<prompt> Human: Im 24 and was sitting on cash so I decided to take the advice Ive been hearing since high school and invest early. Every 2 weeks or so I put more money in stocks and ETFs well diversified but it kept going down. I figured it would turn around eventually so I kept investing. Now here I am with 5000 just vanished which is the equivalent of a full year of savings. Im feeling discouraged especially hearing that people are prediciting that the stock market will continue to go down, but I will feel like a fool for selling right after losing a bunch of money. Am I being stubborn? Should i just take this loss and take some time off from the stock market or should I continue investing hoping for an eventual turn-around?  <response>: You are young...dont sweat it unless you are going to need this money soon next 5 years. Even if the market continues to decline for a while -- or even crashes -- it will come back eventually. You have tons of time to ride it out. 