With the S&P 500 up more than 60% from those dark days in March, it is becoming very easy to forget what it felt like to hold course in the face of what was clearly some very uncertain times. If you need a reminder, this video may help.

You may have already forgotten, but back then, there was an almost universal recognition that talking about risk in a "lifeboat drill" sort of way is completely different than EXPERIENCING IT.

Risk is funny that way: You can't understand it until you feel it.   More 

I spent last week answering questions for investors on the new Bucks Blog at The New York Times. It was an interesting reminder of the vital role of a real financial planner and the ongoing process of planning.

Almost every question I answered should have been answered by saying: "Find a real financial planner, tell them everything, and do what they say." Of course, you can't do that over and over because no one will listen to you, but boy, it was tempting.

This experience got me thinking about a couple of questions:

1. How can you make reasonable investment decisions without an overall plan?
2. How do you decide when or what to invest in without any context?   More 

For the last decade, I've had an identity crisis. I've never really been sure what to call myself. I have had business cards that said "financial consultant," "financial advisor," "wealth manager," "private wealth advisor," etc. They all seemed to be much more about marketing then an actual description of what I did professionally.

During much of that time, I have been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM. Does that mean I should call myself a "financial planner"?   More 

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D-Calif.): And my question for you is simple: Were you wrong?

ALAN GREENSPAN: And what I'm saying to you is, yes, I found a flaw....a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works, so to speak.

REP. HENRY WAXMAN: In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right, it was not working?

ALAN GREENSPAN: That is--precisely. No, that's precisely the reason I was shocked, because I had been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.

The part that worries me the most about what former Fed Chairman Greenspan told to Congress was the part about the "model" not working. This is one of the brightest economists ever. This is the guy that President Bush called a "rock star." What he is saying here is that after 40 years of "considerable evidence," the model broke.   More 

We have a problem: People do not trust us!

If you have not read Ron Lieber's article in The New York Times, you should. What you will find is a well-written article discussing some of the more difficult issues that planners faced last year. The answers come from some of the best in the business. It's a nice article asking some tough and thoughtful questions.

But then you read the 50-plus comments: Not a pretty picture.   More