Hmmm! Do you really want to help your readers, Ms. Brackley! Than do something about this blunder. The Sun-Sentinel deliberatly INFLATES the monthly Broward FORECLOSURE STATISTICS BY 300% in headlines for the past four years scareing away home buyers and killing the local economy and now they want to help! The Sun-Sentinel like most of the media gets the monthly foreclosure stats from REALTY TRAC. Realty Trac VP Richard Sharga stated that his company tracks foreclosure filings NOT foreclosures and there are at least three filings for every home in forelosure. The news media, including The Sun-Sentinel have mislead readers by incorrectly reporting that the number of filings were actual homes being foreclosured!! Sharga states that he has WARNED REPORTERS ALL DAY LONG that these were GROSS FILINGS but his warnings "fall on deaf journalistic ears!! So how can The Sun-Sentinel justify scareing away homebuyers and causing homeowners to panic sell their homes with INFLAMATORY and INFLATED foreclosure statistics!! Try writing a story ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR MISTAKE and telling readers HOW AND WHY YOUR real estate reporter SCREWED UP!! If a public company or public offical INFLATED their earnings or arrests The Sun-Sentinel would be ALL OVER THEM. Does your memory go back far enough to remember BSO and Sheriff Ken Jenne's arrest stat scandal or is your journalistic motto..."Do as we say but not as we do!" If you really want to help people do what's right for a change. Thank you.

Here's some advice I've racked up over the years:

1.) Diversification is the only free lunch. If you have more than 20% of your overall investment portfolio in one stock / industry, you are asking for trouble.

2.) Financial Planners, Stock Brokers etc are interested in selling you products that make them good commissions. Do your own investment homework. Easy to read investment books by "The Motley Fool" (www.fool.com) are a great starting point. If you don't have the time or inclination, you knowingly run the risk of under performance.

3.) Active mutual funds have other, overbearing objectives other than 'beating the market,' such as attracting new funds. Over 95% of mutual funds cannot beat the S&P 500 index, which is the generally accepted measuring stick for fund performance. Don't invest your time trying to find the best active mutual fund, falling for the 1-year, 5-year and 10-year past performance measures. Find a cheap S&P500 index fund and buy it over time.

4.) For less risky investments, shop around for the best CD, money market and saving account returns. Bankrate.com is a great resource to reduce the time investment required to find greater yield in low/no risk, short term investments.

5.) If you have a prime credit rating, move credit card balances into a 12-month 0% interest APR credit card via a balance transfer. You can save a lot of interest and manage your cash flow in the short term.

6.) Need a loan or are seeking further diversification, consider using www.prospect.com as an alternative to banks. This peer-to-peer banking business model cuts out the banks and offers another way to diversify your investments and borrow money if necessary.

7.) Re-visit your overall investment portfolio mix as you get older. While most investors love equities, you might be pressing your luck with too much stock if you are not far from retirement. One or two bad down years can wipe out a significant portion of your portfolio if you do not adjust it for risk tolerance as you approach your retirement years.

That's all I have for now. I hope it was helpful.

HeatFan4Life

Why does it seem shocking yet at the same time, not so much?

It seems that this group of professionals does not have a unified game plan for their clients for three good reasons.

There is money to made in confusion. If you can keep the theories shifting, the folks who pay for these services believe that they are doing better than their peers - and that brings me to my second point.

We spend far too much time creating benchmarks based on another person's idea of successful investing and retirement planning. Financial planners know this and try to "tailor" your investments accordingly, making them seem so personal.

The guy who suggests his client index should do exactly that. Perhaps a growth index (mid-cap or small-cap) a value index (large-cap) and emerging market and an international index would suit just about every investor's needs. Which makes the financial planner obsolete. Not only will that client save money in fees for the financial planner, they will also be paying less for the funds.

It's time for everyone to recognize that beating the market is not possible on a consistent basis.

What's important is finding an investment method that suits the investor's personal comfort zone. My personal favorite involves using options to both a) enhance investment returns, and b) reduce the risk of investing.