Your Investment Policy Statement (part of your Financial Plan) should have a contingency for days like this, and times like these.
If you don’t already have one, it’s too late for these specific events, as they have already unfurled in the weeks leading up to Friday night (S&P downgrade) and today’s downgrades.
There’s still opportunity, as there is in every cyclical downturn, but the plan needs to be in place before it happens.
Otherwise you would just be responding emotionally to events that have already happened.
The best time to have a plan in place is not during good times, but during bad: Those bad times are the more stressful ones that test our emotional discipline, our courage, and our patience.
So while it’s too late for this instance, it’s not too late for the next one, which, hopefully, will be an upswing.
Be ready for it by knowing what your strategy is before it occurs.
(Full Disclosure: I am a Fee-Only Financial Planner. My website is here)