What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Have a question about your personal investments? No matter how simple or complex, you can ask it here.
Topic Author
Kersten
Posts: 121
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:05 am
Location: Florida

What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Kersten »

What are Bogleheads doing with the market at an all time high?

Continuing to invest?
Taking money off the table and counting your blessings?
Not taking any action at all and just sitting tight?

A wise friend once said:
"Gambling is when you stand to loose more than you have to gain
Risk is when you have more to gain than you have to loose"

Are Bogleheads gambling or risk taking?
MoonOrb
Posts: 1506
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:58 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by MoonOrb »

I'm following my plan.

Over our lifetimes, there will be many, many, many times the market is at an all time high. if it's not climbing to all time highs, then we're in big trouble over the long term.

So when it's at an all time high, there's nothing to worry about. Keep on keeping on. Rebalance when your plan tells you to. Keep investing. Have an appropriate asset allocation.

The reason we have plans is so we don't have to wonder what to do in situations like this. We just do.
John3754
Posts: 1289
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:56 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by John3754 »

Kersten wrote:What are Bogleheads doing with the market at an all time high?...Are Bogleheads gambling or risk taking?
Bogleheads are following their IPS, nothing more, nothing less.
User avatar
cfs
Posts: 4154
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:22 am
Location: ~ Mi Propio Camino ~

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by cfs »

- Deleted-

Duplicate post issue corrected by Lady Geek with her merging tool.

Thanks for reading.
Last edited by cfs on Sun Jun 08, 2014 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
~ Member of the Active Retired Force since 2014 ~
Tanelorn
Posts: 2370
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 9:35 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Tanelorn »

If you're worried the market is too high, take less risk. You'll likely make less money over the long term, but the point is to take a level of risk you're comfortable with.
User avatar
munemaker
Posts: 4338
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:14 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by munemaker »

Kersten wrote:What are Bogleheads doing with the market at an all time high?

Continuing to invest?
Taking money off the table and counting your blessings?
Not taking any action at all and just sitting tight?

A wise friend once said:
"Gambling is when you stand to loose more than you have to gain
Risk is when you have more to gain than you have to loose"

Are Bogleheads gambling or risk taking?
If you take any special action because the market is at an all time high, you are timing the market. Do not time the market.
User avatar
asset_chaos
Posts: 2629
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:13 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by asset_chaos »

Sometime in the first half of July I'll run rebalancing calculations, as per my usual schedule. If rebalancing thresholds have been breached, I'll think about exactly how and where to rebalance. If no rebalancing thresholds have been breached, I'll continue to do nothing portfolio-wise.
Regards, | | Guy
User avatar
Raymond
Posts: 1884
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:04 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Raymond »

Just following my asset allocation (65% stocks/35% bonds and cash).

Rebalancing as needed.

I know, boringgg... :D
"Ritter, Tod und Teufel"
User avatar
HardKnocker
Posts: 2063
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:55 am
Location: New Jersey USA

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by HardKnocker »

More important than ever to stick to stick to your asset allocation.
“Gold gets dug out of the ground, then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility.”--Warren Buffett
User avatar
steve roy
Posts: 1855
Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 5:16 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by steve roy »

Not a d*mn thing. I've got my asset allocation, and I'm sticking to it.
Novine
Posts: 1240
Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 8:07 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Novine »

The S&P has posted over a dozen new highs in 2014. At which one of those highs should I have gotten out of the market?
User avatar
LAlearning
Posts: 1365
Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 12:26 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by LAlearning »

Nothing.
Already maxed rIRA Jan 2. 401k is on autopilot.
Sold some REITs as they hit a re-balance band....


Man this stuff is boring :sharebeer
I know nothing!
User avatar
nedsaid
Posts: 19275
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:33 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by nedsaid »

All time market highs are normal stock market behavior. The 2000-2012 time period was essentially flat for US Stocks and it has been so long since we have had a true bull market that we have forgotten what a bull market feels like.

I am continuing to invest right on schedule. At my workplace 60% goes into stocks and 40% into bonds at age 54.

