I would keep contributing. At the very least, continue to contribute the minimum match from your employer. If you're a little daring then contribute more. Some people think we'll never come out of this recession but the possibility of being in a permanant recession (depression) is the same as having permanant growth. It's economics 101. The market goes up, and the market goes down. It's due for a "down" anyway, it's just much worse than it would have been otherwise because of incompetant/greedy lenders and foolish people borrowing more than they should which has compounded an otherwise "natural" recession.