Focus on your short- and long-term financial goals.

Short term, you may be trying to increase your 401(k) savings rate to get your full employer match. Market volatility doesn’t impact that goal. Long term, you may want to retire at a certain age. Your retirement account statement may fluctuate in the face of a bumpy market, but lasering in on those daily numbers is less important than the steps you’re taking to achieve that retirement dream.
“Your focus is on 10, 20, or 30 years down the road,” Poorman says. “There are things you can do now—no matter what markets are doing—to help improve your financial situation.”

Those include:
Review day-to-day finances. That includes fine-tuning your budget and building an emergency fund.

Make a plan to pay off debt, if you have any.

Create a list of long-term financial goals such as buying a house.

Envision your retirement. Market volatility is what’s happening in the moment; retirement savings benefit you in the future. Dreaming of retirement ideas can give you perspective in the face of overwhelming news headlines.

What can feel like a big moment at the time, over the long term, may be remembered as just a blip on the radar screen.”  —Stanley Poorman, financial professional