The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ometimes the best answer an adviser can give in response to their client's question is that they don't know. Investors often ask advisers about their thoughts on future returns or stock market trends. If they invest and the market declines in value, how long will it take to recover the loss? The question is understandable because many investors prefer to purchase safe bonds or treasury bills, but with low interest rates the return is not likely to be very appealing. Many will purchase equities but worry about the risk of market declines. If they think they might lose because of a stock market decline, it is understandable they will want to anticipate how long it will take for the market to recover. History has shown past market declines have eventually recovered and the market has gone on to new highs. That is fine in theory, but investors want to know how long the wait will be. That is when an adviser's best answer is that they don't know. Advisers tend to have opinions, but to be fair, it is just a guess at the future. We can look to history to show us how quickly market losses have been erased. That does not mean history will repeat itself, but it is at least information we can use to see how random past recoveries have been. The worst decline in Canada started with the great stock market crash of 1929 and lasted four years. The U.S. S&P 500 was down 83 per cent from August 1929 to June 1932. It took 13 years to recover. Remember: a financial adviser cannot predict returns 11 · Thursday, January 24, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com S Dollars & Sense By Peter Watson yielding bonds. The key to success is investing in equities for the long term and above all else, have disci- pline. -- Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI. England's largest decline in stock values started in 1973 and over the next two years stocks lost 71 per cent of their value. That meltdown took nine years to recover. This can provide investment insight. There is no standard length of decline or recovery. Those who invest in equities assume the equity risk in the hopes of getting a good return on their investment. After many have taken that risk, they fail to stick around for the recovery. Investing in equities is not easy. Individual investors have a history of earning returns significantly below what the markets have offered. As difficult as it is to be successful at investing in equities, the reality is most investors need to have at least some of their portfolio in stocks. They cannot rely solely on the returns offered by bonds during this period of low interest rates. You know your adviser will not be able to predict future stock market returns. You understand it is likely you should be investing some of your portfolio in equities to attempt to get better returns than are currently available from low- Convert your existing cabinets with custom pull-out shelves ~ Full accessibility ~ Double your space ~ Better organization % 15 ve hy lt Sa a e h ith the ion Call the experts for a free consultation w renovat homes for Seniors it d tax cre www.glidingshelf.ca 905-815-9795 1-877-895-9766 WEDNESDAY JANUARY 30th 7:00PM Burlington Golf & Country Club HOW TO: SAVE taxes through Income Splitting AVOID Clawbacks of OAS Benefits TRANSFER more wealth to heirs AND MUCH MORE Please call Matt at 1-800-336-8606 to register Or visit http://GetInspiredToRetire.eventbrite.ca DWM Securities Inc., Member--Canadian Investor Protection Fund, Is a DundeeWealth Inc. Company. Sponsored in part by Invesco.