Yep, you generally shouldn't hold much of any one stock, especially that of your employer. Sell your shares as soon as possible.
Thanks! I'll have to get on that train. Since the market has been down a bit, I think I may hold a little before pulling the trigger. Not sure if that's the right strategy.
This is exactly the wrong thing to do! Two reasons:
1) In general, lower prices right now work to your advantage because you'll pay less tax on the transaction. Keep in mind that the index funds you'll buy to replace these stocks have also gone down recently, so it's not like you're in a "sell low, buy high" situation.
2) Don't time the market. Nobody has any good reason to believe anything about short-term stock market movements. If you want to switch up your asset allocation, do it now. There are no guarantees tomorrow will be a better time. On average, it won't be.
While on the topic of ESPPs, is it always a good idea to max out on the full % I can contribute to an ESPP? Or is that just asking for trouble? I suppose part of the answer depends on how much of my take-home paycheck I can survive off of, right?
In an ESPP where the stock is sold at a discount and you're allowed to keep participating even if you sell the stock right away, the best thing is generally to max it out and sell the shares as soon as possible. Just like with a 401(k) match, failure to max this out is leaving easy money on the table.
Of course, if doing this makes it so that you have to put your living expenses on a credit card until you receive your ESPP shares, the math might be a bit different.