WHAT YOU TALKIN' 'BOUT, WILLIS?

Good stuff on what to do if you lost a bunch of money in stocks..

..like Kerry and I just did..

Your Money - ‘Is My Money Safe?’ and Other Questions to Ask - Question - NYTimes.com

Q. My retirement portfolio has been wrecked by this. How should I respond?

A. Continue to save. Big losses mean you’ll need that much more time, or good news, to bring your balances back to where they need to be for you to retire comfortably. If your employer matches your contributions, this is a great time to take advantage of the largess.

As for whether you should pile into beaten down stocks, no one knows how much further the markets will fall or how long they’ll take to bounce back. But people who move their savings to ultrasafe investments and then leave them there usually miss out on the gains when the markets come back. If you need to do that to sleep at night or avoid stomach ulcers, then do what you have to do. But it may cost you in quality of life come retirement time.