DES MOINES, Iowa — The stock market dropped even further Friday after sweeping tariffs were announced Wednesday.

Many people are concerned about the tumbling markets effect on 401k plans.

Lance Gunkel, the Managing Director of Syverson Strege, said people concerned about the stock market should make a plan.

“The best thing to do right now is to plan for the next downturn. We know that more of these will come down the road. Right, and so setting yourself up today for what may happen in the future is a good approach,” Gunkel said.

Gunkel recommends that people save a cash reserve of 3-6 months worth of living expenses.

“Our first piece of advice for all clients is to set up a cash reserve, and ideally that would hold 3 to 6 months worth of living expenses. And you want to keep that in something like cash. So, maybe it’s a money market or a certificate of deposit, something that’s easily convertible to cash. And that way when these situations arise in unexpected market fall, or maybe it’s just an extraordinary expense, a car repair, you have the cash ready and available to spend and you don’t need to sell other assets to cover those costs,” Gunkel said.

Gunkel said it’s a good idea to take a deep breathe before making any financial decisions in response to falling markets.

“So our first piece of advice for anyone that’s under some stress when it comes to financial markets is to just take a pause and not make any decisions or react to the news right away. Oftentimes, emotions are our worst enemies and they cause us to make poor decisions,” Gunkel said.