I Always Lean on This Warren Buffett Investing Advice When Markets Are Tumbling

It’s a daunting time to invest in the stock market, as major indexes have been plunging in recent weeks. Both the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) dipped into correction territory earlier this month, and while they seem to be on the rebound for right now, there’s no shortage of recession concerns.

Investor sentiment has plummeted, with around 60% of U.S. investors admitting to feeling “bearish” about the next six months, according to a March 2025 survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. That’s up from around 28% in early November.

While the future may be uncertain, it can be helpful to hear advice from investors who have experience with tough economic times. Warren Buffett has lived through many recessions in his 94 years, and here’s what he has to say about surviving periods of market volatility.

If stock prices continue to sink, the short term can be incredibly unnerving. There’s always a chance the economy might dip into a recession and your portfolio could potentially lose a substantial amount of value. However, there’s a big silver lining: Stocks are also on sale.

In a 2008 article published in The New York Times, Warren Buffett offered hope to millions of investors feeling discouraged and scared amid the Great Recession:

A simple rule dictates my buying. Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors.

He went on to say, though, that this can work in many investors’ favor:

[I]n the early 1980s, the time to buy stocks was when inflation raged and the economy was in the tank. In short, bad news is an investor’s best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America’s future at a marked-down price.

As fear rages again, now is the time to “be greedy,” in Buffett’s words. The further stock prices slip, the greater those discounts will be. Loading up on these stocks at lower prices will not only save you money in the short term, but it can also set you up for significant gains when the market eventually recovers.

Historically, those who invested at the most daunting times were often the ones who reaped the biggest rewards.

For example, say you’d invested in an S&P 500 index fund in January 2008. The market was about a month into the Great Recession, with more than a year to go before prices would begin to rebound. In the near term, your portfolio would have sank, but if you’d simply held your investments for 10 years, you’d have nearly doubled your money by 2018.