The other day, there was a guy on CNBC hyping his style of investing. He seems like a nice guy, but his theory was a bit hard to swallow. He said that if you have money, you should just buy the market and average down. Hold it for ten years. Doing that he says will beat the market.

We agree. It will beat the market. But that's not the same as making money. Depending on when you start your ten year hold period, there are many times when your total returns will be negative. Yes, you might beat the market, but is that anything to write home about? Say the DOW is off 25% and you're down just 15. Is this great? No!

Buy and hold for the long term only truly works if you are smart enough to have bought at a major low and the market rose from there. If on the other hand you've bought at the highs, it can be a painful lesson. Look at the those that bought in January of 2000. It's now 2005 and if you were in the NASDAQ, you are still down over 30% even if you've averaged down.

Don't buy the standard fare. It's just not good. You might beat the averages, but you still could be red.

Now, as you read this part, please take into consideration that any type of financial planning is a "one on one" situation.

First things first, whether you were looking for an estate planner or a plumber, we would ask friends, relatives, or neighbors who they would recommend. If they have had great success with someone in the past, the chances of you having the same luck are pretty good. Networking is a lot better than picking names out of the phone book. It might save you a bunch of time and maybe even regret later on. Once you have made contact with someone in the financial field find out if there are any fees in having a consultation with them. Some people may have a small fee that they charge but will return it to you if you do business with them in the near future. If everything seems reasonable to you set an appointment up with them. Your first appointment should be to get introduced and have your goals evaluated and a needs analysis completed.

What are your present needs and future needs, along with your dreams and desires? You should be having this type of discussion. Not what is the hottest product on the market talk. If they there trying to sell you something upfront on the first meeting, there probably not worth your time nor money.

Many readers are at different stages in their lives so here is a little time line that we would go by.

Young families, make sure you have a proper life insurance plan in place, disability insurance to protect your income and at least 10% going towards a retirement fund. Yes, we know you may not be able to due everything at once, but make sure you are going over your plans every year or 2 to make sure you are growing closer to your goals. Above and beyond that we love stocks and real estate investments for more of a short term to pre retirement pick. We figure that those investments could either make you or break you, but you'll still have your retirement funds when you need them and by providing proper insurances your family is taken care of in the event something bad happens.

Once the wealth is accumulated it's time for the big guns. Estate planning provides the means to clearly define how you want your assets to endure after your have and to whom they should go to. To accomplish this we would gather a team of individuals such as an attorney for legality issues, an accountant for the tax implications, an insurance advisor to handle the insurances and an investment advisor, if the insurance agent does not handle all your investments. Out of all the categories of finances estate planning can be the most difficult because of the in depth planning that is required. It seems that with each new president, the tax codes get rewritten all over again making long range planning terrible. But remember, once you've accumulated your fortune, it could take just as long to preserve it so having people you can trust and build a relationship with is vital.