Looking for investment advice? Here's what brokers are saying.

Much as they did when the tech bubble burst in 2000, plunging stock prices have triggered an avalanche of calls to stockbrokers and financial advisers. What’s different this time are the violent swings in the market.

“It’s the volatility that scares people,” said Jim Dille , a stockbroker in the Norfolk office of Scott & Stringfellow Inc. “The Dow can be up 300 points and down 200 in the same day, and there’s no rational explanation.”

But their responses to clients are similar to what they were in past downturns: The need remains for a long-term investment plan and a diversified portfolio.

Here’s what the advisers have been telling people – along with answers to other questions people might have about the safety of money-market mutual funds and bank deposits:

Diversify Among those who  have suffered recently are investors who accumulated bank stocks and failed to realign their portfolios, said Charles Nash, a broker in the Norfolk office of Wachovia Securities. For years, bank stocks were attractive because they paid respectable dividends and were strong performers. However, some investors have sustained heavy losses because they ignored the need to diversify their holdings.

People often hold on to well-performing stocks and avoid adjusting their portfolios “because nobody wants to pay taxes” on their capital gains, Nash said.

Advice for younger investors Like other investors, those in their 20 s and 30 s need a long-term financial plan and should adjust it when necessary. That’s because a job loss, marriage or sickness can affect their financial needs.

Brokers said they’ve gotten calls from younger investors frightened by plunging stock prices. Despite the fear of losses, “a younger person should be in the stock market because they’ve got the time to ride through the market’s ups and downs,” Nash said. Some, he said, should consider buying more high-quality stocks when their prices are depressed.

Younger investors must be sure that their portfolios are sufficiently diversified, “so that when the Dow is down 18 or 20 percent, you’re not panicking,” Dille said. “This is not the last financial crisis that we’re going to go through.”

Are money-market mutual funds safe? Money-market mutual funds, which invest in commercial paper and other short-term securities, have become widely used vehicles for holding investors’ cash. 

The news that some money-market  funds were forced to “break the buck” and cut their share prices from the $1 benchmark  rattled investors and triggered inquiries about the funds’ safety.

While the vast number of funds remain intact, Dille said his recommendations to concerned clients depend on a person ’s need for safety. Brokerage firms and mutual-fund families make available an array of money funds, including some that specialize in Treasury securities, government-agency securities and municipal securities.

The Treasury Department recently announced plans for an emergency program that would temporarily protect shareholders in money-market funds. These plans call for money-market funds to voluntarily enroll in the program and pay for the insurance coverage.

How about bank deposits? The upheaval in financial markets and a highly publicized bank failure in July  sparked depositor worries about the safety of banks. Those concerns are likely to grow in the wake of  Washington Mutual’s collapse, the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Regulators took control of the giant Seattle-based savings bank Thursday night and sold its deposits and branches to JPMorgan Chase.

When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took control of IndyMac  Bank in California in July, the public saw long lines of depositors circling the bank, said Louis Morris, president and chief executive of Hampton-based Old Point National Bank. Some of Old Point’s depositors, he said, told  themselves, “Wait a minute. I need to check on my own savings.”

Old Point responded by stepping up its training of branch employees so they can better address customer inquiries about deposit insurance. While explaining the details of FDIC insurance to  depositors, Old Point’s customer-service employees refer them to the FDIC’s Web site so they can make their own calculations, said Robert Shuford , the bank’s chairman.

The Web site, www.fdic.gov, explains how family members can expand their insurance coverage beyond $100,000. The coverage can be broadened by opening accounts that are jointly held by spouses and by parents and their children. Deposits in a retirement account at an insured bank already are covered up to $250,000.

Last week the FDIC called attention to its deposit-insurance program by making its online tool for estimating insurance coverage easier to use. The estimating tool is available at  www.myfdicinsurance.gov . People  without online access can get assistance from the FDIC by calling  toll-free at (877) ASK-FDIC (275-3342) .