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Cash out. Wait for the bust. Buy back in.

• sxcurry 11y ago
  One thing I've learned from HN over the years - be sure to ignore all financial and medical advice!
• shostack 11y ago
  And what about if the majority of that is in a 401k?
  • hueving 11y ago
    Same applies. Change allocation to cash. Then change back after crash.
    • WalterBright 11y ago
      The trouble with switching to cash is then you've got to pay income tax on the capital gains. You'll be buying back in with less (proceeds - taxes).
      • nextweek2 11y ago
        Investment funds will offer a cash investment option. This invests in currencies. Along with government bonds it's considered low growth low risk investment. Nobody would advocate actually withdrawing from an investment account. Just move it to safer investment options.
        • WalterBright 11y ago
          Moving it incurs capital gains taxes. Even if you passively invest in a mutual fund, the funds internal transactions show up as capital gains that get reported to the IRS, and you have to pay the tax.
          • spinchange 11y ago
            Not if it is in a tax deferred retirement account: there are no cap gains incurred by reallocating or NAV distributions unless there's an actual cash withdrawal. This is specific to 401ks & traditional IRAs only.
          • hueving 11y ago
            You are woefully misinformed. I hope you have not been keeping money in a particular 401k fund because you thought you couldn't change the allocation without paying taxes...
      • spacehome 11y ago
        Not if it's in a 401k.
      • deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
  • kanwisher 11y ago
    I don't necessarily agree with the market falling, but there is no reason you can't move your 401k indexes into a cash position at the brokerage and rebuy later. Not that I think thats a good idea