In a broad sense, the amount of time you have to invest will dictate your investment strategy.
The retirement portfolio of a 25-year-old is necessarily different from retirement portfolios of 65-year-olds heading into their nonworking years.
"When you're investing, the time frame is extraordinarily important. As we've seen in recent years, you could have the greatest investment in the world, but in a matter of weeks it can come down drastically because of panicked selling that has nothing to do with that company or security," says Paul Mladjenovic, Certified Financial Planner and author of "Stock Investing for Dummies" and the "Unofficial Guide to Picking Stocks."
A recovery can take several years, which may be too long if you have short-term goals such as buying a car or house or funding college.
As a general rule, the more time you have, the more risk you can take.