How to Avoid the Next Stock Bomb

(2 of 2)

--DO SPREAD YOUR BETS Even if you want to pick individual stocks, placing most of your equity investments in a broad index fund, like Vanguard Total Stock Market, remains the best way to keep a corporate crook from blowing the bulk of your wealth to bits. And remember: it's at frightening times just like these that stocks offer the highest future returns. So cover yourself but don't bail out of the market entirely. --By Jason Zweig. With reporting by Cybele Weisser