Rebalancing early in fearful times

Have a question about your personal investments? No matter how simple or complex, you can ask it here.
Post Reply
Topic Author
sonowwhat?
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:39 am

Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by sonowwhat? »

Would rebalancing sooner than your normal time period such as right now in a full blown panic be trying to time the market! I want to be a purist in terms of passive boglehead investing but was thinking that rebalancing now might make some sense!
DarkHelmetII
Posts: 1441
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:25 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by DarkHelmetII »

IMHO if you are doing this in the right direction, e.g. Selling bonds to buy depressed stocks, and this is a little 'early' no major harm.
User avatar
greg24
Posts: 4512
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:34 am

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by greg24 »

I rebalanced early in the 2008 meltdown and found it left me with less rebalancing at the truly sale prices.
Topic Author
sonowwhat?
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:39 am

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by sonowwhat? »

Yeah that’s my fear! Let’s hope we don’t have a repeat of 2008! Problem I’ve got is historically I rebalance about every 2 months buy selling stocks which keeps my ratio in check and use the money to live. I guess I just flip that during correction and sell bonds. Just curious what are the time periods people use to rebalance?
User avatar
dwickenh
Posts: 2304
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:45 pm
Location: Hills of Eastern Tennessee

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by dwickenh »

I'm guilty of re-balancing based on the market losses before the market closes for the day. I am in mutual funds only, and don't want to miss the
closing price of the market(re-balance before the market closes).

I don't think this is market timing, just staying in my AA bands.
The market is the most efficient mechanism anywhere in the world for transferring wealth from impatient people to patient people.” | — Warren Buffett
TheBogleWay
Posts: 292
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:04 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by TheBogleWay »

DarkHelmetII wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:24 pm IMHO if you are doing this in the right direction, e.g. Selling bonds to buy depressed stocks, and this is a little 'early' no major harm.
So wait... are you saying the idea of timing the market a bit with bond rebalancing isnt that bad?


What if I wait to see if the market goes down further, and if it does, move my bonds in my 401k to VTI within my 401k, in essence "buying" those stocks at a low. Is that bad? Can anyone chime in?
User avatar
Ice-9
Posts: 1579
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:40 pm
Location: MD

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by Ice-9 »

Around 3 pm today I made a copy of my asset allocation spreadsheet and quickly adjusted numbers for the daily moves on ETF versions of my funds.

My rebalancing thresholds are set by Larry Swedroe's 5/25 Rule. My overall stock/bond allocation was almost but not quite there - target 70/30 and I think at something close to 74.6/25.4. But my smaller sub-allocation to Extended Market Index was projecting to be down more than 9% on the day and barely squeaked into rebalance territory.

So I did a small rebalance on just that fund from a bond fund, and the rest of my portfolio will just have to wait until further havoc hits my other various asset classes.
chevca
Posts: 3473
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:22 am

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by chevca »

sonowwhat? wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:21 pm Would rebalancing sooner than your normal time period such as right now in a full blown panic be trying to time the market! I want to be a purist in terms of passive boglehead investing but was thinking that rebalancing now might make some sense!
What is your normal time period to rebalance?
rkhusky
Posts: 17765
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:09 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by rkhusky »

dwickenh wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:07 pm I'm guilty of re-balancing based on the market losses before the market closes for the day. I am in mutual funds only, and don't want to miss the
closing price of the market(re-balance before the market closes).

I don't think this is market timing, just staying in my AA bands.
But are you sticking with your plan? My plan calls for 1% rebalancing bands, so I get to rebalance a number of times per year.
BlueMoonXD
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2019 11:50 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by BlueMoonXD »

TheBogleWay wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:09 pm So wait... are you saying the idea of timing the market a bit with bond rebalancing isnt that bad?


What if I wait to see if the market goes down further, and if it does, move my bonds in my 401k to VTI within my 401k, in essence "buying" those stocks at a low. Is that bad? Can anyone chime in?
It seems to me like at some point it's a philosophical question. If you are a purist then any kind of market timing is bad on principle. A purist would say if you would rebalance quarterly when the market is up, you should rebalance quarterly when it's down.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, it seemed everyone was a purist, now I'm seeing a lot of "it depends" type of reasoning and rationalization, so perhaps even this community is more emotional in our thinking than we let on.

IMO if you are market timing by rebalancing bonds into stocks on a bad day, it's a relatively harmless form of market timing. You might time it perfectly, or you might find it drops again and you could have profited more by waiting. Either way, you're making a generally profitable decision. As long as this doesn't lead to a habit of trying to predict market behavior I don't think it matters that much.
Triple digit golfer
Posts: 10433
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:57 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by Triple digit golfer »

My plan says to rebalance at 5% off target. Another 7% decline will get me there. In the meantime, new contributions go to equities.

If I end up rebalancing, great. If not, oh well. That just means the drop was too wimpy for me to need to do anything.
User avatar
watchnerd
Posts: 13614
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:18 am
Location: Gig Harbor, WA, USA

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by watchnerd »

sonowwhat? wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:21 pm Would rebalancing sooner than your normal time period such as right now in a full blown panic be trying to time the market! I want to be a purist in terms of passive boglehead investing but was thinking that rebalancing now might make some sense!

Does it matter much if a bit too early?

Only if taxes are a consequence.

