It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Slinky

atush said:

Slinky said:

Having received a second letter from my pensions company informing me my portfolio was down 21% from January (as at 3 days ago), I've instructed them today to liquidate 75% into cash and keep 25% in the least exposed part of my portfolio. I've already lost a six figure sum, I can't just let so much more slip away. It's been years of hard work and all of it from my own contributions as I've been self employed for the past 15 years. It was only more recently I could stick decent amounts in so I was in a medium-high risk portfolio which has now come back and bitten me on the bum. Ho hum.

I've also started selling shares in my ISA.

Who knows if these are the right decisions, but they would have been better taken last week. I can only hope that next week I can look back and think I did the right thing.

Ive started buying, not selling.

What is it that makes you think we're near the bottom?

Thrugelmir

atush said:

Slinky said:

Having received a second letter from my pensions company informing me my portfolio was down 21% from January (as at 3 days ago), I've instructed them today to liquidate 75% into cash and keep 25% in the least exposed part of my portfolio. I've already lost a six figure sum, I can't just let so much more slip away. It's been years of hard work and all of it from my own contributions as I've been self employed for the past 15 years. It was only more recently I could stick decent amounts in so I was in a medium-high risk portfolio which has now come back and bitten me on the bum. Ho hum.

I've also started selling shares in my ISA.

Who knows if these are the right decisions, but they would have been better taken last week. I can only hope that next week I can look back and think I did the right thing.

Ive started buying, not selling.

Admire your optimism. 

shinytop

I'm not quite brave enough buy yet although I had planned to rebalance soon, which would mean raising equities back up to 50%
 
Luckily I did a big crystallisation a few months ago, so I had to sell to raise the TFLS, which dropped my equities to 50%.  I intended to reinvest the cash but never did.  I'd like to think it was a shrewd investment decision but it was just apathy/inactivity. 

Not as bad as it could have been but still a bit depressing.     

Thrugelmir

shinytop said:

I'm not quite brave enough buy yet although I had planned to rebalance soon, which would mean raising equities back up to 50%
 
Luckily I did a big crystallisation a few months ago, so I had to sell to raise the TFLS, which dropped my equities to 50%.  I intended to reinvest the cash but never did.  I'd like to think it was a shrewd investment decision but it was just apathy/inactivity. 

Not as bad as it could have been but still a bit depressing.     

Most investors have made positive returns (nearer the long term historic averages) in recent years. Not grounds for complaint. 

Terron

atush said:

Ive started buying, not selling.

So have I. Specifically I put 20k from the sale of a property into an ISA. It probably hasn't reached bottom, but it is a lot closer than it was last week. Most of the profit from the sale is still in cash though.

gary83

Slinky said:

atush said:

Slinky said:

Having received a second letter from my pensions company informing me my portfolio was down 21% from January (as at 3 days ago), I've instructed them today to liquidate 75% into cash and keep 25% in the least exposed part of my portfolio. I've already lost a six figure sum, I can't just let so much more slip away. It's been years of hard work and all of it from my own contributions as I've been self employed for the past 15 years. It was only more recently I could stick decent amounts in so I was in a medium-high risk portfolio which has now come back and bitten me on the bum. Ho hum.

I've also started selling shares in my ISA.

Who knows if these are the right decisions, but they would have been better taken last week. I can only hope that next week I can look back and think I did the right thing.

Ive started buying, not selling.

What is it that makes you think we're near the bottom?

It depends how near to drawing your pension you are as to how relevant that question is, I’m mid thirties my SIPP and LISA has over 20 years before I can access it, I’m sure we’ll see many more highs and lows before that time comes. 

Appreciate not everyone has such a long time scale to wait for the markets to recover, and are anxiously looking at the value of their pot decreasing as they’re approaching the time they need it, but I figured turning my stocks into cash would only crystallise any current losses, for those of us still in the accumulation stage then it could bean opportunity.

Slinky

If I had 20 years to wait for recovery, I would sit tight as I have in the past, however I would have been changing my risk profile in the next couple of years to slide in towards retirement.  I'm happier stepping out of the market for a while for the majority of my investments and will certainly be going with a lower risk profile when I do go back in.  It was hard earned and easily lost.

gary83

Slinky said:

If I had 20 years to wait for recovery, I would sit tight as I have in the past, however I would have been changing my risk profile in the next couple of years to slide in towards retirement.  I'm happier stepping out of the market for a while for the majority of my investments and will certainly be going with a lower risk profile when I do go back in.  It was hard earned and easily lost.

Agree with that, if nothing else it’s been a painful lesson to those of us that are too young to have been invested at the time of the last crash, or have got greedy since then thinking it could only possibly go up.

DairyQueen

MallyGirl said:

Yep - mini Mally is devastated at this point. Lots of tears. She was aiming for 3 A*s but has no idea if they would award that with whatever pseudo grade approach they come up with. I think/hope that she will be OK for uni as she has an offer from Cambridge and they don't 'over offer' in the same way as most other unis. They could just decide to take everyone they have offered to  providing that their pseudo grade is acceptable. She has gone from revising hard and looking to the future to realising that tomorrow is probably her last ever day at school.

Really sad for her and fingers crossed that she the uni place is confirmed.

Suffolk_lass

DairyQueen said:

MallyGirl said:

Yep - mini Mally is devastated at this point. Lots of tears. She was aiming for 3 A*s but has no idea if they would award that with whatever pseudo grade approach they come up with. I think/hope that she will be OK for uni as she has an offer from Cambridge and they don't 'over offer' in the same way as most other unis. They could just decide to take everyone they have offered to  providing that their pseudo grade is acceptable. She has gone from revising hard and looking to the future to realising that tomorrow is probably her last ever day at school.

Really sad for her and fingers crossed that she the uni place is confirmed.

There was a really positive snippet on R5 this morning. This year's Y13 is the smallest for years and a significant number have good lower than normal offers that are likely to be honoured, whatever the predicted or assumed achievements. A bit like when they move from juniors to seniors, the primary assessment is an initial steer and sorting them out is based on the senior School's own assessment. If Cambridge have offered, it is because they want her (and they need the revenue stream she will bring) - I would be appalled and amazed if that offer is not honoured.

It also bodes well for whatever passes for clearing in 2020. It might be a good year for slightly older former students to consider a Uni degree if they have not realised what they hoped at age 18.