Stock market traders brace for another tough day ahead after shares took a steep tumble Monday morning.

The Dow Jones dropped 1,034 points. The S&P 500 fell 3% in the biggest one-day drop since September 2022.   

For those who invest in the stock market, or have a 401k, or if you’re looking at retirement – listen up.

Bob Canterbury a senior financial advisor, with Dopkins Wealth Management, said don’t make any changes with your emotions in mind. Today’s stock numbers were staggering but it has happened before.

“The stock market just doesn’t only go up. We know that it goes up and down but over time it’s a steady slope and that’s what we’re really banking on going into the future.”

Canterbury said if history repeats itself, the numbers will go back up in due time. It usually takes a few months.

This means if you have any stake in a company, the odds are that shares will increase.

The same goes for your 401k. If you have at least several more years until you even consider retirement, keep investing in them.

For those looking to retire very soon, Canterbury said the stock market drop should make you take a pause. Think about how much money you may need when you retire. Is today’s event going to impact that?

Canterbury said the answer for most of his clients is no but it’s still good to have that conversation.

“Taking emotion out of the equation. It’s hard to do. When you’re losing money, you feel like you should be doing something,” Canterbury said. “Depending on your time frame, it really supports not panicking and not really making any big changes.”

Canterbury said if are going to do something, now is the time to invest. You can grab stocks at a bargain.