New Delhi, March 25 -- The calm of 2025 has given way to a bumpier 2026. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) has been trading in the low 20s in March amid Middle East tensions, oil price swings and bouts of profit-taking across the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and US small caps. In this environment, exiting the US stock market entirely can feel emotionally safe-but it often destroys long-term returns.

Seasoned investors instead lean on a few simple rules that let them ride out the noise while still participating in US equity upside. Here are five of the most effective.

The worst time to decide how much drawdown you can tolerate is in the middle of a sell-off. Smart investors pre-define a portfolio-level "pain threshold," often in the range of a 10-2...