent fiddling adds costs and stress without improving returns. Rebalancing isn't about chasing performance; it's about keeping your risk level steady so a bull market doesn't quietly leave you more exposed than you intended.