I am doing mild rebalancing from stocks to bonds to keep my asset allocation at 69% stocks and 31% bonds and cash. If interest rates were higher, I would have more money in bonds. I can't get excited about 2 and 3 percent interest rates. So pretty much staying the course, following the plan.
A fool and his money are good for business.
Longtimelurker
Posts: 471
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:23 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Longtimelurker »

I have been buying bonds,frankly I have been buying mostly bonds and EM for the last 12 months. Of course this is to maintain my AA per my IPS and is the result of the bull market in equities.

Ohh. And I got a new set of Ping G25 golf clubs. I know thats not investing, but since investing takes all of 10 minutes per month... I have to fill my time somehow...
Stay the course. If you can't resist greed, and fear is proven to be 2x as strong, you are doomed as an investor.
User avatar
mhc
Posts: 5261
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:18 pm
Location: NoCo

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by mhc »

I keep investing more as the money comes in according to my plan. I do not spend time thinking about what is going on with the markets. I have no idea if it is going to go up or down in the short term, so I ignore it.
52% TSM, 23% TISM, 24.5% TBM, 0.5% cash
User avatar
thursdaysd
Posts: 126
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 10:55 am
Location: NC
Contact:

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by thursdaysd »

I hit my "magic number" and revisited my AA. Having lowered my desired stock allocation I moved money into bonds to get closer to my new AA, still working on it.
Thursday's child has far to go
inbox788
Posts: 8372
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:24 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by inbox788 »

nedsaid wrote:I am continuing to invest right on schedule. At my workplace 60% goes into stocks and 40% into bonds at age 54.

I am doing mild rebalancing from stocks to bonds to keep my asset allocation at 69% stocks and 31% bonds and cash. If interest rates were higher, I would have more money in bonds. I can't get excited about 2 and 3 percent interest rates. So pretty much staying the course, following the plan.
Wow, I'm doing something like you. When you say you're doing "mild rebalancing", do you mean adding new money at 60/40 so it slowly raises your current 69/31 AA towards 60/40? Or are you actively shifting stocks to bonds on top of the new money? With recent stocks rising much faster than bonds, just adding new money doesn't do it for me.
dbltrbl
Posts: 900
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:52 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by dbltrbl »

NOTHING!!! :D :moneybag
Cherilus
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 6:54 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Cherilus »

Seeing as the markets hit new all time high's on average every 20 trading days or so, I'm doing absolutely nothing.
User avatar
goodenyou
Posts: 3602
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:57 pm
Location: Skating to Where the Puck is Going to Be..or on the golf course

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by goodenyou »

Novine wrote:The S&P has posted over a dozen new highs in 2014. At which one of those highs should I have gotten out of the market?
The highest high, of course.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" | “At 50, everyone has the face he deserves”
sscritic
Posts: 21853
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:36 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by sscritic »

A poster may not be able to delete a post once someone has responded, but he can remove the original text from his own post. He can not remove the original text from another post that quotes his original text.

[The old original text (as if there could be new original text) was here, but you won't find it here. If you find it elsewhere, that's not my fault :) ]
Last edited by sscritic on Sun Jun 08, 2014 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95696
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by LadyGeek »

I merged the duplicate thread into here, as Kersten can't delete a post once someone has replied to it. That means it's up to me (or a moderator).
sscritic wrote:The next test is to see if you know which thread was started first. This is an extra tricky question, because cfs already gave you the answer, so I am just testing if you read what he wrote. :)

Or did he get it backwards? Now that is the real reading test.
I don't need to read, the forum software takes care of it (sorted by time). I also deleted Kersten's duplicate (first) post, which voids the reading test.

Two threads with identical titles merged into one can no longer be distinguished between them. (The post sequence ID can help, but not for here.)
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95696
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by LadyGeek »

To answer the question, I'm not doing anything.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
NAVigator
Posts: 2545
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:24 am
Location: Iowa

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by NAVigator »

Kersten wrote:What are Bogleheads doing with the market at an all time high?
Making a new high is only a single step beyond where the market was previously.

Stay the course.

