One key to successful investing is consistency in all market types. Many people ask what steps they can take to help safeguard their financial well-being through good times and bad. There are four basic steps you can take to ensure that your investments are protected as much as possible from the fluctuations of an unstable marketplace.

Follow these four basic steps to help position yourself to weather the good times and the bad times.

1. Plan. In order to reach your financial goals, you have to know first where you're going. For example, if you're investing for retirement, you need to determine when you want to retire, how much you will need to live on in retirement, how much time your investments have to grow, and how much you can afford to save each year. Once you've answered these questions, you or your financial professional can develop the investment strategy that will help take you where you want to go. For each element of your financial future, you will need to plan. Your financial plan incorporates many elements, including investments, savings, insurance, and estate planning.

2. Prepare. Make sure that all your emergency needs are covered - including adequate life insurance and saving enough in a rainy day fund to tide you over during an unexpected run of bad luck. Once your emergency needs are covered, you can begin putting your savings to work in a long-term investment strategy.

3. Diversify. Even if you're an aggressive investor, it's never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. Those who most successfully weather the market's ups and downs are those who have a variety of investments - some fixed income securities along with a diversified stock portfolio that includes small and large cap, growth and value sectors.

Asset allocation - the process of deciding which stock and bond sectors you want in your portfolio and what percentage of each - is important for two reasons. First, by spreading your bets among different types of stocks and bonds you are more likely to protect your assets on the downside-that is, when the market is falling. Second, since no one can predict what next year's winners will be, having a piece of many types of securities makes it more likely that you will pick some winners.

Your own asset allocation will depend on your age, your investment goals, your tolerance for risk, your tax bracket, and other variables. Please be aware, however, that asset allocation does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss.

4. Re-evaluate. The most appropriate strategies and asset allocations will only serve you for so long. Life circumstances change: children and grandchildren are born and grow up; your earning power increases; you get closer to retirement; you inherit money, and so forth. As your life changes, you'll need to re-evaluate your financial plan to make sure it still meets your changing situation and goals.

You also need to periodically rebalance your portfolio. As the market goes up and down, your portfolio's allocation will change - a run-up in small cap value stocks, for example, will increase the percentage you own in that sector, putting your portfolio out of balance. When you rebalance, you sell some of your winning sectors and buy more of the sectors that have not yet performed as well - thus conforming to the classic investment advice of "buy low, sell high." Rebalancing can help prevent your portfolio from taking on more risk than you had originally intended - and help you avoid possible losses when a formerly hot sector starts declining.