Economic Perspectives

"Is the recovery for real?"

Bryan Hankla CFP^� and I were in Chicago for the NAPFA National 2010 Annual Conference during the third week of May.  Continuing education credits in the stringent array of topics required by National Association of Personal Financial Advisors is important for us.  This time the selection was better than usual for retirement, tax, estate planning, insurance and financial counseling.  I arrived early to make a social media presentation for a study group meeting before the conference.  From that, it seems I was in many informal discussions on the latest in marketing.  Given the market volatility of the last few weeks, I think most people from outside our profession would be surprised how remarkably calm the attendees were on investment issues.  Most of my old friends have seen so many volatile periods; we seem to feel it is a normal part of life, other than counseling to mitigate our clients' stresses.