The bad news is that it's nearly a sure thing that the market will crash one of these days -- perhaps in a year or two, or perhaps tomorrow. The good news is that you can take some steps now to prepare for a crash, and you can have a plan in place for what you'll do when a crash happens.
What to do before a market crash
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Do build a cash pile
In general, it can be good to have no more than 10% of your overall net worth in cash for investments.
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Do build a watch list
It's not enough to have a pile of cash to spend when the market crashes if you end up having no idea what to buy. So build and maintain a stock watch list. Start by jotting down the names of companies you read or hear about that seem like promising investments.
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Do consider defensive stocks
Another thing you can do if you're anticipating a market crash is to include a bunch of defensive stocks in your portfolio, as they tend to get less punished during a market downturn.
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Do assess your portfolio
Market crashes present great shopping opportunities for those who are ready for them.