Suze Orman Has This Advice for Younger People Freaking Out About the Stock Market

It pays to keep her pointers in mind.

So far, 2022 is proving to be a very challenging year for investors -- especially younger ones who may not yet have experienced a prolonged market downturn. These days, a lot of people are seeing on-screen losses in their portfolios. And if you check your brokerage account, there's a good chance your balance will be lower than where it was a year ago.

But that doesn't mean it's time to panic. In fact, financial expert Suze Orman has some great advice for younger investors who may be losing their cool right about now. And it's worth taking it to heart.

Focus on what you can do

You can't control the fact that stock values are dropping. But one thing you can do is focus on keeping your expenses to a manageable level so you're able to squeeze money out of your paychecks for savings purposes.

See, when stock values fall, you don't actually lose money unless you sell off investments when they're down. And if a need for money arises and you don't have cash in your savings account, you might have no choice but to liquidate investments at a loss. 

On the other hand, if you work on boosting your cash reserves, you'll put yourself in a stronger position to leave your portfolio alone when a need for money arises. And that could be your ticket to riding out the current downturn and coming out unharmed.

That's why Orman insists that now's a good time to spend less and conserve cash. To that end, it'll help you to set up a budget if you don't have one in place already. Seeing your expenses mapped out in front of you could help you identify areas where it's not only possible, but relatively easy, to cut corners. And from there, you can take the money you aren't spending on living costs and use it to pad your savings instead. 

An income boost could help, too

Not only are stocks down right now, but inflation is soaring. That's apt to make it even harder to save. 

Getting a side hustle could be your ticket to boosting your income, increasing your cash reserves, and preserving your portfolio. And while stocks may be down, job openings are anything but. That extends to the gig economy as well, so if you're willing to put in the time on a second job, you may find that it's not so difficult to snag one. 

When will stock values recover?

It's impossible to say how long this current stock market downturn will last. In March 2020, stocks tanked in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak but then recovered well before the end of the year. 

This time around, we could be looking at a more prolonged downturn, and that's something investors will have to come to terms with. However, if you follow Orman's advice and work on boosting your cash savings, you'll put yourself in a great position to ride out this storm without taking any long-term losses.