Lehman and Merrill and A.I.G….Oh My!

OK, by now you know that Wall Street is in the middle of a major crisis – Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, Merrill Lynch saved itself by selling itself to Bank of America, insurance giant A.I.G. is in dire need of an influx of about $40 billion to keep it “financially sound”, the Dow opened down more than 300 points today and oil is trading below $100.

So, What should you do?

1. Don’t Panic.

2. Really, don’t panic.
Panicking never helps anything. It just throws you off your game.

3. Re-evaluate your goals.
What do you want in your life? What do you want your investments to accomplish? Seriously look at every aspect of your life and what you want your investments to do for that aspect of your life.

4. Re-evaluate your investments.
Do your investments have the same objectives as your goals? This is probably the most important part of your investment plan. If they don’t jive, they don’t thrive.

5. Take smart action.
Yes, smart action. Evaluate everything – then do what you need to do. And remember, DOING NOTHING is also taking action. Don’t do something just to do something. That could be the worst thing you can do.

Times like this remind us that we need to keep a closer eye on our portfolios.

Let us know what you think about all this and what you’re going to do. And we’ll all get thru this without too many scrapes and bruises.