Depends. You should be looking to balance your 401-k every year. How is the subject of a longer essay. Your mix of investments will change as your age does and as you approach retirement.

Generally, over the long haul, twenty years, you will make out far better with regular, uninterrupted contributions than by trying to time the market.

NO NO NO! Now is the best time to be putting money in because you buy more stock with the same dollars.

A 401 is a long term investment. Don't worry about the market cycles, ups and downs, just ride with them and keep putting money in. The stock market averages 12% return over any 10 year period. But those ups happen on relatively few days during the cycle. If you are 'out' during a few of those days you can cut your return in half.

Never stop contributing to your 401 K. If you can change the way that money is invested you might want to change that to something more stable.

Eventually the stock invested by 401's will start going back up....

No! Keep making regular contributions. When the funds are "down" you are buying into them at a discount. Just make sure your asset allocation is where you want it to be. The purpose here is LONG TERM investing.

I'd keep contributing. The more you can buy while prices are down, the better you'll be once they bounce back.

BTW, we're technically not in a recession. A recession is 6 straight months of a decline in the GDP. We've yet to see any decline, although the growth has slowed in recent months.

You should stop obsessing over your 401K.

This is a LONG TERM investment, and if you cannot stomach short-term corrections in the stock market, you shouldnt be investing your money. EVERYONE took a hit, not just you.

If your 401K is matched by your company, you should keep maxing the match out every year, as that is free money, and yes, this is an opportunity to BUY not sell...