October issue

I believe Autumn has finally fell upon Central Illinois... this morning we have a light rain, with high temperatures only in the 60's. It was only a week ago when we were still having highs near the 90's - so it's been a late-starting Autumn for us. Hopefully it will stick around for a while before the cold blasts of Winter begin!

In mid-August, investors as a group took a look around at the credit crunch (associated with the sub-prime mortgage debacle unfolding) and very quickly hit the markets with a 10% correction. As anticipated, this was extremely short-lived, and September saw the markets return to their recent bullish trends. As your advisor, I take very seriously my job of helping you to interpret these situations, understand that we've developed portfolios that account for short-term anomalies, and maintain the course. I believe that the greatest value that I bring to our relationship is the discipline to view such events without emotion, and to help you weather these minor storms without losing our cool. I heard from a few of you during this event, and I think I did my job - and I hope you benefited from my advice.

In this month's newsletter, I thought we'd talk briefly about the pros and cons of using regular tax-efficient mutual funds for college savings instead of 529 plans. The second article is a brief overview of IRA Accounts and the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules. I believe that just about anyone can get a benefit from an overview of these two topics.