Well, I'm no expert and no financial adviser, but in my mind, right now stocks are cheap, the market is on sale, and it's a great time to buy (ever hear the phrase "buy low, sell high"? right now, it's low... in the future, it'll likely be higher, so you'll make money). Also, keep in mind that you own exactly the same number of shares now as you did before, they are just valued lower. It's kind of like owning a house with no mortgage. Sometimes, it will be valued at $100,000, and the next year, it might be valued at $99,000, but you still own it and it belongs to you, and you can decide to wait until it's valued at $110,000 before you sell it.