If you see risk being very high, make low risk investments: high yield savings accounts, CDs, bonds.

Unless you’re retiring in the next 5-10 years, it’s probably best to stand pat or shift some % out of large-cap funds to mid-caps. But the old adage usually holds true: “time in the market beats timing the market.” In other words, pulling it all out is way harder to get right than just leaving it in.

(Your choice- I am not a financial advisor)

My plan is just to cry.

Me neither, hold on for the ride?

Depends how wealthy you are. If you're wealthy and even remotely intelligent this is where you make even more money. Wealthy people will diversify, they'll sell some of their tech stocks and put it into anything not related to AI. Be it oil or manufacturing or agriculture etc. Then they liquidate those stocks (or loan against them, depending on how wealthy we're talking about) to buy up tech stock when they've crashed. You then wait a few years and make money.

If you're not wealthy enough to do that put your money into something stable, like bonds. If you want to be sure you won't lose money (in the sense that the amount of money you put in won't go below what you put in, it can still lose value due to inflation) your bank probably offers term deposits where you let your bank reserve your money for a few years and in return they guarantee something like a 2% annual return on your deposit.

And if you're not wealthy enough to do that... You're pretty much fucked. Learn to cook and enjoy cheap meals, start budgeting right now, forget enjoyment and hope you don't get fired.

buy the dip (not financial advice)

Buy bonds

(Probably not US bonds)

Not financial advise but I personally decided to keep my money in MSCI World ex USA ETFand some gold + Stoxx 600. For now it seems my strategy is working. Will see where we go from here

Pay down short term debt.

Build emergency funds.

Gold not silver small portions is ok, bonds because different types are liquid govt backed interest, real estate is always good they don't make more land, staying liquid is ideal. The most money is made during down turns if you buy right. Don't time the market it'll never happen. Instead grow steady of buy whole under valued assets.

buy real estate

I hope you're not excited for that to happen is what I'm saying. Even if you're not American, you will feel this.

There won't be an AI bailout as with the auto industry and banking. AI hate is bipartisan and no national-level politician is dumb enough to throw public money at them. They're not a huge employment/manufacturing concern like autos and they're not the backbone of our financial system.

(And once again, I love your lug nut analogy, spot on!)