Many voices in the financial world today are telling investors to sell the investments they have built up over years, even decades. But the top editor of “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” magazine says this is the time to be buying stocks, not selling them.

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In a wide-ranging interview on Merriman on Money’s Sound Investing, Knight Kiplinger, editor in chief of Kiplinger’s popular monthly magazine, says he expects the current economic woes will lead to a long but shallow recession. He says investors who have the proper assets shouldn’t change their portfolios right now.

Kiplinger, who has covered business, economic and political trends for nearly three decades, downplays the fear-mongering generated by the current financial crisis. “There has been a lot of loose talk about the Great Depression, and people say this or that aspect of the crisis is the worst since the Great Depression.  Remember, worst since does not mean as bad as. The destitution of the 1930s will never be seen again in a global economy. … mark my words.”

Recent polls show Democrat Barack Obama leading Republican John McCain by six to 10 percentage points. But Kiplinger is cautious about calling Obama a sure bet to win the presidential race Nov. 4:  ‘It’s not all over.  First of all, a lead of that magnitude always tightens up.  The race always tightens right at the wire.  I expect this will be a very close race.”

We asked Knight about a retired couple who were nervous about their investments. His response: “I would say if their asset allocation was correct going into this slump, appropriate to their age, to their wealth, to their tolerance for risk, their need for yield on their investments, if that asset allocation was appropriate and arrived at through careful consultation with their financial planner or investment counselor, there is no need to change that at all.  There really isn’t.”

We also talked with him about the price of oil, the U.S. dollar, inflation and the causes of the current economic meltdown.  To hear this discussion, click below for the entire interview on Sound Investing.

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