Things have been tough lately, that’s no secret.  For those who have lost their jobs, investing is no longer a concern so much as finding a new job and putting food on the table.  Those of us lucky enough to still be employed have to remain focused on our futures, though.  Normal rules of investing don’t seem to fit these times though.  It’s hard to invest as you watch share prices plummet daily, lower and lower.  What’s an investor to do?  A couple things come to mind.

Don’t watch the market daily

Unless you have a stock in mind that you want to purchase, don’t look at what the Dow is doing.  It doesn’t matter to you.  Index fund investors especially need to avoid looking at daily fluctuations.  All you will do is give yourself ulcers, and probably talk yourself out of investing altogether – not a profitable strategy long term.  So stop looking.

Be prepared to take risks

On the subject of individual stocks, this might be the time to start thinking of a few.  The next few months ( heck, even years ) could very well be a downward spiral, or at best a roller coaster.  Long term though, fortunes are made in the stock market by buying low.  Whether right now is around the bottom or not – who knows.  I surely don’t.  But I’m ready to purchase good companies with good long-term prospects at extremely discounted prices.  If I have to own them for 5 or 6 years before things turn around, I’m OK with that.  And you should be too – if you can stand to part with a bit of your cash. 

I did recently – I’ll go over my 3 most recent stock purchases in an upcoming post.  Keep an eye out for it.