Investments still declining

[Livvyliv18]

Are anyones investments showing signs of recovery yet ?My pension has lost a significant amount in the last 3 months and still seems to be going down.
This happened in first lockdown but then started to do really well so I know it can improve.
Im just starting to panic and unsure if I need to see a financial advisor to look at it.
Im not 55 for another 5 years so maybe I don’t need to panic just yet
Any advice /reassurance greatly appreciated

I have 8.1 BTC....It will bounce back that's my opinion....is trash that's your opinion....time will tell I suppose

My stocks and shares are down to -9% of what I've invested overall. My Bitcoin has dropped considerably but is still at +34%. I'm willing to gamble and hope Bitcoin picks back up again.

Good for you....truth is nobody ever in the history of bitcoin has lost money if they have held for over 4 years....fact....it has outperformed every other asset by a factor of 10....fact.....and still people think it's like going to the bookies....their loss

Until today. Congrats on losing £20k in the space of 24 hours.

It's par for the course with BTC....if you're not prepared for that before you invest then stick to traditional investments....long term hold for me....I'll post again when it's back up....it's just all the traders and poorly informed private investors that are losing their shit and selling because they got into BTC without understanding what they were doing....I'm currently about 90k down but it's really not something I'm worried about....like I said long term it will be fine

Long term they will recover, markets are feeling the pain at the moment. You only actually lose when you sell. At times like these I know its hard not to look at the "losses" but theyre not really losses are they unless you sell them. For me I'd be looking to buy more while everything is cheap that way when it does recover you'll be quids in.

Crikey, had a check of mine today and it's a bit fraught out there

If youre investing for the long term / pension I wouldnt even bother looking just keep paying in and you'll be fine (unless youve chosen badly in the first place).

Everything crashed during the pandemic but bounced back as soon as the vaccine was developed. Inflation wont be this high for ever and the markets will recover, they always do.

Having said that Ive sold all mine and bought bitcoin so what do I know.....Im either a genius or a complete idiot!

@swifty1974
What makes you so confident in Bitcoin (or is £200k small change to you and you’re happy taking a punt? I’m concerned it will be the 2020s equivalent of the dotcom boom and bust. To me it’s not like investing in the stock exchange with its peaks and troughs. Is Bitcoin not a pyramid scheme essentially that risks collapsing entirely?

My stocks and shares ISA is down 11% on initial investment. Really painful, I’m not sure what to do.

Don't do anything. You will only lose 11% if you sell now. If you have any spare cash, look at it as an 11% discount and start investing.

I’m sure you’re right and I won’t withdraw it. It’s just so annoying, I finally got my act together and moved it out of woeful rates on cash ISA account and its been a disaster so far!

Obviously youre welcome to your opinion but whats it based on cos Ive done quite a lot of research into crypto and while I have little confidence in the thousands of altcoins I am very positive about BTC. Its the only one that is fully decentralised, doesnt rely on trusting an human being and is totally secure on the worlds largest and most powerful network.

The reason I ask is that you seem to think that traditional investments are somehow better. Are they really? The money supply and interest rates are manipulated by corrupt governments and bankers to suit their own needs and everyone just goes along with it. The CPI is massively manipulated and in reality inflation (as youre probably aware) is much higher than 9%. Its just a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Inflation is just then dipping their hands into your pockets.

I'd rather take my chances with an asset that cannot be manipulated than transfer my wealth to the central banks and big corporations just because thats what everyone else is doing.

And no 200k isn't small change and this ain't a punt....it's almost everything I have.

I have £200k to spend over the next couple of weeks - hard to decide on a strategy - diversify - sectors, regions, and funds. Clip size £25K, purchases spread over 2 weeks - I need to do this and stop looking at what we've lost this year...although it was fun seeing it climb dramatically last year!

Just one thought. If you're looking at putting some into investment trust type investments, you can set a stop loss order to sell if the price dips below a certain level. It's quite a good way of managing your downside exposure in falling markets.

I'm really wishing I'd set them up on mine back in November....

I've also taken the hit and sold some loss-making global funds and switched it into commodity funds and ETFs. At least it's not all in equities then.

Depends how long you're investing for really doesn't it and how risk averse you are. You'd be daft not to put some of it in Bitcoin obviously do your own research first to be sure but I can see it going anywhere but upwards over the next 5 to 10 years. Even if it's just 10%. To be fair there's a lot of stuff on "sale" at the minute so you're lucky really to be getting in now. Most portfolios even the well diversified ones are down 10 -15% and those who aren't diverse enough are even worse off. The markets will recover. Probably more pain to come short term but long term just diversify , maybe add some crypto and look at staking too. 200k is a nice lump though.

Yup, I'd agree with @swifty1974 this is a pretty good time to get some bitcoin, so long as you plan on holding for at least 2-3 years.

You dont need to buy a whole coin, or even a significant amount.

But you do need to consider the money "spent" and not look at it for a couple of years. Bitcoin thrives on neglect.

Thanks for the reply. The bit I still don’t understand is what the underlying ongoing value is in BTC. When investing in equities I’m buying a small fraction of the company ownership and therefore will (if I’ve done my diligence properly) benefit from a future stream of dividends, ie actual cash inflows or capital growth based on a P/E ratio. Where are those future cash flows coming from if I invest in BTC? Or is the value in speculative capital growth in the hope others will keep wanting to buy (ie pyramid scheme)?

@swifty1974

Pruella, this is exactly what they do! They go up and down!

When did you buy it? If you got it fairly recently you should get a lovely uptick in a year or two.
If I had any spare cash i would be buying!

Brown,I'm in index funds mainly and I wouldn't want to switch out yet because I have a direct debit to buy each month and when I buy at times like this I am buying more.
I understand these nearer to needing it may do that.

Its value lies in the fact that as time goes on there will be more demand for it and its supply is limited (this cannot be manipulated - there will only ever be 21 million bitcoin because its written into the protocol and nobody can change it). A scarce desirable asset will only increase in value. Once governments and central banks sort out proper regulation of crypto then thats when the institutional investors, hedge fund managers etc will have the green light to start investing in it. In essence youre getting in ahead of the market, its still early days for bitcoin as an asset. Bitcoin is the only one of all the cryptos I would bother with though. Over the next 10 years many believe 1 BTC could be worth as much as $500k. Current price is around $20k (£17000ish). Do some research though for yourself. Everything Ive read tells me its a no brainer.

Bitcoin seems to be losing it’s market dominance - so while Bitcoin's supply might be restricted other Crypto currencies are becoming increasingly popular. The energy usage surrounding Bitcoin is a big negative - for us anyway. It’s not something we’d be happy to invest in - we won’t be adding to its demand!

Which is it? Did you buy £200k, or 8.1 Bitcoin?