Since January I have felt that 2008 wouldn’t be an easy year for investors to make money. Sadly, so far I’ve been proven right. As uncertainty in the financial markets continues, capital preservation is paramount, especially if you are looking at retirement sooner than later.

Now would be a perfect time to get to know your financial adviser better. Take him to lunch and listen to what he has to say about the markets and your current investment strategy. Why lunch? For one thing, it’s too easy to pay lip service over the phone or during a stop over at his office where you face the possibility that he’ll tell his secretary to bail him out after 10 minutes due to an emergency meeting. It’s best to get him out of his element so you’ll be able to spend an uninterrupted hour to refine your strategy.

Be ready with questions. The most important one is this one: Is it time to reevaluate my plan? This question is based on only ones you can answer. Those are: Have my goals changed? How much time until I face retirement? And be prepared to be patient.  Unless you are a very large client/investor he’ll need some time to get the information together as you most likely won’t be on his radar screen. Don’t take it personally. Most brokers and planners maintain an account list of 300-plus individuals.

When you hear from him be wary if he wants you to move to something new or to a strategy that makes you feel uncomfortable or you don’t understand. Take time  to review his thoughts and suggestions then talk to your accountant and lawyer and get their thoughts. It’s time to start building your investment team!

But don’t just rely of the advice of others. There’s no better time for you to become more involved with your investment life as you define you investment strategy. Become a student of the financial markets. Start a journal and read the financial pages. I read the”Wall Sreet Journal”, the”New York Post” and WSJ.COM every morning. I also check out a number of blogs and web site’s during the day. And don’t forget to watch Cramers TV show, “MAD MONEY”, which is on 2 3 times a day. He usually has his pulse on the what’s happening in the the markets and he’s entertaining as well. You need to be more comfortable and better understand the financial world while taking some accountability for you investments.

Remember: In difficult times as we are facing now, and with all the uncertainty in the world–gas nearing 5 bucks a gallon, the continuing decline of the US dollar, the on-going collapse of the real estate market and serious problems facing the banking industries–CAPITAL PRESERVATION should be  key. If you are  a baby boomer you can’t afford an underpreforming investment portfolio, as you may  not have the time to make up the loses. My suggestion is to err on the conservative side and make sure you are diversified, at least until we get through the current financial mess the world is in.

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