by rishabh parakhthe economic slowdown and a volatile stock market are making a lot of investors nervous many mutual fund investors are wondering whether they have made a mistake by investing in equity mutual funds some investors are asking around whether they should stop their sips in equity mutual funds some others are feeling depressed after comparing the negative returns offered by equity schemes with decent returns offered by fixed deposits debt schemes ppf and so on the fainthearted are contemplating selling their equity mutual fundssince the peak of january 2018 nse midcap index has corrected around 25 percent whereas the small cap index has corrected around 40 percent the nifty on the other is up 6 percent for the same period some good stocks are pulling up certain indices but most mutual fund schemes are staring at lossesbest mf to invest looking for the best mutual funds to invest here are our recommendationsview details in such a scenario many investors tend to panic they think they are losing the money they have invested this runs counter to the logic of longterm equity investing so before you press the panic button and think of redeeming your funds answer these questions1 have your financial goals changed2 are you just a year or two away from your goal3 do you need money to overcome a financial emergencyif the answer to these questions is a big no you should stop worrying there is a quote from the famous businessman jack ma today is difficult tomorrow will be more difficult but the day after tomorrow will be beautiful i believe this quote is applicable for investing too whenever you stay patient and invest for the long term with careful financial planning your investments are bound to yield good returnsthe past present and may be futurelook at the following chart to see the returns the sensex has given over the last 39 years since its inception you may note that there are a lot of ups and downs in the market over the short term but in the long term the market has consistently given good returns dips in the market have happened in the past are happening right now and will happen in the future too it is only natural to start worrying about your money in a troubled economic scenario but you should not overlook the big picture the sensex was at 1000 points in 1990 it reached 40000 in 2019 currently the market bellwether is hovering around 37000 so keep in mind that equity investments will give the best results over a long period and market dips are an inherent part of equity investing just have patiencetackle the slowdownrather than pressing the panic button use the current slowdown as an opportunity to make money its a good time to review your investments and diversify your portfolio if you play your cards well you can create wealth here are some points to help you1 investing for the long term does not mean that