The 1 Thing Every Investor Needs to Know About Surviving a Bear Market
The other thing, of course, matters just as much.
Overview
Most investors know bear markets are just a normal part of the stock market's cyclical ebb and flow. Most of those same investors also know, however, just how devastating a bear market can be. The average one pulls stocks down by more than 30% from peak to trough, and in some cases can last for years. Never even mind the amount of time that's often required just to reclaim levels reached before the bear market began.
Still, they're survivable, particularly if you can remember one thing about them when it's most difficult to do so. That one thing is, you want to be 100% invested when they end.
Details
Then there's the second-most important thing. That is, you have no idea when they're going to end. You only know that -- like every one so far -- the next one will eventually end as well.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.