{"id":118090,"date":"2025-03-07T15:58:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/finance\/587-qa-should-you-cash-out-your-etfs-the-hidden-consequences-of-that-decision\/"},"modified":"2025-03-07T15:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:58:15","slug":"587-qa-should-you-cash-out-your-etfs-the-hidden-consequences-of-that-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=118090","title":{"rendered":"#587: Q&A: Should You Cash Out Your ETFs? The Hidden Consequences of That Decision \u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"PhotoDebi is stressed about saving a down payment to buy a house in her high-cost-of-living area. Should she cash out her brokerage account to speed up the process?<\/p>\n

Lucas and his wife are high earners, but they\u2019re tired and ready for a change. What strategies can they use to maximize their investments and confidently step away from their jobs?<\/p>\n

Grant is thrown off by recent discussions about the efficient frontier. It sounds a lot like market timing to base an investment strategy on an arbitrary set of historical dates. What\u2019s he missing?<\/p>\n

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these questions in today\u2019s episode.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

P.S. Got a question? Leave it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

_______<\/p>\n

Debi asks (at 01:41 minutes<\/strong>): \u200aI have a question about financing a home. My husband and I have been saving for a down payment, but it\u2019s been tough because we live in Paula\u2019s favorite place\u2014New York City.<\/p>\n

Right now, we have 5 percent saved, but I realized that if we cash out our ETFs and mutual funds, we could reach a 20 percent down payment. That would make our monthly mortgage much more affordable, especially with rates where they are.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love an outside perspective from someone who isn\u2019t emotionally attached to either our savings or the idea of homeownership. Does this seem like a smart move?<\/p>\n

For added context (and pressure!), we\u2019re expecting a baby later this year. That\u2019s a big reason why we\u2019re looking now\u2014I work from home, and a small one-bedroom apartment isn\u2019t going to cut it for me, my husband, my office, and a baby.<\/p>\n

We do contribute to our employer 401(k)s and have Roth IRAs, so this wouldn\u2019t be pulling from our only savings. Given all that, what are your thoughts?<\/p>\n

Lucas asks (at 25:13 minutes<\/strong>): What\u2019s the best way to grow our taxable brokerage account so we can eventually reduce our workload or transition into different careers?<\/p>\n

My wife and I are both 33, work in IT consulting, and earn a combined $315,000 before bonuses. We don\u2019t love our jobs, but they pay well and offer flexibility. Our goal is to save enough to be able to step away from our careers.<\/p>\n

Our current financial picture looks like this.<\/p>\n