Chinese style interesting times

oldwiring

We seem to be right in them now. As a couple 75 y.os with reasonable final salary and state pensions, do we hold our ISAs and insurance bonds? Or maybe it is better to liquidate some at least before it all unwinds? Thoughts?

atush

Well at 75 I would not be holding a lot of equities due to short term volatility. Esp if you have FS pensions that have yearly increases as that i what equities are for, growth, in an older person's portfolio.

But not sure what kind of insurance bonds you are talking about and the penalties for cashing them in.

Reaper

I assume the title of your post refers to the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times", popularised by Kennedy and more recently Terry Pratchett. However the most interesting thing about it is that it is a myth - the Chinese have no such saying.

But before I go too far off topic...

I'm afraid nobody can say where the markets will go from here. Some will say things are grim and they will fall further, others will say they are already priced for the worst and at the first sign of bottoming out will shoot up again.

Instead as they are undeniably volatile and you are retired then I would say move away from the markets if it is money you need to fund your retirement. However if you are already living comfortably on your pensions and have no need for the money then you could afford to let it ride if you wanted, as long as you have strong hearts and stomaches for what is likely to be a roller coaster ride! Just be clear what it is intended for and when it will be needed so you can start to move to safer ground as the time approches.

lvader

I'm expecting one major crash in the next year or so then a major stocks bull run lasting the next 10 years.

Linton

oldwiring wrote: »

We seem to be right in them now. As a couple 75 y.os with reasonable final salary and state pensions, do we hold our ISAs and insurance bonds? Or maybe it is better to liquidate some at least before it all unwinds? Thoughts?

My view is that you should always have a significant proportion of your wealth in cash savings - both fixed term and instant access - to cover your known and likely needs for say the next 5 years.

Also, if you are investing is stocks & shares and similar higher risk/potentially higher return assets, I believe you should be doing it for a purpose.

Assuming you do have the cash and a purpose for investing, I see no sense in liquidating your investments just because of current circumstances. Clearly the market doesnt believe everything will "unwind" or prices would have fallen very much further than the 10% or so they have since July.