<prompt> Human: A year ago I wanted to start saving but wasnt sure where to start. After a bit of research I started a Roth IRA, a regular IRA with Vanguard and dropped a bit of money into Betterment just to see how theyd perform. I believe my portfolios a bit heavier on the stock side as Im pretty young. Ive dropped over 20 on each one... Is a year short enough to just be volatility? Or have I allocated wrong?  <response>: A decade is about the timeframe where volatility starts to get smoothed out. If you follow the news at all, you should have seen articles about how the stock market is down significantly. This is normal. Keep investing per your asset allocation.If you need money in short time frames like in 5 years, you shouldnt be invested in the market at all and should be in something like a savings account or CD. 