Remember, time oils the workings of any investment program and offers an element of forgiveness. Economic history shows that the risk of losing money evaporates if we have enough time for our money to work through a series of stock market cycles. Stay focused on the small number of things that really matter. Get back to basics of retirement investing. Bonds can drop in value, but they will generally earn more than cash.
Stocks are for seven years or longer.
Stocks over time are the most profitable, but they can lose the most in single years. Now ask yourself which of three basic levels of risk best describes your comfort level. Those of us who wish to experience the greater returns historically generated by the stock market need to be using the market for longer-term financial goals. We need enough time to assure ourselves that we will be invested through two or three market cycles. It's not a bear market or even a recession.