A client, on the phone, spontaneously thanked me yesterday for the fact that his account had recovered from one year ago. So I took a sampling of client accounts to see where they stand over the same time period covered in the CNBC story: not too bad. Most are off about 3%.

CNBC’s website provided a convenient review of many financial indicators and how they performed over the year ended August 31, 2009! This is a reminder that there were few places to hide in the recent financial meltdown. Consider a few stats:

Standard & Poors 500 down 20%
Oil down 39%
Median home price down 12%
Gold was up 14%
Here’s my challenge to you: When your August 31 2009 statement arrives from the broker, compare your account values against one year ago, remembering to adjust for any funds added or taken out. If your account is off more than 3%, contact me. I am happy to review the reasons why.