Retired Investor With 13-Year Vanguard Strategy Asks 'Where Do I Go In Vanguard?' – Wants Out Of Tesla And Meta Amid Market Fears - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

For many, the dream of retiring comfortably is built on decades of disciplined investing in the right assets.

Countless people have grown their wealth in time so they can live comfortably from the returns of their investments, and Vanguard is a cornerstone for many of these success stories. Still, even the most seasoned investors can face moments of doubt, particularly during market downturns or political uncertainty.

This is the case of a 73-year-old retiree who has relied on Vanguard for more than a decade but is now questioning his approach amid market volatility.

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The Redditor has been with Vanguard since 2013, maintaining a portfolio consisting of 70% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund VTSAX and 30% Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund VSMGX, achieving an average return of 9.9%.

“The current administration scares me to death; I’ve lost ~10% of my account in the last month. I want to shelter myself from the current downturn and specifically divest myself from [Tesla Inc. TSLA] and [Meta Platforms Inc. META]. Where do I go in Vanguard?” he asked.

The Reddit community responded to the poster with a mix of caution and practical advice, so let’s dive into those.

73-Year-Old Investor With All-Vanguard Portfolio Afraid of Market Volatility–Reddit Responds

Rebalance to a More Conservative Portfolio

The consensus among commenters was that the investor’s current portfolio is too aggressive for his age and risk tolerance, so many suggested rebalancing to a more conservative combo.

“It’s impossible to shelter yourself from the current downturn and still own stocks. Your allocation is aggressive for a typical 73-year-old. VSMGX is 60/40 stocks/bonds. VTSAX is 100% stock. Given that VTSAX is 70% of the total, overall you are 88% stock,” a Redditor suggested.

A user responded to this comment, agreeing with it and recommending a more conservative allocation.

“Yeah, that’s where you should be at like age 53, not age 73. You should have a much more conservative portfolio. Are you planning to live to 120? If not, let’s be real: You need this money to last you another 10-20 years, probably. Get into a more conservative portfolio.”

A Redditor acknowledged the investor’s past success but advised him to shift toward bonds to reduce risk.

“You have basically won by going with a very aggressive 70% VTSAX and 30% VSMGX for the last 13 years. After these fantastic gains, I think it would be good to add a lot more bonds because you are older now and because you are worried about this downturn,” he said.

“You are way too heavy in stocks for someone who is 73, particularly if this administration scares you,” a comment reads.

“You are still up over 10% the past year; reallocate into bonds and a healthy amount of cash even. You're good,” another Redditor said.

See Also: Can you guess how many Americans successfully retire with $1,000,000 saved? The percentage may shock you.

Avoid Emotional Decisions and Stay the Course

Many Redditors cautioned against making any emotional decisions based on short-term market fluctuations.

“Stop looking at your portfolio and realize that this 10% drop in your portfolio really means nothing in the context of the long-term gains your portfolio has had. In other words, close the laptop and go live your life,” a comment says.

“You have lost the gains of the last 6 months. Calm down,” a Redditor wrote.

A commenter said he relates to the investor’s concerns and shared what actions he’s thinking of taking to avoid panic selling and unnecessary risk.

“Your risk tolerance is decreasing. I can relate. I’m close to retirement and the latest activity in the market made me rethink my allocation. I’ve been aggressive but now want to do more capital preservation. I dropped to 60% equities and 40% bonds; my wife wants to drop it even further. I don’t want to make panic-driven decisions and predict downturns. But I do want to have a portfolio that I can sleep well at night. I don’t need to be focused aggressively on capital appreciation anymore and can be more conservative in my investments,” he shared.

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