Long-term care always factors into the financial planning process. Particularly when you think about the ramifications an extended stay at a nursing facility can have on depleting your retirment nest egg. With the average facility costing $6,000 a month and rising at a rate of 5% a year, it is easy to understand why a long-term care policy would make sense for many. However, the policy costs are continuing to rise, and the general population continues to live longer. Most policies are issued as "guaranteed renewable", meaning the insurance carrier cannot increase your premium based on changes in your health or claims filed.

It does not mean that premiums will never increase. Premiums can be increased by classes of policy holders. An example is the insurer can raise the premium for every policy holder age 77 or older. This usually is done on an annual basis. Insurers cannot do this on an at-will basis. They must receive approval from each state before any increase goes into effect. There are several factors that should be considered before purchasing long-term care insurance. First - family health history. Those families that are prone to stroke, disabilities, and Alzheimer's are good candidates for these policies, but may have to pay a higher premium. Women are also more likely to need policies than their male counterparts. Traditionally, we see women tending to the male through serious illness and at his passing they are generally left alone without the same support system. If children are available, their support is limited due to their own family commitments.

Before purchasing any policy, please do some long- range calculations. Anticipate how much coverage you will need. Can you afford the coverage if rates continue to rise over the next 10 -20 years? You don't want to find yourself putting $25,000 into a policy and then having to cease payments due to financial constraints.

When the Federal Reserve decided to cut the prime lending rate by 50 basis points, the market reacted favorably, as you can see from the numbers below. The greatest strength is seen in the year-to-date Dow numbers, as a total barometer of the market. The weakness in the Russell is a result of the strength that was seen in the small cap market last year. The small cap rally has come to a close and growth will really be seen in the larger business models, through mergers and acquisitions.

As for the third quarter ending September 28, here is where the indexes stand.

	Week Start	Week End	Change	% Change	YTD
DJIA	13,820.19	13,895.63	75.44	0.50%	11.50%
NASDAQ	2,671.22	2,701.50	30.28	1.10%	11.80%
S&P 500	1,525.75	1,523.75	1.00	0.10%	7.60%
Russell 2000	813.11	805.45	-7.66	-0.90%	2.30%

Coastal Financial Planning managed portfolios were in line with the S&P for the quarter. The conservative portfolios came in at 7.2% and moderately aggressive at 8% after fees. Many of you are aware that I was holding between 10 - 20% in cash reserves, as I anticipated a major drop in the market this summer. I am now freeing up that cash and moving back into equities.

Please remember that no two portfolios are identical. Everyone comes into the market at different times with different holdings and risk tolerances. This information is for your benchmarking purposes only.

When we lose a loved one, no one wants to deal with practical matters. You are overwhelmed with emotions. The family has been disrupted and it is difficult to approach financial discussions. Advisors are always advocates of planning ahead, but it is not always easy with elderly parents. A few suggestions would be to approach parents of key points. Ask them where safe deposit box locations are. Do you know where they keep critical documents such as wills, trust documents, IRA's, insurance policies, or military discharge papers? Try to convince them to centralize these documents in one location and share this with as many family members as possible.

Review documents annually, especially wills and trusts. Oftentimes relationships change within the family and it's important to keep these documents current. Has someone died who was listed in your will, has a new person become part of the family or perhaps alientated themselves from the family? Try to have an open discussion with an elderly parent. Explain the benefits of sharing this information. Seniors don't always feel comfortable with this topic but with positive encouragement and letting them know you want to be able to focus on the emotional side of your loss when the time comes, progress can be made.

I came across a free search site called www.missingmoney.com, which is a database of unclaimed property provided, by states throughout the country. Items that are commonly located on this site are forgotten bank accounts, paper stock certificates, dividend checks, insurance policies, trust accounts and escrow accounts. The great thing about this site is you can search nationwide. So if your Aunt Mae at one time lived in Florida before you moved her up to live with you, you can put her name and state in and search from there. That's the prelimary step. Once you find something than you need to provide social secruity information. Good luck and if you happened upon an extra $500,000, you know the advisor that would be happy to manage it for you.

This month I had the opportunity to be interviewed along with some new clients of mine in the Wall Street Journal. In the October 8th Personal Journal section there was an article discussing the transitions in the financial advisory business. The Edwards became new clients this year when a fellow planner decided to retire and referred then to a few area planners. Their transition seemed to be a good fit for the Journal story. The WSJ piece offered some objective advice on how to evaluate a financial planner, and websites the consumer could reference for a planner search. As always, if you know of anyone who is seeking a financial advisor, your referrals are appreciated. Happy Halloween!