DISCLAIMER: I do not provide personal investment advice and I am not a qualified licensed investment advisor. I will not and cannot be held liable for any actions you take as a result of anything you read here.

Some notes from a conversation with a relative and informal financial advisor, on the topic of investing in bear markets.

• Markets move in cycles. For the last 10 years we’ve been in the longest period of growth. A downturn is expected, healthy and necessary. We don’t know when it will happen or how long it will last.
• No one can predict the future and we shouldn’t try to market time investments.
• The typical bear market averages about 18 months. While you cannot predict the bottom (see previous point), timing an entry into the market should probably weight towards the end of that cycle.
• That weighting shouldn’t be 100% at the expected end of the cycle, but spread throughout that time. It’s important to be consistent and have a plan for re-entry.
• All of this is investments for the long term. Even if the bear market lasts longer than 18 months, it will be a blip in the chart when looking over 20-30 years.

Most of these are obvious investment principles. But especially in a bear market when emotions run high - it’s important to remember the basics, have a plan and stick to it.