What should I do when the stock market is volatile?

The market volatility is driving me crazy. What should I do?

You know the answer to this. We know the answer, which is don't just do something — stand there, keep invested, keep making your recurring deposits. If this makes you feel any better, there's a study out from Oppenheimer Funds — that I thought was really very interesting — which is if you were invested in the equity markets on any day from the 1920s through to today, and you stayed in for 15 years, so you're a long-term investor, your chances of a positive return over that period of time were 99%. So if you're in for the long term, this is an opportunity for you.

Interest rates are declining. Why does it seem like the experts got it wrong?

Because when the pundits all "know" them, when they're on business TV, and everybody is saying the same thing is going to happen, it's already priced in. If everybody is recommending a stock, if everybody is bullish on a stock, that stock has already moved and it's high. And it only takes one for consensus to drift, for consensus to move, and for what everybody knows to no longer be true.

So that's one of the reasons why being a contrarian, an anti-consensus investor, has historically been a good stance to take.