nu is the Celtic goddess of plenty, of prosperity.

We take a holistic approach with the clients we serve to make intelligent decisions with their life planning to see their dreams come true.

WeeklyCommentary March4,2013 TheMarkets

Itwasabumpyweekforstockmarkets.Earlyon,marketsinmanycountrieswerenegativelyaffected bytheoutcomeofItalianelections.ItalysantiestablishmentFiveStarMovement,ledbycomedian BeppeGrillo,wonaboutonefourthofthevotesinboththecountrysupperandlowerhouses. MarketslostvalueasinvestorsanticipatedpoliticalgridlockcoulddelayItalianeconomicreforms. SinceItalyisthethirdlargesteconomyinEurozoneanditspublicdebtissignificantlyhigherthanits GrossDomesticProduct,politicalstalemateinItalycouldnegativelyaffecttheEurozone. Astheweekprogressed,eventsinItalywereeclipsed.BenBernankereiteratedtheU.S.Federal Reservesintentiontokeepmonetarypolicylooseuntilunemploymentlevelsdrop.Thishelpedstock marketsrecoversomelostground.Positiveeconomicnews,includinghigherpendinghomesalesanda riseinconsumersentimenthelpedpushtheDowJonesIndustrials,NASDAQ,andStandard&Poors 500Indicesevenhigher,andtheyfinishedtheweekinpositiveterritory. ConcernsaboutItalianelectionresultsaffectedbondmarkets,too,pushingyieldson10year Treasurieslowerduringtheweek.Loweryieldswerealsodrivenbyuncertaintyaboutthepotential impactofsequestration$85billioninautomaticspendingcutsonAmericaseconomicgrowth. Despitegreatpoliticalhullaballoo,noactionwastakentopreventormodifythespendingcutsand theytookeffectonFriday,March1.Overthenextdecade,sequestrationisexpectedtocut governmentspendingbyabout$1.5trillion.Thecutswillreducedefensediscretionaryspending, includingweaponspurchases,baseoperations,constructionwork,andmore.Cutsalsowillshrink mandatoryanddiscretionarydomesticspending.Twoofthedomesticprogramsaffectedarethe unemploymenttrustfundandMedicare(specifically,Medicaresproviderpayments). 1 1 3 Dataasof3/1/13 Week YTD Year Year 5Year 10Year
Standard&Poor's500(Domestic Stocks) 10yearTreasuryNote(YieldOnly) Gold(perounce) DJUBSCommodityIndex DJEquityAllREITTRIndex 0.2% 1.9 0.4 0.7 0.2 6.5% N/A 6.6 2.4 5.3 10.5% 2.0 7.7 8.6 18.8 10.8% 3.6 12.4 0.7 19.8 2.7% 3.5 9.9 9.0 7.5 6.2% 3.7 16.4 1.1 12.5

Notes:S&P500,Gold,DJUBSCommodityIndexreturnsexcludereinvesteddividends(golddoesnotpayadividend)andthethree,five,and10 yearreturnsareannualized;theDJEquityAllREITTRIndexdoesincludereinvesteddividendsandthethree,five,and10yearreturnsare annualized;andthe10yearTreasuryNoteissimplytheyieldatthecloseofthedayoneachofthehistoricaltimeperiods. Sources:Yahoo!Finance,Barrons,djindexes.com,LondonBullionMarketAssociation. Pastperformanceisnoguaranteeoffutureresults.Indicesareunmanagedandcannotbeinvestedintodirectly.N/Ameansnotapplicable.

