Answer: You have sufficient equity in your home to attract plenty of lenders, as long as your credit scores are good. Locking in today’s low interest rates makes sense, but reducing your mortgage balance probably doesn’t.

In the long run, you’re likely to be better off taking maximum advantage of any tax-deductible retirement plans. You’ll get a tax break upfront for your contributions, and the money can grow tax-deferred until retirement. You also should keep an emergency savings cushion equal to at least three months’ expenses — preferably six months’ worth.

You’re taught that if the plane is flying at low speed and starts to shake, you push the nose down. Your instructor takes you up into the sky and puts the plane in a near-stall, over and over again, so you can practice this recovery maneuver until it’s reflexive. Shake, push down. Shake, push down.

Yet now comes information from last week’s terrible commuter plane crash that the pilot seems to have done exactly the opposite–that he pulled the nose up instead of down.

It’s still too early to draw conclusions, of course, but it wouldn’t be the first time a human being panicked and did exactly the wrong thing, with disastrous consequences.

To bring this home: being fearful about your investments is a perfectly human and rational response to the uncertainty in the market and the economy. But some people are letting fear flare into panic. They’ve become hysterical and irrational. They’re convinced the economy is about to collapse and their investments will become worthless. They’re making sudden, radical changes in their portfolios rather than taking a moment to breathe, get unconflicted advice and see the big picture.

When you’re a pilot, you may not have time to reflect. That’s why flight training is so important. As long-term investors, though, we don’t have to make split-second decisions. We can take the time to get it right.