Ben Carlson, Columnist

Prepare for the Next Bear Market in Stocks

Six questions to think about before the inevitable downturn begins.

January 10, 2018 at 5:23 PM UTC

Ben Carlson is director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He is the author of "Organizational Alpha: How to Add Value in Institutional Asset Management."

In hibernation?
Photographer: Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

The stock market has been going gangbusters for a number of years, so it can be easy to forget that bear markets are still possible. These don’t come around on a set schedule, but over the past 70 years or so, they’ve occurred every four to five years, on average. Although investors can’t predict when the next bear will strike, they should work through potential scenarios to be prepared when the inevitable downturn begins.

Here are six questions to think about before the next bear market: