Exit Strategies: Update

I have thinking about the topic of Exit Strategies since my last post on the topic. After some thought my position has evolved a little bit. I have now come around to the position that it does not make sense to exit - just stay put. My investments are all in long term retirement accounts and I can afford to sit back and let time pass.

For accounts with defined asset allocation, we don't have a problem. Just continue re-balancing and let the market deal with its jitters. Getting scared and exiting only leads to missing out on post-crash bounce. Even the big crash of 2008 led to a full recovery in a few years.The dividend plays and debt instruments are anyway not beholden to the short term price - so they are not a problem either.

That leaves the growth plays. My solution to the problem is that I will put small bits of money (1 unit) to each investment opportunity and then leave them alone. The classic buy and forget strategy. The advantage is that since each investment is a small amount, I would not be losing sleep over it. Once I buy, I would resist the urge to sell and let it play out long term.

To conclude - this is my exit strategy now - there is no exit strategy. Just select the long positions carefully and then ride it out for a long long time.

Monet, Water Lily Pond and Bridge, hard to pick out any one from the Water Lily series, especially after seeing them in person at the Musee de l'Orangerie.