<prompt> Human: Hey all - Im relatively new to the investment game, so this is certainly the first time Im finding myself in a situation like we all have on our hands now w Brexit. There are a couple factors that might complicate the answer to this question, but fundamentally, Id like to know how long it takes for a trade to get executed if you issue the order overnightafter hours...For example, if you had a decent amount of vanguard index funds lets say VTI, VEA, and VWO for example... and you were quite pleased with the returns from todays bump that followed a global assumption that brexit would never happen - how would it work exactly if I wanted to try to dump those before the market opens tomorrow? Would I be able to sell off at the closing price from today, or will I still get hammered because things are going to open in the basement tomorrow morning? For a further complication, lets say that those vanguard index funds are actually held inside a roboadvisor account lets say wealthfront for example - if I tried to adjust risk tolerance to force a sell-off, or if I just went ahead and pulled the funds from the account entirely - Im imagining that its probably going to take even longer for their system to process that - long enough that Im basically SOL here no matter what. Thoughts?  <response>: Rule 1 to investing. Ignore short term market effects. If a brexit does occur, stocks will temporarily fall because of the confusion and unknown, but your index will eventually regain its earnings. The best way to lose money investing is to try and sell your stocks and then buy them back later. If you are an amateur investor and you realize that there will be a certain market downturn, it is already too late to sell. The time to sell was 2 days ago. As an amateur investor you should be investing with a buy and hold mentality. You should not be thinking like a professional day trader or investment firm.But yes, your account will probably take a couple business days to process the sale. 