Bubbles, gains and CGT

mouthwatering

First post... but longtime lurker.
We, wife and myself both mid-60s, have (almost identical) GIA accounts with ~60% in share ETFs and ~40% in bonds/ETFs (our ISAs are maxed out and we've no mortgage). The bond part's fine, this produces a steady income, a good part of which is index-linked. It's the shares bit that worries us We're together sitting on £100k+ of gains and for some weeks now I've got a nagging feeling that the good times may be over soon. (Cue BoE and Dimon...) So, what to do?
If we sell most/all of the more exposed equities we're looking at perhaps £70k gains combined. That would mean £35k pp and a CGT bill of £32k*18% pp, so about £5800. The money would be there of course but I'm not sure whether doing this makes sense or not. One advantage would be that we could use this opportunity to move a good part of the now-shares into more stable forms of investment, possibly even buy annuities. And for better or worse, we would crystallise the gains and pay CGT, but at least then we'd know exactly where we stand.
I'm not so much after specific advice as to what to do, more trying to "brainstorm" a bit with some input about what people in similar circumstances have done (or would do) and also what (unexpected/unintended) advantages/problems/pitfalls we could run into.

eskbanker

I can understand the need to measure gains when considering potential CGT liabilities, but beyond that, I wouldn't see specific levels of gain as a reason to sell in themselves, or is your investment strategy based on selling at a defined point?

Albermarle

As a long time lurker, you will know what you are trying to do is time the market, by guessing we are heading for a fall.
Usually trying to time the market does not work, you could just as well miss out on more gains.

It depends what the money is for and when . If you need it soonish, for a an annuity for example,  then it maybe wise to sell some equity investments now. If it is for your long term retirement/ a legacy it could be best just to leave alone.

There is always a half way house, where you reduce your equity exposure/take some profits, but not so dramatically. Hedging your bets.

jimjames

Why not sell the investments that maximise your CGT allowance and then sell the rest from the ISAs? At least then you're not getting hit with CGT but it really is down to you if if it's really a good idea to sell out now. (or do you mean your ISAs are maxed out with cash? If so that doesn't seem like a very tax efficient strategy and might be worth fixing before it gets worse)

mouthwatering

@eskbanker We don't have a defined point where we want to sell. It's more that I see a growing probability for a significant correction in the next X months, without a clear idea how deep and, more importantly, how long that would last.

@Albermarle Of course I'm trying to guess and time the market... but again, it's all a matter of probability which in my view has lately shifted in an undesirable direction. It's also not that I'm in panic mode or think this is a now-or-never thing. It's just something that has cropped up during the last few weeks, mostly in connection with those wonderful "AI" companies.

@jimjames Yeah, that's one way to go. Sell part now and part later. Our ISAs are also mostly S&S (perhaps 75/25) but there we don't care about the gains... at least not as far as CGT is concerned

We can live with "losing" some money if we sell (too) early, we're both not the types to check our current or past holdings on a super regular basis or start lamenting about what could've been

Anyway thanks a lot for the input, I appreciate that.