Today, Jim Cramer said that investors who need money within the next five years should not invest in stocks. Way to go Jimbo! You must have just taken the Risk Capacity Survey and gotten an Index Portfolio 5 or 10 for these folks. Yes indeed, if investors need money soon, either to buy a house or pay tuition, they should never, not in today’s market or in any other day’s market, invest in the stock market.

Also on last night’s Mad Money, Jim Cramer apologized for apologizing on Monday for recommending Wachovia. Confused? Apparently so is Jim. Two weeks ago he had Wachovia CEO Steel on his show. Steel talked completely positively about his bank. Cramer went along. Then when the FDIC fed Wachovia to Citigroup last week, Cramer apologized for saying nice things. Then yesterday when Wells Fargo bought Wachovia fair and square, Cramer apologized for apologizing, wearing on his chest the scarlet letter “J” which he said stood for “Jump to conclusions” or, later, “Jerk.”  He removed Steel from his “Wall of Shame” and indicated that he should be up there instead.

Abby, a caller into Jim Cramer’s Mad Money show last night, asked whether now is a good time to be in index funds or to get out. Jim replied that he gives one-twelfth per month into his 401(k) and his daughters’ uniform gift to minors. “I don’t sit there and say, ‘Well wait a second, should I time it right?’” He went on to say that with the recent downturn in the market, he would be adding his December allotment right now, adding, “That’s how I trade index funds… I guess it’s not trading them, I invest in them as I have been investing with index funds since 1982. OK? That’s how I do my retirement account is index funds.”

So in answer to Abby’s question, yes now is a good time to be in index funds. As is every other time she might ask the question.

If your 401(k) account does not have access to broad market, low-cost index funds, contact your employeer’s retirement department and let them know you want to invest the same way Jim Cramer does.

Did you see Jim Cramer on Mad Money yesterday? He apologized for having the CEO of Wachovia bank on his show and then recommending we buy the stock. If you bought it, you would have lost something like 80 or 90% of your investment. Check out the full story at Huffingtonpost.