Q: This is the first year I’ve actually invested and I want to complete an investment review. How can I do this?

A: By this time in January, your mailbox should be filling up with annual statements for your 401(k), IRA and bank accounts, which means it’s the perfect time to perform a simple investment review. It can be difficult to know how to do a review: what should you look at? How do you know when to take action?

With any investment review, begin with each investment’s return on investment (ROI) or annual percentage yield (APY) numbers. Trouble is easy to spot as a negative number — make a note of any investments that have lost money during the year for further investigation.

Other issues may require more research. Many investment account statements will provide a “benchmark” — the performance numbers of similar assets for purposes of comparison. Company annual reports will show the stock’s performance in previous years, the company’s own projections for growth and other companies in the industry. Mutual funds will typically use an “index” — a group of companies that is similar in nature to those owned by the fund.

Use the benchmarks to determine whether your investments are growing or providing income at the same rate as their peers. If you feel that performance is unsatisfactory, read through the annual reports for an explanation. Depending on how long and how badly the investment is performing, you can place it on a watch list or decide to sell it right away.

Next, review all your investments as a whole in comparison to your long term goals and overall investment strategy. If you are getting older, you may want to move a larger portion of your portfolio into less risky investments, or switch from growth to income producing options. You may have cash that should be earning interest or dividends rather than sitting in your checking account.

Finally, make sure to rebalance. Growth rates differ, and that perfect 60% stock, 40% bond portfolio may have evolved into 80-20 or 50-50. Buy and sell as needed to return your portfolio to the desired mix.