Taking Control of Your Investments in Turbulent Times

As the investment markets have dropped significantly from their 2007 highs, you most likely have watched your portfolio value drop along with the markets. But at the same time a more worrisome drop may have occurred – a drop in your confidence as an investor, a drop caused by both the severity of the declines and a lack of guidance and direction regarding how best to get back on track toward your long-term goals.

If that’s your situation, you should know that the key to regaining control over your investing future lies in asking yourself some basic questions:

• Are you concerned about your retirement savings and whether or not you will be able to retire when you had planned?
  
• Has your long-term investment strategy become a short term focus on “yesterday’s winners?”
  
• Has it been a while since you reviewed your strategy?
  
• Are you paying large tax bills, even though your investment portfolio has dropped in value?
  
• Most importantly, are you not getting sufficient advice and guidance on reducing losses and enhancing your chances of regaining lost ground?

If you are experiencing any of these “Red Flags” then this could be an indication that your investment strategy doesn’t accurately reflect your current personal situation. For example, your portfolio now could:

• Have become too concentrated in certain industries or types of securities (such as financial stocks and REITs) in an attempt to capitalize on short-term market trends;
  
• Contain more risk than you may find comfortable in today’s environment;
  
• Be poorly designed – or not at all designed – to consider after-tax returns;
  
• Be generating significant costs and expenses without providing personalized service and guidance in return.

The best way to correct this situation and take back control of your future is through an objective analysis of your portfolio and strategy. This “financial checkup” is one way to ensure that your portfolio is properly managed and your strategy still suitable. A customized portfolio assessment should include not only your individual securities holdings, but also an assessment of your goals and risk tolerance, your tax status and potential liabilities, and a cost/benefit analysis of the fees and expenses you are paying.

A “financial checkup” can help you regain control of your personal goals and investment strategy, as well as alleviate some of your concerns.

If you want to take back control of your investments, contact me for a complimentary financial review. This checkup could simply reconfirm that you should “stay the course” with your current strategy. However, it may help identify if changes are necessary to better reflect your current concerns and needs. GET STARTED NOW! Simply gather your:

• Last twelve months’ of financial statements;
  
• Last two years of tax returns;
  
• Any financial or estate plans that you may have.

As a financial advisor, I can then review your financial information, discuss your current goals, and provide you with:

• Recommendations that will help you manage your investment destiny;
  
• Strategies for potentially reducing tax liabilities;
  
• Strategies to diversify your portfolio to potentially reduce risk;
  
• Answers to your investment questions and concerns;
  
• Decision-making methods to help you make the right choices to get back on track.

Recent market volatility makes this a challenging time for investors. The ongoing credit crunch, fears over a recession, and weak economic data may have left you uneasy about your goals and investments.

What should you do now? Please take the time to contact us for a complimentary consultation to discuss the potential of a lifetime of benefits for you and your family.

• Managed Accounts
  
• Investment Advisory Services
  
• Asset Allocation Models
  
• Personal Retirement Plans
  
• Company Retirement Plans
  
• Company 401K Audits
  
• 529 College Savings Plans
  
• Stocks, Bonds, Annuities, and Mutual Funds
  
• Group and Individual Life, Health, and Disability Insurance