This is an unusual time to be sure, but the message on Wall Street remains the same: don't panic and keep your guesswork to a minimum.
STA Wealth Management's Michael Smith says the eventual winners will be those who kept their heads.
"When the bear market comes the one thing to do is control your emotions; don't panic, don't do anything irrational. Many people have a tendency to want to run and sell."
Smith says don't try to guess the low price.
"When we had that initial sell-off people tried to go out there and sell and, ya know, everybody out there is selling and you're rushing in and your execution is very difficult; sometimes stocks will get down and you'll have bad execution on price."
Smith says you probably can't guess when to jump in and jump out; so stay the course.
"Yeah, that's unbelievable how many people think they can time it; I've never seen anyone, even the most professional, time the market successfully. People have been lucky. If you think you can time the market you're going to be gravely mistaken."
Smith says a better idea is to have some solid, non-risky stocks in your portfolio.