WASHINGTON -- It's not just financial high-flyers who are watching events on Wall Street these days. Plenty of people are seeing impacts on their 401Ks and IRAs while also wondering what other aspects of their financial health could be at risk. So what should you do now?

Experts said this is not the time to cancel that 401K and put the money under the mattress. But it is a time to proceed with caution.

Dan Gilliland is a personal financial planner. His warning to clients: turmoil on Wall Street is likely to hit retirement plans. But he's also telling anyone with an eye on the long term: don't panic.

“Now is not the time to go crazy and take everything out of the market,” Gilliland said.

For jittery financial amateurs, scary news in the financial pages can lead them to sell low, and buy high when markets recover -- the opposite of what they should do.

What's more, Gilliland said anyone who opt out of retirement plans often don't get back in.

Ad as for safe-seeming alternatives like CDs?

"If you're not keeping up with inflation, you're really losing money over the long term,” Gilliland said.

For anyone saving for a house down payment or other short-term goal, CDs and money markets make sense. But for the long term, workers with a 401K, experts said you should still max it out with one caveat from financial experts: make sure the assets are diversified.

Other experts had other advice to weather the harsh economic climate.

"Probably postpone buying a house a bit more,” said economist Frederick Joutz, with the George Washington University.

Joutz said he thinks the bottom of the housing market may still be ahead.

Starting a business or getting a loan? Think carefully.

"The cost of borrowing funds for starting your industry or your small business is fairly high right now,” Joutz said.

Analysts disagree on when the economy will start looking up. But there are things the average investor can do to increase their comfort level.

As for making sure retirement investments are diversified, experts said one easy thing investors can do is make sure their 401K is not entirely invested in their own company's stock -- so if the company goes under workers don't lose everything. Investors also need to make sure their level of investment risk is age appropriate.

Experts said history shows stocks still outperform all other investments in the long term and keep ahead of inflation. Gilliland said history shows that over time they earn about 10 percent.

With the latest meltdown on Wall Street in the headlines, both presidential candidates are focusing on the economy and pledging they're the ones who can clean up the mess. Republicans and Democrats said the candidate who best sells that message could be the one who wins.