An easy read Dave Ramsey article points out a couple key pointers.

1. Zero % ROI brings in nothing, in fact, inflation will eat it alive. You must invest.
2. Jumping in or letting panic make you jump out…well, we just hear a sermon on this today. Read all of Mark chapter 13, then realize that there will be ups and downs but don’t run about in sky is falling mode. I know, easier to understand and you get older (ps, I’m older).   http://biblehub.com/mark/13-7.htm
3. Stupid Decisions. A good read is The Millionare Next Door. Those that stay the course don’t tend to make impulse buys. But on the flip side, if your investment has seen good appreciation, evaluate it for some profit taking. What does that mean ?

When clients accumulate more than one investment property, I show them how they compare against others they own. If they own only one, I’ll give regular feedback on others that are available and how they might compare (ROI). When I was in my 20’s, I was about to make about $10k on a flip that I had $3k into. Dad said, “so you’ll get this much out of it, then rent will stop, and what will you do with the $x’s ?” He’d been trained as a teacher

with an Economics masters degree so it was a straight forward question. I’ve used this approach each time I or a client has cleaned up a house. There are +’s and -‘s to a. selling, b. renting it out, c. ?….you get the idea. I prefer to get investors – and home owners as well – thinking more, jumping off cliffs of optimism less. At the same time, if your $50k house bought as a rental has now shot up to $120k in value and we can get that same rent from a another $75k house, well, I can lead you to water but I can’t make you drink.

1. http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/reasons-people-retire-broke?ectid=10.34.637