Economic decline

Cashe22,
Certainly, today's environment leaves us all a bit stressed about our retirement funds. But at the same time, it also emphasizes all the more the importance of spending less than you earn, and saving money for the future, so that you're better able to handle times of financial stress.

For those who have a very long-term investment horizon until they retire, I don't think any major changes need to occur. For some, this environment is a reminder of the importance of having a well-diversified portfolio, and for everyone it's a reminder that the markets do have downs in addition to ups. But that's part of the normal market cycle (although obviously the cycle is a little more extreme this time around!).

For those that are closer to retirement, this is a reasonable time to get more defensive and protect your assets if you may need to begin spending soon. But be careful as well - getting more defensive in times of stress also requires you to be ready to get back in when times are less stressful. If you avoid the gains that eventually come after the end of declines, you can still end out worse off than you started!

For most people, the key in this environment is simply to stay the course and keep saving. Be diversified, make sure you're working with safe and reliable financial institutions (as best we can evaluate!), and remember to keep saving.

I hope that helps a little!