How do you know when to sell investments or take profits?
Knowing when to sell depends on your personal timeline and whether you need the cash soon, such as for a house purchase. Holding onto losing assets like currency for a decade waiting for a rebound can trap your money instead of letting it grow. A clear plan prevents you from second-guessing when to cash out or reinvest.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Keep short-term money for a house down payment in a high-yield savings account (HYSA) or certificate of deposit to protect the principal.
- 2Use a 'set it and forget it' mutual fund approach.
- 3Follow an 'always be buying' (ABB) strategy rather than constantly trying to take profits.
- 4converting the currency to USD and investing it in stock market index funds
- 5cutting losses and abandoning currency speculation
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So naturally we bought yen at 130.. but then it didn’t go back down. Instead it went to 140.. then 150. 160… 😭”source ↗
“So I have no knowledge on how to invest.”source ↗
“My question is how do you know when to 'sell' or 'profit'?”source ↗
“I would like to buy a house soon, I'm not sure if that makes a difference on how to invest.”source ↗
“I’ve had about $30,000 worth of Japanese yen for 10 years because I thought the yen would go back up but hasn’t in a decade. Should I just exchange it and invest it at this point?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How do I know if I should sell my business?
- 5Should I sell my paid off car to invest the cash?
- 6Should I buy property or keep my money invested?
- 4How to cash out investments for a house down payment
- 2Why did my tax bill jump so high after selling stock?
- 3Should I sell my farmland or keep renting it out?