Is it a good time to cash out my US shares?

Stavrosles

Hi all,

I would love to hear some advice on what to do with the US shares that the company I work for has given me. They’re worth $15k, and I was planning to leave them as they are, as they’ve been growing over the last few years. However, with everything happening in the US at the moment, I’m quite concerned that the stock market might crash. I heard some discussion about this on LBC and also came across this article: https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/will-the-stock-market-crash-risk-factors.

Would now be a good time—and a safer option—to sell them and move the funds into a savings account?

mebu60

No-one has a crystal ball.

Read through this thread and you will see the general consensus is 'do nothing' on investments that are likely reasonably balanced.
Tariffs - response... — MoneySavingExpert Forum

In your case however you (and your work colleagues) will be more qualified than anyone on here to know the prospects for your company specifically and its industry sector generally. 

Linton

The stock market could crash at any time, you cant predict it.  Whilst not crashing prices can continually rise and fall though on average rising is more likely.

If you are investing seriously  it should be for the long term so short term volatility should not matter. Dont keep all your money in one single company since you could lose the lot if the company went bust and in your case you could lose your job as well.  Better to hold a wide range of very different companies.

If you dont want to invest seriously sell the free shares as soon as you are allowed to with no tax consequences and move the money into savings accounts.

Eyeful

If you are going to need the money within the next 5 years or do not want to take investment risk, put the money into either
(a) Bank or building society savings account covered up to £85K by the FSCS.
(b) Premium Bonds

1. No one can foretell the  future. Or as the late Jack Bogle said about stock markets "no one knows anything".
2. Investing means putting your money at risk in the hope of getting back more.
3. Investing is for the long term, lets say at least 10 years, where the odds of winning the game are high.

4. When investing, I suggest persons:
(a) Stay away from single shares & crypto
(b) Use a low cost "Multi Asset Fund" 
This gives you a diversified ready made portfolio where you only need to decide the share/bond split you are comfortable with.

Remember anything to do with money has risk attached. Its just the size & type of risk that changes.

spreadsheeterapple

If you have to ask on a forum like this, of non-professionals, you are already too risk-averse to keep them and were unconsciously hoping to hear everything will be ok/sit on the shares.

Becoming risk-averse is not a failing, it's an acknowledgement of a change in the air

eskbanker

Eyeful said:

Use a low cost "Global Multi Asset Fund" that tracks a "MAJOR GLOBAL INDEX".

Obviously the nature of a multi-asset fund is that it can't just track one index - the most popular ones use ten or more underlying funds, so for most the choice is either a global index tracker or a multi-asset fund....

sausage_time

Stavrosles said:

Hi all,

I would love to hear some advice on what to do with the US shares that the company I work for has given me. They’re worth $15k, and I was planning to leave them as they are, as they’ve been growing over the last few years. However, with everything happening in the US at the moment, I’m quite concerned that the stock market might crash. I heard some discussion about this on LBC and also came across this article: https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/will-the-stock-market-crash-risk-factors.

Would now be a good time—and a safer option—to sell them and move the funds into a savings account?

If you do sell, beware of potential Capital Gains Tax impact.

Eyeful

eskbanker said:

Eyeful said:

Use a low cost "Global Multi Asset Fund" that tracks a "MAJOR GLOBAL INDEX".

Obviously the nature of a multi-asset fund is that it can't just track one index - the most popular ones use ten or more underlying funds, so for most the choice is either a global index tracker or a multi-asset fund....

Yes, cocked up on that. Now corrected

Albermarle

Stavrosles said:

Hi all,

I would love to hear some advice on what to do with the US shares that the company I work for has given me. They’re worth $15k, and I was planning to leave them as they are, as they’ve been growing over the last few years. However, with everything happening in the US at the moment, I’m quite concerned that the stock market might crash. I heard some discussion about this on LBC and also came across this article: https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/will-the-stock-market-crash-risk-factors.

Would now be a good time—and a safer option—to sell them and move the funds into a savings account?

You could probably find a similar article somewhere in the media, every week for the last 50 years.
Every now and again they will be right, but mostly not.

Section62

spreadsheeterapple said:

If you have to ask on a forum like this, of non-professionals, you are already too risk-averse to keep them and were unconsciously hoping to hear everything will be ok/sit on the shares.

Becoming risk-averse is not a failing, it's an acknowledgement of a change in the air

Adjusting your portfolio to reflect a change in attitude to risk is something to do over a reasonable period of time and with thought about what you are trying to achieve - not as a reaction to events in one (or more) countries that might be nothing more than a blip.

Having a mass sell-off at a time where markets are turbulent, doing so as a result of discovering your attitude to risk has changed, isn't a great strategy.

Your post could be interpreted as advice to sell.... which could be very unfortunate for the OP if they take it as such.

SVaz

If you plan on not using the proceeds for a decade or more then keep them, presuming it’s a large, successful company.  

How much have they grown since you aquired  them?  
Even if the markets crash by ‘half’  that doesn’t mean your shares will halve in value.  
They might be ‘value’ or ‘defensive’ stocks rather than ‘growth’ tech stocks of the FANG ilk. 

Look at all the people who panicked and sold during the Covid dip,  they locked in their losses and missed out on the high bounce back.