Selling everything when the market reaches a new all time high

System

Will the market go higher or lower? Your thoughts

le_loup

Yes it will.
............ or it may stay the same.

JohnRo

Will the market go higher or lower? Your thoughts

It will do both. When? - that's the big question.

If you're a long term investor with a plan, it doesn't really matter.

redmalc

I cashed 50% yesterday and holding in cash for a month or so waiting to see what happens,who knows but i have had an exceptional run the last six months and got a bit concerned given the racy portfolio i had chosen.
I have learnt after many years of ups and downs timing the market is nigh impossible but i am 60 plus now and i am becoming more cautious with the majority of my portfolio,however i still have what my IFA calls a very risky 110K in HL,i look after that not him

AnotherJoe

redmalc wrote: »

I cashed 50% yesterday and holding in cash for a month or so waiting to see what happens,who knows but i have had an exceptional run the last six months and got a bit concerned given the racy portfolio i had chosen.
I have learnt after many years of ups and downs timing the market is nigh impossible but i am 60 plus now and i am becoming more cautious with the majority of my portfolio,however i still have what my IFA calls a very risky 110K in HL,i look after that not him

The dilemma you have now is when to go back in? if in 6 months time the market is up another 20% will you go in then? If not what if its another 10% up 6 months after that? Or if it falls 20% in the next years will you go back in or will you be trying to catch a falling knife?

Unless you need the money, or you simply have enough cash you no longer need to risk it at all, or are rebalancing to hold a steady percentage in cash, long term its a losing proposition.

System

I cashed 25% last week when it was at peak. I am expecting the bear market come October. Who knows

grey_gym_sock

redmalc wrote: »

I cashed 50% yesterday and holding in cash for a month or so waiting to see what happens,who knows but i have had an exceptional run the last six months and got a bit concerned given the racy portfolio i had chosen.
I have learnt after many years of ups and downs timing the market is nigh impossible but i am 60 plus now and i am becoming more cautious with the majority of my portfolio,however i still have what my IFA calls a very risky 110K in HL,i look after that not him

it's perfectly reasonable to want to scale down your risk as you get older. you could pick a lower allocation to equities, and move to that allocation, and stay there (until your circumstances change again, either when you're older again or for some other reason).

is that what you're doing by cashing in 50%, i.e. do you now have the lower equity allocation you've settled on? or do you plan to buy back in later on? selling and buying back later is much harder to do successfully.

redmalc

I was,getting slightly worried at my massive exposure in very racy funds,I have still got 45 K locked in property funds.
I may have panicked slightly but hitting 61 years of age makes your brain think differently,in previous ups and downs I did not care a monkey to losing 60K on paper but now that would hurt given I think we are due a correction shortly.
I will enter the market again if thinks do go the opposite way,who knows what's around the corner,well Carney doesn't so what chance have we got!!!

Ray_Singh-Blue

Anyone tempted? I'm really wrestling with this.

Reason: the main purpose of my S&S ISA is mortgage repayment. VWRL, which is main holding, has risen by 29.3% over the last 12 months. I can't shake the feeling that banking some of this will allow me to bring forward projected mortgage repayment date, or at least mortgage-equivalence date, with some confidence. Which would be nice.

le_loup

I need some cash later this year so, I took a chance and sold what I will need last week. Still leaves a lot invested which I don't need near term and I would not consider selling any of that.