Why I am Selling Stocks

Today's Newsletter:

• My Latest

• Right When You Are Wrong

• Why I am Selling Stocks

• A Money Question

My Latest

My latest teaches you how to avoid that surprise tax bill (the one we all despise).

I teach you:

• What to understand

• How estimated taxes work

• How to calculate your tax bill

• How to avoid that big surprise tax bill

You can check it out here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Right When You Are Wrong

It was 2015, and one of my financial mentors told me he was no longer buying equities (stocks).

“The market feels overpriced, and I think you should trim your positions.”

Now, for some context, I was right in the middle of my baseball career.

I was making good money year over year and spending very little of it.

Said another way, I had a long runway and no clear use for the cash (outside of putting it to work in the market).

I told him I was going to keep investing just like I always had and didn’t really care if we saw a downturn.

He all but scolded me, telling me that I was already participating in the upside with what was already invested, and keeping that additional money in cash was the move.

Well, in short, he was wrong and I was right.

At least that is what I thought until recently.

You see, now I think he was right (for him and his situation).

I was right for me and my situation.

Investing is a game of taking the data and combining it with your specific situation.

Today, I want to discuss my thoughts on the market.

I want to discuss why, for the first time since that day, I am rethinking those equities (and selling some).

Let’s dive in…

______________________

Why I am Selling Stocks

I live much of my life on the edges.

I am either all in on something or all out.

I am either willing to voice a strong opinion or say nothing at all.

I am either willing to make a stand (if I believe in something) or sit it out all together.

You see that level of conviction comes from one thing.

Those times when I voice the opinion, make a stand, or go all in, I have the data.

My opinion has been thought through and battle-tested.

If I don’t have the data or solid ground to stand on, I just simply sit it out.

I share this because I am, for the first time in fifteen years of investing, turning my investing dial back (in the stock market).

Here has been my progression of investing:

• 2009 – I was 60% in risk on assets (stocks) and 40% in risk off assets (bonds/cash)

• 2015 – I was 80% in risk on assets (stocks) and 20% in risk off assets (bonds/cash)

• 2025 – I am 95% in risk on assets (stocks) and 5% in risk off assets (bonds/cash)

My progression to more risk on assets has been a combination of life changes plus getting more comfortable with the risk of being in the market.

If my portfolio dropped by 30% tomorrow, I wouldn’t panic but rather try to scrape up any spare change to invest.

That wouldn’t have been the case back in 2009 when I first started investing money.

So, with that context, why am I making the move to more risk-off assets in the coming months?

The Data

The data would say U.S. markets are priced to perfection.

Now that isn’t to say the markets are going to drop (or I have any clue where they go in the short term).

It is to say that there is a positive correlation between what you pay (P/E ratio for stocks) and what you return (market return).

The S&P 500 had a P/E ratio of 22.3x as of July 2025, and you can see the subsequent 5-year annualized returns when the P/E reaches those levels.

Now I am not a market predictor, and the market can act irrationally for longer than most can “stick to their guns.”

Yet I don’t want to be naïve about putting money into positions that are priced to perfection.

Add in that my core pillar of investing is this ~ Do the thing that you are willing to stick with for longer than anyone else.

For me, one way I am going to increase my chances of sticking to by getting a bit more dry powder on the sidelines.

Opportunity Set

The second reason is that at the stage of wealth building I am at.

Other opportunities are piquing my interest outside of the market.

Those opportunities will require cash to deploy. That cash is coming from me, going a bit more “risk off” in my public market portfolio.

I have a long time horizon, and I still want to be risk on as much as possible.

Yet as my net worth has grown, those “risk on” assets are not all correlated.

Said another way, when one zigs, another zags.

My Situation

Lastly, I just don’t like debt. I bought a house this past year, and we have a mortgage on it.

The math says keep it, but my heart says pay it off.

So I am going to do a bit of something in the middle.

I am going to keep more cash on the sideline, keep paying on the mortgage, and give myself more flexibility moving forward.

These three things allow me to do one thing ~ Stick to my plan as long as possible.

Now, before you send me an email or think you should sell out of the market, please listen…

I am going to go from 95% risk on assets to something closer to 85% risk on assets.

My retirement accounts are staying 100% risk on.

This is a slight tweak, not a major move.

My recommendation to many of my clients is the opposite of this.

The reason for that?

They are closer to me in 2015 than me in 2025.

Remember when I said my mentor wasn’t actually wrong?

Well, he was right for him and his situation.

His life stage, plus investable assets, plus future opportunities dictated him increasing his cash position.

Where he went wrong was thinking that his situation should apply to my situation.

You see, we can both see the same data, but our lives (and financial situations) are not the same.

Heck, even if you have an exactly equal net worth and age to someone else, your situation is light-years different than theirs.

It is kind of like ordering a drink; you could order an Old Fashioned (my go-to) at two different restaurants.

Both are made with similar ingredients, but they just taste different…bring it up to the staff and you will probably get an answer like ~ “That is just how we make it here”.

So just like that drink, it can look identical, but the result can be quite different.

______________________

My friends, your situation is unique, but the lesson here is that you need to always be looking forward, not back.

Your situation is always changing.

Just like mine has changed from 2015 to 2025.

So my advice to you is to evaluate where you are today.

Consider what it would take for you to stay in the game longer.

Think through the pros and cons of what that might look like for you.

Then take action on it.

Until next time, my friends!

____________________

A Money Question

What move today allows you to stick with your plan tomorrow?

The answer to that simple question (and the ability to revisit it) will increase your chances of building real wealth.

______________________

3 Ways I Can Help You

💰 Schedule an introductory call with Moment. We help athletes, entrepreneurs, and key employees build and protect wealth.

📹 Check out my YouTube channel. A safe place to get smarter with your money.

📷 Interact with me on Instagram. Where I provide bite-sized daily content to level up your money game.

Moment Private Wealth, LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor, located in the State of Missouri. Moment Private Wealth provides investment advisory and related services for clients nationally. Moment Private Wealth will maintain all applicable registrations and licenses as required by the various states in which Moment Private Wealth conducts business, as applicable. Moment Private Wealth renders individualized responses to persons in a particular state only after complying with all regulatory requirements, or under an applicable state exemption or exclusion. Nothing in this content is intended to be, and you should not consider anything in this content to be, investment, accounting, tax, or legal advice.