These days, all you have to do is read the paper or turn on your TV and you will think that your money, especially your investments, are rapidly becoming worthless. Even many of the so-called financial gurus, such as Suze Orman, are telling you to get out of the markets, especially if you "feel" afraid of where they might be headed. Before you act on your emotions, think about it with your emotions removed.

Leaving your emotions out of your decision making, especially when it comes to finances, is very hard to do. However, making financial decisions using your emotions virtually guarantees that decision will be the wrong one. Fear is the biggest emotion that gets people to make stupid financial decisions. Love is the other big one.

Studies have shown that keeping your money in the stock market for the long run will yield a decent rate of return. If you take any 20 year span of the S&P 500 and look at the rate of return, you will end up with over 10%, even in today's crashing environment. However, studies also show that if you miss just a few of those best performing days, namely the top 5, your rate of return becomes negative. That's right, if you miss just the top 5 trading days, you will no longer have that 10% rate of return, instead you will be losing money.

So, why would you take your money out after the market crashes? Why would you change your investment plan. In fact, you should actually be acting opposite of what your emotions are telling you and start investing more money as the market crashes. Now, whether or not you invest when the market is down will depend on your strategy as well, but it does present a good opportunity.

In the current state of the economy, chances are we will see the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop significantly further. In fact, in the traders psyche, I feel the Dow needs to get at least below 10,000 before we can get back to a bull market (one where we see the Dow making significant gains long term).

To use myself as an example, I have not changed any of my investments around even when I knew that the market was going to tank. Since I also run a mortgage planning business, I have been following the ramifications for a long time and even forecasting some of what we have seen. You can check out my Florida Mortgage Report for more on that if you want. What I do is continue to contribute the same amount to my 401k and leave the rest alone since I know the market will recover in due time.

What should you do? Chances are you should be doing the same is me...nothing. If you have some extra discretionary money, you may even want to invest it at this time. Everything runs in cycles, including the market. That means that even if the market tanks significantly more, it will recover and climb higher as well, all in due time. Remember, you do not actually "lose" money until you sell it or transfer between funds. Knowing that will help you maintain your focus as well.

In these troubled times, it is more important than ever to maintain your investment strategies, even adding money to them, and keeping your emotions out of your decisions. Make sure you have an emergency fund, cash available easily that is not in a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) or other credit vehicle, and a financial plan in place. Keep moving toward those financial goals and dreams and stay the course, which will likely make financial freedom a reality for you.