If you personally feel there is little evidence of a recovery, that’s fine. A lot of people would agree. But even you say “near future” and you’re speaking for a demographic that is in a position to rely on this money in just a few years. So if you’re 50+ and have most of your money in stocks, and subsequently lost a lot of it recently, then sure, you probably shouldn’t stay the course because it’s something you shouldn’t have been in to begin with.

But this site targets mainly the 30-something crowd, not the boomers who are just a few years from retirement. So, the advice here is going to address those concerns. If readers typically have 30+ years until full retirement, then yes, sticking with your investment plan and continuing to invest is still the best advice. If I were to write something for the older generation, obviously it’s going to depend on a lot of things. Some people are 65 and invested mostly in stocks and just fine with the losses, while others can’t afford to lose even 1% of their money. But those generally aren’t the average reader.

Your compassion is certainly lacking. I lost 27% after years of being well diversified. I’ve watched
With a sick felling in my gut people following the pack and staying in with little chance of recovery.
Every so called expert advises everyone to Stay In or you will miss the greatest upswing in history .
I see little evidence of an upswing in the near future. Most investors are not savvy enough to chart their own investments
and must depend on advisors who will never ever advise anyone to get to while they still have some money.
I watch the greedy sharks buying even more convinced they are getting a bargain and making fun of people who get out to
Save what little they had left.
The truth as I see it: The market may not be a bargain and value may be actually near the correct amount after years of
Unrealistic highs. Everyone should at least consider perhaps we are facing many years of declines and you may never
Recover. Of course you will be there to point out it is their own fault .

I guess my point is that I just feel that I was unlucky (or robbed) to build up all my savings over the last 6 years, only to lose a huge chuck in this crash in 8 weeks?! Just bad luck/timing I guess.

My personal rule of thumb is that any money I will need in 5 years does not get invested at all. That’s Money Market or high yield savings account money. Anything between five and ten years I want to see in Bond funds or perhaps lower volatility dividend stock funds. If I don’t need it for ten years or more, that’s the stuff I let ride in whatever funds will give me exposure to the best potential long term growth (nothing flashy, either broadly based index funds or Growth funds in a number of different areas including small cap and emerging markets).

One piece to also think about is that we don’t just invest up to retirement, we need to also invest *through* retirement. My grandparents retired at 65. My grandfather passed away when he was 76. My grandmother passed away when she was 96. that’s a *long* time to need a nest egg to last. They wre able to do it, though, and they were not incredibly wealthy, so I can only surmise that they had some investments that kept working for them after they retired.

It’s pretty easy to pull up someone’s account history for the past 10 years and see those who were in a set portfolio for their age, and suddenly take on a 90 or 100% stock position because the markets keep churning out double digit returns. If you break your investment plan to take on risk in a market that’s hot just because the money is there, you’re being greedy and hoping to take advantage. So you can’t be too surprised when the gravy train stops and suddenly you’re losing more than you can afford to.

That’s not to say that just because anyone’s portfolio is down means they were greedy, and I wasn’t trying to imply that. I’m simply pointing out that many people a few years ago tried to take advantage of something that was doing well, even if it wasn’t in their best long-term interest, and are now shocked at the consequences.

And you’re putting words in my mouth suggesting I said individual investors brought this on. They are a long for the ride, regardless of what caused it. But many people made their individual situation worse than it had to be because of some unwise decisions they made in the past.

This is SO not true. Nearly every sector, save real estate and precious metals, has lost money in this market and i resent the implication that i somehow brought this on myself.

With 10+ years before retirement, I had a conservative 60% in US domestic stocks, 15% in international stocks, 20% in bonds and 5% cash and i still got burnt along with everyone else.

What’s happened in the stock market has nothing to do with market timing or failing to have the proper allocation. The mess on Wall Street is now a global phenomenon fed by greed and the ease with which financiers overlooked conventional lending standards.

I am holding the course, but please don’t suggest this mess was brought on my individual investors.