Thanks for thatEveryone on this site has made mistakes or has regrets regarding their investment lineage.So I committed the ultimate sin!
After a decade of being in the markets, in June 2022 I sold out.
To be clear, it was not market timing, but for tax purposes as I was leaving a tax free zone to return to the UK, which then turned into a move to Portugal, all for work reasons.
So I’m currently in cash at 4.6% tax free, at least. I was just about to buy back into the market late 2023 after changing brokerages and researching new funds when the market skyrocketed and it still seems to keep going up!
Instead of panicking about being in the markets, I’m feeling ill and distraught about how much money I’ve lost, but what do I do now?
Is it even sensible to attempt to cost average in now with prices at historical highs?!
I’m 51, in a real transition state in my life, a bit rudderless at the moment and might even leave Portugal for the United States to work in 12 months or so, in which case I’d need to sell out of a Europe fund for US funds.
Otherwise I might return from Portugal to Ireland or UK. If UK again I’d need to sell out of a Europe fund!
Point being maybe it is still better to be in cash at this stage of my life?
Hoping for some opinions on what to do and have to say it’s been a bit of an emotional blow, having thought I was too sensible to ever sell out and I now find myself in this situation.
[Topic title clarified by moderator ClaycordJCA.]
You name it…divorce, co-signing, a business flop, too conservative with investing, not conservative enough with investing….on and on.
Easier said than done, but please, try not to beat yourself up regarding the past.
Focus on the good news. You have time!
If it were me, I’d go simple and boring. 90% plus S and P index and let the anti Buffett/Monger folks label you as stupid.
And, I’d dump straight in. No DCA. Where will your portfolio be in 20 years??? It will be fine, based on what history has taught us. Set it and forget it!
Good luck!
I’m looking actually, while in Europe at the Vanguard Lifestrategy ETF fund VNGD60. The distributing fund gives me a lot of tax efficiency while in Portugal.
Certainly less aggressive than 90% S&P.
This is a more Global market Cap weighted fund than the UK Lifestrategy I was previously in, which had a heavy UK bias.
I’m happy with VNGD60 as a single, set and forget fund. A bit concerned about Corporate bonds though. As we’ve just seen, when the economy really tanks, corporate bonds behave more like equity than government bonds, but honestly, I just don’t have time to manage or stress over a portfolio.
A single fixed assett allocation fund for me, is the way to go in the long term.
Statistics: Posted by CqpedVulture — Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:05 pm — Replies 23 — Views 2459