First use of buffer

[Concours.John]

Pat,

Both buffing and claying should only be done as needed. If the paint is swirl free then there is no need to polish it.

Keep in mind that even with careful wash techniques you will likely get some swirl marks over time, The more careful you are the less frequently they will occur and the more shallow they will be (which is important as even a final polish will remove them).

When you start to see some swirl marks you can lightly polish the surface or wait until you see more. It really is up to you. I wash my car carefully and personally try to limit polishing to no more than 1 once a year (and by this I mean very light polishing). If need be you could use a glaze, something like Sonus Swirlbuster or Chemical Guy's Blacklight in the interim.

Todd nails it on the head, too much OCD can yield no paint to correct. Figuring out what to do to reduce the number of corrective measures yet yielding a pleasing result will always add a long term result. You only have original paint once. Chasing perfection can lead to an O $hit moment. You can't go back at that time.