In every conversation I have these days people worry about their investments and the markets. The economy's killing my investments. My portfolio's down. This economy had better turn around soon or my retirement will never happen. There are many variations on that theme. You've probably been hearing it too. You may even have a version you've been using yourself. It's easy to worry.

Things are tough all over. Nobody's immune. If you've lost money (and you no-doubt have) you're neither alone in your losses nor in your quest to determine when things will turn around.

As for that quest, I can tell you this: Things won't turn around soon. We're on a staircase heading downward and we'll be on it for quite a while. We'll have bad days with big drops in all the indexes and they'll be answered only by moderately good days with gains that don't make up. Mixed in among these will be maddening go-nowhere days where money churns from sector to sector in a quest for value.

Me, I'm not worried about any of it. My cash is accumulating on the sidelines, waiting to get into the game. Someday, maybe a year from now, it'll be time to start sending some portions of it into the game. Just a little at a time.

I won't be trying to pour all my money in at the bottom. I know I can't predict the bottom any more than you can. I'm doing what I know I can do. I'm implementing a strategy I've planned out.

A smart man once told me that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. I don't know whether the simple strategy I have planned out will succeed or not, but I do know that without it all I have is worries.