Jerry
"I was born with nothing and I have most of it left."
virtuox
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2014 1:07 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by virtuox »

With the market at all time highs I continue to invest since I invest for the long term. However, your worries of a huge market drop are warranted since it takes a few years of gains to make up those large losses usually. I am thinking of hedging using options LEAPs on major index ETFs. But need to study the idea more.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95696
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by LadyGeek »

^^^ Welcome! virtuox is asking this question as part of a request for portfolio help: Need Help with AA
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
IMD801
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:26 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by IMD801 »

What if the Dow at 16,924 ends up being the lowest in the next 10 years? It probably won't be, but who knows? No one. AA and automatic investments are going as usual...
bhsince87
Posts: 2914
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 1:08 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by bhsince87 »

Nothing different.

If the market tracks even modest inflation, it should hit ALL TIME HIGHS regularly.
Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. William Penn
User avatar
Boglenaut
Posts: 3509
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:41 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Boglenaut »

We just did a small rebalance from stock to bonds (about .62%) and may need to do another one soon. Most rebalancing is done with new pay checks though.

My spreadsheet tells me how much.
User avatar
tuningfork
Posts: 885
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:30 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by tuningfork »

What do I do when the market is at an all time high? I read more bogleheads posts asking what to do when the market is at an all time high! :D Other than that, as long as my AA is within the bands defined in my IPS I do nothing.
User avatar
pjstack
Posts: 1308
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:03 am
Location: Harbor City, CA

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by pjstack »

An "all time" high? Oh,no! It'll never be this high again? Can I have that in writing?

What is the OP going to do?

By the way, what could we do if it really is the all time (from now until the end of time) high?

Stop investing? That doesn't seem sensible. It seems to me that the market would still exist, or would it?
pjstack
User avatar
Zabar
Posts: 635
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:05 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Zabar »

I'm doing a hedged Zlotys play on leveraged commercial real estate in Eastern Europe with an out-of-the-money put option that...

Oh. You mean right now, with the market at an all-time high. Well, I'm doing what's worked in the past: I continue investing in a diversified portfolio and make the most of retirement accounts. Yawn.
peppers
Posts: 1650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:05 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by peppers »

I did not know it hit an all time high. Just investing according to plan.

Oh, and watching an interesting Chinese soap opera someone told me about. :)
"..the cavalry ain't comin' kid, you're on your own..."
Dick D
Posts: 213
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:55 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Dick D »

I am doing the same as when the market was low - stick to your asset allocation.
Ron
Posts: 6972
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:46 pm
Location: Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Ron »

Same thing I always do as one who's been retired for 7+ years. Pull some profits and add to my cash bucket (for current income), along with re-balancing if my equity holdings move 5 points above my 50% target.

Retirement re-balancing, as I refer to it.

- Ron
User avatar
nedsaid
Posts: 19275
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:33 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by nedsaid »

This is what I mean by mild rebalancing. I have been selling stock funds in an IRA at my favorite mutual fund company in waves of between $1,000 and $2,000 and putting the proceeds into bond funds. I have been doing this since July 2013 and did another wave (or ripple) just last Friday. Altogether the selling over time represents maybe 2% or maybe 2 1/2% of my portfolio over the last 11 months or so. This has kept my asset allocation at 69% stocks and 31% bonds and cash.

My workplace savings plan I have left alone and I have continued to invest at 60% stocks and 40% bonds with new money. In 2013, all my IRA contributions went into Bond Funds. My ROTH IRA contributions went into a balanced fund. I have a brokerage IRA where I am getting dividends from individual stocks that I own. I have been taking the cash and buying into a bond fund.

So with all of this, my asset allocation has been "running in place." If I had just let things ride, I would probably be at 72% stocks now. The reason I haven't increased my bond allocation is the very low level of interest rates.
A fool and his money are good for business.
Bracket
Posts: 417
Joined: Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:50 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Bracket »

I sold some S&P 500 Index fund and bought some TIPS Fund.
Might buy some VSS this week as I am underweight in that as well.

Just following my IPS as usual.
User avatar
cfs
Posts: 4154
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:22 am
Location: ~ Mi Propio Camino ~

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by cfs »

Retired.

Retired last month, and have made adjustments to our boring SWAN or sleep well at night portfolio based on the Retirement IPS. Only need to make one more change to the 457. No big deal, our goal is 30-35% in equities, the rest in bonds and cash reserves. Boring is good. Let's enjoy "The New Neutral" (Bill Gross is changing from new normal to new neutral).

Thanks for reading.
~ Member of the Active Retired Force since 2014 ~
Waba
Posts: 417
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Waba »

I'm putting remaining cash into hand-picked small value stocks.
Historical evidence is not on my side with this venture, so feel free to ask me next year how this went down :-D
User avatar
Toons
Posts: 14467
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:20 am
Location: Hills of Tennessee

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Toons »

The more things change,the more they remain the same.Staying invested for life as I told myself I would 35 years ago :happy
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
placeholder
Posts: 8421
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2013 12:43 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by placeholder »

How many of these same posts are we going to have I mean does know one ever scan through recent threads before posting?
Senin
Posts: 100
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 3:42 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Senin »

I have a good pension. So every month, I drop 2k into mutual funds (1k total, 1/2 health, 1/2 reit). And, I plan to keep doing that for as far into the future as I can see. So, a down market is actually better for me, but I take what I get. The same 2k is going in.

I can't really time the market. However, I sure as heck know when times are bad. So, in bad times, when the market is really down, I increase my monthly contributions. When bad times hit, I increase and ride it all the way down, then back up again.

Ya see, it doesn't really matter what gyrations the market does now. It only matters where the market is when I pull it out. And that is the one and only time I want it to be up.
harikaried
Posts: 2613
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:47 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by harikaried »

Wikipedia has milestones of the S&P 500 Index:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milestones ... _500_Index

March 28, 2013: S&P 500 ends at 1,569.19, surpassing its previous record closing high set in 2007.

If you bought at that all-time high, you would be up 25%.
User avatar
Gattamelata
Posts: 269
Joined: Mon May 05, 2014 7:41 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Gattamelata »

What am I doing? Waiting for the next big drop, because I like watching how much more my constant contributions buy when the market is low. Sometimes when things get really low, I tighten some of my entertainment and food budget and put the savings as excess contributions into the market. Timing the market? Maybe. I just can't resist market deals, and I wouldn't want the reduced budget to be forever. Buy more on the way down instead of going out for dinner this week, I say :)

In the meantime, I'm trying to find some comfort in the relatively high paper net worth I have in this high market. I typically get more of a kick out of the amount my money buys when the market is low, but I'm reaching a point in the net worth calculation where I can really see the money working, so that part is getting more interesting. As one gets closer to one's target number, I suppose the paper net worth gets to be the more compelling figure than the bargains along the way.
chasiu209
Posts: 108
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 3:49 am

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by chasiu209 »

I'm curious - How often you guys rebalance in general?

Thanks color.
Mongoose
Posts: 120
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:02 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Mongoose »

Not sure if it's correct but I wait until about 5-10% off of allocation. Usually about once a year but thanks to this thread I just checked and sold some tsm for more reits to get back to balance.
User avatar
max12377
Posts: 294
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:02 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by max12377 »

Other than regretting that I didn't drop every last penny into the market when the s&p was 666, I'm doing the same thing that I did during the recent bear. Nothing. Well, ok I admit I do itty bitty tweaks here and there cause I like to think it makes a difference :beer

I'm also finding that way more folks than I thought have very aggressive AA's. Makes me rethink whether or not I've been too conservative. That being said, I'm resisting the temptation to get more aggressive now. Staying the course. Buying bonds is tough to do in these times but I plug my nose and do it.
Call_Me_Op
Posts: 9881
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:57 pm
Location: Milky Way

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Call_Me_Op »

Kersten wrote:What are Bogleheads doing with the market at an all time high?
You shouldn't feel the need to ask this question if you have a good plan.
Best regards, -Op | | "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Einstein
livesoft
Posts: 86079
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by livesoft »

I see no evidence of a "Wall of Worry" in this thread. Doesn't that worry some folks?
Wiki This signature message sponsored by sscritic: Learn to fish.
Call_Me_Op
Posts: 9881
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:57 pm
Location: Milky Way

Re: What are you doing with the market at an all time high?

Post by Call_Me_Op »

livesoft wrote:I see no evidence of a "Wall of Worry" in this thread. Doesn't that worry some folks?
Shouldn't worry anyone with a proper AA.
Best regards, -Op | | "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Einstein
Post Reply