"I don't think any one class of investments are better to sell than another in and of themselves," he says. "Instead, I think it's more a question of what can be sold or liquidated and how can the assets be selected in such a way as to minimize future risk to the client."
His first choice right now to sell-everything having to do with gold.
"With the market at an all-time high, it's time to harvest gains," he says.
While advisors' first choices may differ, they generally agree that tapping tax-deferred accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs is a last resort, because of the tax penalties on early withdrawals.
Many advisors these days are helping clients borrow, including arranging loans against their investments, but they don't tend to recommend it for clients who are scrambling because of a lost job or some other financial emergency. That would just put them in a more precarious squeeze.
True, helping them cash in assets instead of arranging a loan can cost an advisor who charges a fee based on those assets under management. But the intent is to help clients get through a temporary bad patch, and hopefully those assets will grow again later.
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