During uncertain times, investor discipline is key. Over a 5/10 year period we all know the market will have appreciated. Bearing this in mind I am sticking to the same plan as before:
15% of my monthly salary goes into my ISA
60/40 portfolio (equity/bonds) rebalanced monthly
Equity portion of portfolio comprised of 90% ETFs and 10% Berkshire stock
Market timing is a foolâs game. The only difference is I have cash on hand that I am saving thanks to lockdown, ready to be deployed if there is another crash. I am not increasing my monthly contribution to my ISA, but have this option at the back of my mind in case there is an interesting buying opportunity.
Let me know if you agree or if you donât. Keen to hear evryoneâs opinion.
PS. This is my first post in the community, hi everyone!
Does that mean youâre trying to time another market crash? I just invest all my money as soon as I get it, to try to make the most of time in the market.
Iâm a dividend investor (and relatively new to investing) so making the most of this crash to build a portfolio of stocks in finance, pharmaceuticals, oil and gold in the hope that I will make some good returns in the next 1 - 5 years. Staying away from high street / customer facing stocks as I got burnt by Debenhams in their first administration.
Iâm dollar cost averaging and starting to consider ETFâs; any recommendations about good performing ETFâs with decent dividends from the community would be greatly appreciated.
I see your point, I guess I did contradict myself in a way. What I meant, is that given that my leisure expenses have decreased, I find myself with more cash than usual. In my view if I were to deploy this extra cash now, I would be taking a directional macro bet. I am still investing 15% of my salary the same way I would have before all of this. Much like Rod, Iâm keeping the extra cash in the Just In Case pot (but with an open mind if there is an interesting buying opp)
Appreciate your point of view though, I clearly do have a subconscious macro view, just trying not to act on it! Thx
I didnât read it that heâs saving extra cash for a potential crash. He said that lockdown is saving him cash. So if he sees an opportunity then he can take advantage of it.
For an open conversation about what is your strategy? Why are people so quick to jump on and criticise someone who gives their 2 cents?
Why wouldnât you wnat to own so many poor performing companies in sp500 or the fste250 ? Wouldnât it not be better to buy a range of the best companies in the indexâs
Because the winners today may well be losers tomorrow. firms like amazon, facebook and netflix werenât around 10 years ago as large index weights. it was exxon, wells fargo and walmart etc.
I just donât know if amazon will go to 0 in 10 years time, even buffet got IBM wrong 20 years ago
buying an index such as s&p500 always gives me the winners because thatâs the definition of s&p500
Yes, but the money would be locked away until a certain age ( 55 now and likely to rise as the state pension age moves upward ). Only 25% of withdrawals can be taken tax free so in effect you are deferring tax until later life ( albeit you may be on a lower tax scale at that point )
Has anyone else changed their strategyt slightly? I haveâŚ
Although the underlying tone is still the same, when certain stocks have gone green Iâve sold but instead of sitting on the cash Iâve purchased fractions of Apple, Microsoft, FB and Amazon which for now are relatively safe - I donât doubt this will change come Q2/Q3.
Iâve also kept hold of a number of ecommerce stocks which are 25-30%+ and I can see keeping their momentum while retail stores keep their doors shut. ITM Power is still well in the green so Iâve also kept hold.
Purchasing fractions of the big tech stocks has certainly helped me edge closer to an overall green portfolio.