If you want to honestly evaluate whether picking stocks individually is worth your effort and time adequately, you need to measure the performance of your stock portfolio. Otherwise, you can still enjoy the ‘game’ for its own sake…if you really enjoy the process. I understand that some investors relish the process of searching for undervalued stocks and drilling deep into the financial statements of companies. Still, it is important to understand the cost implications of the ‘fun’ you are having. Research indicates that the perception that investors have of their own performance has no correlation to the actual results. What you need to ask first is:

Did you beat the index returns?

If Singapore stocks are your preference, you need to benchmark your results against those of the Straits Times Index (STI). Unfortunately, many investors never track their results and are therefore not aware whether they are doing a good job ......