2. You receive a windfall. A monetary windfall from an inheritance, legal settlement, business success or other source could significantly change your financial situation. If you’re the beneficiary of a large sum of money, it’s probably time for a portfolio makeover.

The extent of the makeover, of course, depends on the size of the windfall. If it’s large enough to meet your retirement objectives, your retirement investing emphasis might shift from a growth focus to a more conservative wealth preservation focus. A modest windfall, on the other hand, may have less of an effect on your investment strategy. If you receive a windfall, see if there are any adjustments to your investment strategy or asset allocation you should consider making.

3. You get married. Depending on your stage in life, marriage can be an ideal time to reshape your portfolio. If you and your spouse are both young and relatively early in your investment process, overhauling your portfolio may not be necessary, but it would be a good idea to develop a mutual understanding of the direction you both want to go with your investment plan.

Marriage and money, however, can affect different couples in different ways. For newlyweds with investment assets, a portfolio makeover should be an early priority. Even if your assets are in separate accounts, it may help to coordinate your investment decisions to achieve a proper level of diversification.

For instance, are there redundancies in your portfolios? Do both of you hold significant positions in the same stocks, bonds or mutual funds? By coordinating your asset allocation and future investment decisions, you can give your portfolio a makeover that corresponds with your mutual goals, objectives and threshold for risk.

4. You have a baby or adopt. Suddenly life just got serious—and more expensive. That may not be a reason to adjust your asset allocation, but you may want to redirect some of your investment contributions to an educational savings account. There are several tax-advantaged investment options including Coverdell plans and 529 educational savings plans to help fund the future education of your child.

5. You’re approaching retirement. As you move closer to retirement, the common wisdom is that your portfolio should become more conservative to help preserve the assets you’ve accumulated. But exactly when and at what pace you make that switch depends entirely on your specific needs and objectives. Some investors may reallocate their assets the day they retire while others may continue with an aggressive strategy until they’ve reached their long-term needs or goals.

Asset allocation funds allow investors to gradually transition to a more conservative allocation by switching from one type of asset allocation fund to another as their needs or objectives change. These diversified mutual funds run the gamut from aggressive allocation, which is weighted heavily in stocks, to conservative allocation, which is dominated by bonds and other income-oriented investments. Asset allocation funds help investors who are nearing retirement move from one stage to the next—from aggressive to moderately aggressive to moderately conservative—as their needs and objectives change.

6. Market gains or losses have skewed your allocation. There are times when large gains or losses in the stock or bond markets can throw your asset allocation mix out of balance. When that happens, some investors shift their assets to rebalance their portfolio back to the original allocation.

For example, let’s say you’ve decided to build a portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. But a run-up in the stock market pushes the value of your stocks to an allocation of 70% stocks and 30% bonds. To rebalance, you would need to either sell a portion of your stocks and reallocate the money to bonds or switch new investments to concentrate more on bonds while reducing how much you are investing in stocks. Both methods are ways to help you rebalance your portfolio to the 60 – 40 target.

One way to make rebalancing easier is to invest in a mutual fund that matches your own asset allocation parameters. Asset allocation funds range from aggressive to moderate to conservative and each fund is committed to maintaining an asset mix within a specific range of parameters. Find a fund that matches your asset allocation objectives, and you can let the fund manager do the work of keeping the asset mix on track.

When considering making changes to your portfolio, a good place to start is to determine your current comfort with investment risk—also known as your risk tolerance. Take a few minutes to complete this investment style quiz to help you learn more about what kind of investor you are.

Big changes in your life may warrant an occasional reallocation of your portfolio. But between those life changes, your best approach may be to keep the makeovers to a minimum to give your strategy time to work.