Why I started taking profits in Q1
And why I couldn't fully trust my timing.
It already feels like a distant memory.
Between one geopolitical headline after another, it’s easy to forget how strong the market actually was to start the year. But Q1 ran hot, especially in January and February, and that forced me into a decision I don’t naturally make.
I took profits.
I trimmed my position in VTI, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF.
Not a full exit. Just enough to skim some off the top while the market was sitting near all-time highs.
That decision carried more weight than it probably should have.
Because I’ve been on the other side of it before, holding too long, watching gains disappear and wishing I had secured profits when I had the chance. So this time, I told myself I would.
And I did.
But it didn’t feel clean.
Frankly, it felt like I was trying to time the market.
What if the market kept rallying? What if I stepped out too early and had to buy back in higher? Would I even know when to get back in? And more than anything, could I trust myself not to take that money and chase something worse?
That was the tone for most of the quarter: conflicted.
Not unsure of what I should do — but uncomfortable actually doing it.
There were some clear wins mixed in there too. On Feb. 12, I deposited the final $1,635 to fully fund my Roth IRA for 2025 — the second year in a row I’ve done it. This money move now feels less like a stretch of the imagination and more like a standard. And the consistency is quietly doing its job in the background.
That part felt right.
The rest of this quarter wasn’t nearly as clean, but I was more intentional than I’ve ever been.