We regret to announce that we have decided to discontinue our blogging activity with this final note. We would like to thank all of you who have spent time reading and commenting on our blogs and especially want to thank the Oakland Press for giving us the opportunity to share our thoughts and knowledge with its readers. We would especially like to thank Glenn Gilbert, Executive Editor of the Oakland Press and Rick Kessler, Good Life Editor, for their support.

It was a difficult decision to discontinue this effort. We have received a great deal of positive feedback during the nearly two years we have written well over two hundred articles covering all facets of personal finance. Writing two or three times a week is a bigger commitment than many might think and we have decided we can better serve our clients by focusing our efforts on other priorities.

We’d like to close with some investment advice we think best sums up the message we have been trying to get across these last two years:

(1)Diversify, diversify, diversify. Broad portfolio diversification will reduce risk and increase returns. It’s one of the best things you can do to improve your investment results.

(2)Higher returns mean higher risk – Don’t chase the latest hot investment you read about or hear about on TV. By the time you invest, it’s often too late.

(3)Find out how much you are paying – Make sure you understand exactly how your financial advisor is compensated. Find out what fees you’re paying for the various investments you own.

(4)Don’t forget Taxes – Pay attention to the tax efficiency of your portfolio and don’t let taxes get in the way of making the right changes to your portfolio.

(5)Establish a target portfolio - Determine the amount of risk you are comfortable with and allocate your assets across bond and stock assets accordingly. At least annually, review your allocation. Sell over-allocated asset classes and buy under-allocated asset classes. This forces you to do what is prudent and takes the emotion out of investing. It requires discipline, however.

(6)Focus on your spending – Determine what is most important to you and establish financial goals for your future. Then, align your spending with those goals and identify spending that doesn’t support what’s really important to you.

(7)Take advantage of employer retirement plans – Make sure you are contributing enough to take advantage of any employer match.

(8)Get professional help if you need it – Don’t be embarrassed to seek professional help if you’re unsure how to get your financial house in order. Yes, it will cost you money, but if you take care to select an advisor carefully, professional help can pay for itself many times over. We strongly suggest you consider a Certified Financial Planner® licensee.

We could go on and on with this list, but the items above represent some of the most important advice we’ve written about in our blog. Over time, we plan to publish selected past blogs on our website www.pattersonadvisorsllc.com . We hope you will visit our website from time to time to see what we have added.

Thank you all again for your support and interest.