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Amid the flood of negativity, I know how hard it is to avoid getting caught up in the here and now. This is especially true when the media bombards us hourly with news, speculation and rumor. Bad news understandably makes many investors anxious. The emotions of the moment always distract us from our long-term goals.

Regrettably, many investors succumb to their fears, disrupt their portfolios, and abandon their long-term plans.

Please repeat this to yourself: "I won't get out. I won't switch lanes. I will stick to my plan. I will stay the course."

The market has always recovered.

Over the past six decades, we've had 12 bear markets, lasting an average of 14 months. During these downturns, the average decline has been 22.4 percent before recovering. In contrast, we've also had 12 bull markets, lasting an average of 45 months, each growing an average of 123.9 percent.

Frequent sellers have lagged the market.

A leading researcher of the financial industry studied the behavior of mutual fund investors and the effects of frequent buying and selling. The study showed that over the last 20 years, stock fund investors who held shares for an average of three years before selling earned less than half the return of the S&P 500 Index (4.5 percent versus 11.8 percent).

Market gains have more than made up for losses.

Selling may feel better in times like these, but the fact is that market gains have more than made up for losses for investors who have invested over time. Despite the 43 percent downturn we experienced between 2000 and 2002, a $10,000 investment made in the S&P 500 Index 10 years ago would have increased +600 percent.

Here are some tips that work in up and down markets:

Stay in.
When you sell your investments when they are down, you increase your chance of missing the major market movements that signal the start of a longer recovery. Many of these major upside moves can happen quickly, often in just a few days.

Diversify your portfolio.
A recent study by Dalbar reported that investors guess incorrectly about the market's direction 75 percent of the time. Diversification is the process of spreading investments across a number of different types of investments. Diversifying your investments lessens the impact of short-term market swings compared to an investment made in a single asset class.

Go long.
It takes discipline to keep today's bad news from derailing your long-term investment goals. Investing isn't a one-year or three-year or five-year or 10-year program. You need to have a solid plan that reflects your stage in life and your personal tolerance for risk. Remember: Investing is a marathon, not a sprint.

Know when to get help.
Keeping today's headlines and volumes of ever-changing news and statistics in perspective, while staying focused on your personal situation, can be a daunting task. A trusted advisor can help you and your family stay on track in good times and turbulent ones.

I hope these gentle reminders will help you to filter out the overheated rhetoric and gloomy predictions brought to us by our "friends" in the national media. They know well that bad-news sells. Don't buy it. Stay focused. Stay positive. Stick with your plan.

Chad Carlson is a financial advisor with Delta Trust Investments, Inc. Your tax advisor and legal counsel should be consulted for tax and legal matters, respectively. Chad may be reached at ccarlson@delta-trust.com.

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