I'm waiting a full year to rebalance my LTT holding because otherwise I'll invoke short term cap gains.
Global stocks, IG/HY bonds, gold & digital assets at market weights 75% / 19% / 6% || LMP: TIPS ladder
DarkHelmetII
Posts: 1441
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:25 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by DarkHelmetII »

TheBogleWay wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:09 pm
DarkHelmetII wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:24 pm IMHO if you are doing this in the right direction, e.g. Selling bonds to buy depressed stocks, and this is a little 'early' no major harm.
So wait... are you saying the idea of timing the market a bit with bond rebalancing isnt that bad?


What if I wait to see if the market goes down further, and if it does, move my bonds in my 401k to VTI within my 401k, in essence "buying" those stocks at a low. Is that bad? Can anyone chime in?
Market timing is 'bad' and discouraged. Rebalancing outside of ones predefined rebalancing bands or timeframe, in response to market fluctuations, is market timing of sorts. However impact is relatively minor, and if this little deviation from a 'pure' boglehead execution prevents much bigger mistakes (e.g. Liquidate position at market bottom and hold cash for 10 years waiting to get back in) then so be it.
User avatar
dwickenh
Posts: 2304
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:45 pm
Location: Hills of Eastern Tennessee

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by dwickenh »

rkhusky wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:26 pm
dwickenh wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:07 pm I'm guilty of re-balancing based on the market losses before the market closes for the day. I am in mutual funds only, and don't want to miss the
closing price of the market(re-balance before the market closes).

I don't think this is market timing, just staying in my AA bands.
But are you sticking with your plan? My plan calls for 1% rebalancing bands, so I get to rebalance a number of times per year.
Yes, sticking with my IPS of re-balancing within 5% band.
The market is the most efficient mechanism anywhere in the world for transferring wealth from impatient people to patient people.” | — Warren Buffett
rkhusky
Posts: 17765
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:09 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by rkhusky »

dwickenh wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:48 am
rkhusky wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:26 pm
dwickenh wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:07 pm I'm guilty of re-balancing based on the market losses before the market closes for the day. I am in mutual funds only, and don't want to miss the
closing price of the market(re-balance before the market closes).

I don't think this is market timing, just staying in my AA bands.
But are you sticking with your plan? My plan calls for 1% rebalancing bands, so I get to rebalance a number of times per year.
Yes, sticking with my IPS of re-balancing within 5% band.
So, you have a rule that allows you to rebalance even if you haven't reached the 5% bound?
Wanderingwheelz
Posts: 3145
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 8:52 am

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by Wanderingwheelz »

I did that yesterday right before the close. I’m still off nearly 1% due to the severity of the stock sell-off, though.

Psychologically, it felt better to make a big purchase on the single worst day we’ve had in a very long time. It won’t have a material effect over the long haul, though.

Given time, that will likely show up as a textbook “sell high, buy low” rebalance.
Being wrong compounds forever.
User avatar
dwickenh
Posts: 2304
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:45 pm
Location: Hills of Eastern Tennessee

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by dwickenh »

rkhusky wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:53 am
dwickenh wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:48 am
rkhusky wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:26 pm
dwickenh wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:07 pm I'm guilty of re-balancing based on the market losses before the market closes for the day. I am in mutual funds only, and don't want to miss the
closing price of the market(re-balance before the market closes).

I don't think this is market timing, just staying in my AA bands.
But are you sticking with your plan? My plan calls for 1% rebalancing bands, so I get to rebalance a number of times per year.
Yes, sticking with my IPS of re-balancing within 5% band.
So, you have a rule that allows you to rebalance even if you haven't reached the 5% bound?
As my mutual funds don't price until the end of the day, my original post states that I estimated I would hit
my 5% band at market close. I sold bonds and bought stock funds to re-balance prior to market close. There
is nothing in my IPS to prohibit that move. I did wait until late in the trading day to make the move. The 5%
is a maximum movement before re-balancing, so yes I could do so at any time when less than 5% also.

Does that clear up the confusion?(caused by my explanation before)

Dan
The market is the most efficient mechanism anywhere in the world for transferring wealth from impatient people to patient people.” | — Warren Buffett
rkhusky
Posts: 17765
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:09 pm

Re: Rebalancing early in fearful times

Post by rkhusky »

dwickenh wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:00 am
rkhusky wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:53 am
dwickenh wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:48 am
rkhusky wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:26 pm
dwickenh wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:07 pm I'm guilty of re-balancing based on the market losses before the market closes for the day. I am in mutual funds only, and don't want to miss the
closing price of the market(re-balance before the market closes).

I don't think this is market timing, just staying in my AA bands.
But are you sticking with your plan? My plan calls for 1% rebalancing bands, so I get to rebalance a number of times per year.
Yes, sticking with my IPS of re-balancing within 5% band.
So, you have a rule that allows you to rebalance even if you haven't reached the 5% bound?
As my mutual funds don't price until the end of the day, my original post states that I estimated I would hit
my 5% band at market close. I sold bonds and bought stock funds to re-balance prior to market close. There
is nothing in my IPS to prohibit that move. I did wait until late in the trading day to make the move. The 5%
is a maximum movement before re-balancing, so yes I could do so at any time when less than 5% also.

Does that clear up the confusion?(caused by my explanation before)

Dan
Very good.
Post Reply