There are only a few reasons I would sell our stock/bond portfolio.
1) We need the cash for expenses. For example, we needed a down payment and that required cash.
2) We wanted to invest in some rental property because we found a great deal.
3) We wanted to get out of the US market because the government was taken over by fascists; we're fleeing the country; and we don't want the US government to be able to get its hands on our wealth when we do. This would not have been on my list of reasons 5 years ago.
I, too, worry about the future of governance and institutions in the US. But I look abroad:
- Many emerging markets are struggling with the response to the virus.
- Many others are having legitimate governance problems of their own.
I'm not sure the case for international investments is stronger.
In my own portfolio I am 50-50.
Governance is everything. No exaggeration there. A quick look at the stock markets of emerging economies disproves the slogan that “stocks always go up in the long run”. Investors in China or India have earned a pittance for decades from the world’s fastest growing economies. There is corruption and then there is the simple issue that these economies are not set up to divert earnings to retail investors or cultivate innovation.
As the U.S. adopts policies that are unlike what we had when growth was high, our market outcomes will differ. Examples include defunding of education, viewing the military as a means for getting lucrative contracts, allowing bribes (e.g. anonymous campaign donations, Citizens United ruling), having multiple taxpayer-supported industries and government-favored companies, and a political culture that accepts excuse making.