I had hoped to remain in ignorant bliss until some of this crazy stock market action has settled, but I opened my IRA statement quite by accident and was horrified to see that the value of my IRA (stock mutual fund) dropped from nearly $44,000 from last year to $31,500 currently.

Ignorance WAS bliss. Still contributing $100 a month. And I still have about 20 years to recover, so I think I'll be ok. But still, could someone pass the Kleenex, please...give me a moment...

(Note: I haven't yet reviewed my balance in my 401K. Same deal, I imagine. Considering my wide-eyed reaction to my IRA balance, I'll wait as long as possible to look at the balance for my 401K. Good grief!)