TheNationalRetirementRiskIndex(NRRI)measureswhetherAmericanswillbeableto
maintainthesamestandardoflivingtheyenjoytodayaftertheyretire.Whenitwasupdatedfor2012, theindexshowedthenumberofatriskhouseholdshadincreasedbyninepercentagepointsfrom 44percentto53percentbetween2007and2010.InitsexplanatorycommentstheCenterfor RetirementResearchatBostonCollege(thegroupthatcompilestheindex)attributedthechangeto thecombinedeffectsofthefinancialcrisis,poorinvestmentreturns,lowinterestrates,andthe continuingriseinSocialSecuritysfullretirementage. Americansarenotunawareofthesituation.The2012RetirementConfidenceSurveyfoundalmost onehalfofworkingAmericansarenottooornotatallconfidenttheyllhaveenoughmoneytolive comfortablythroughoutretirement.Ifyoufallintoeitherofthesecategoriesandevenifyoudont itsimportanttoevaluateyourcurrentretirementplaninlightofkeyrisksthatmayinfluenceits effectiveness.Theseinclude: Longevityrisk.Arecentheadlinesuggestedthat72isthenew30.Thescientistswhomadethe determinationmeantthatmodernman,atage72,hasthesamechanceofdyingasprimitive mandidatage30.Thatmakeslongevityriskthechanceyou'lloutliveyoursavingsan essentialconsiderationwhenplanningforretirement.Onewaytoaddresslongevityriskisby developingaretirementincomeplanthatwillallowyoutogenerateincomeforasmanyyears asyoumayneedit. Inflationriskisthechanceyoursavingsandinvestmentwillgrowmoreslowlythaninflation, reducingyourpurchasingpower.Forexample,agallonofmilkthatcostabout$2.00in1990 wouldhavesetyouback$3.50in2012andthatwasafteraperiodofrelativelylowinflation. Onewaytoaddressinflationriskistoconsiderinvestinginawellallocatedandwelldiversified portfoliothatmayhavethepotentialtooutperforminflationovertime. Ifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutsavingforretirement,orwouldliketoreviewyourretirementplan, pleasegiveusacall.

WeeklyFocusThinkAboutIt
Whenplanningforayear,plantcorn.Whenplanningforadecade,planttrees.Whenplanningforlife, trainandeducatepeople.Chineseproverb

Bestregards,

PattyLoris,MBA,CFP LPLFinancialAdvisor

P.S.Pleasefeelfreetoforwardthiscommentarytofamily,friends,orcolleagues.Ifyouwouldlikeus toaddthemtothelist,pleasereplytothisemailwiththeiremailaddressandwewillaskfortheir permissiontobeadded. SecuritiesofferedthroughLPLFinancial,MemberFINRA/SIPC.

*ThisnewsletterwaspreparedbyPeakAdvisorAlliance. *TheStandard&Poor's500(S&P500)isanunmanagedgroupofsecuritiesconsideredtoberepresentativeof thestockmarketingeneral. *TheDJGlobalexUSisanunmanagedgroupofnonU.S.securitiesdesignedtoreflecttheperformanceofthe globalequitysecuritiesthathavereadilyavailableprices. *The10yearTreasuryNoterepresentsdebtowedbytheUnitedStatesTreasurytothepublic.SincetheU.S. Governmentisseenasariskfreeborrower,investorsusethe10yearTreasuryNoteasabenchmarkforthe longtermbondmarket. *GoldrepresentstheLondonafternoongoldpricefixasreportedbytheLondonBullionMarketAssociation. Preciousmetalinvestingissubjecttosubstantialfluctuationandpotentialforloss. *TheDJCommodityIndexisdesignedtobeahighlyliquidanddiversifiedbenchmarkforthecommodityfutures market.TheIndexiscomposedoffuturescontractson19physicalcommoditiesandwaslaunchedonJuly14, 1998. *TheDJEquityAllREITTRIndexmeasuresthetotalreturnperformanceoftheequitysubcategoryoftheReal EstateInvestmentTrust(REIT)industryascalculatedbyDowJones. *Yahoo!Financeisthesourceforanyreferencetotheperformanceofanindexbetweentwospecificperiods. *Opinionsexpressedaresubjecttochangewithoutnoticeandarenotintendedasinvestmentadviceorto predictfutureperformance. *Pastperformancedoesnotguaranteefutureresults. *Youcannotinvestdirectlyinanindex. *Consultyourfinancialprofessionalbeforemakinganyinvestmentdecision. *TounsubscribefromthePattyLorisWeeklyCommentarypleasereplytothisemailwith

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