2009

REITs (publicly traded real estate securities) will benefit for years from their ability to buy high-quality properties.Martin Cohen, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO Cohen & Steers

"That's the problem with those who are timing the market: You may get out at a good time, but you have to figure out when to get back in, too," says Fox.

Jon P. Yankee, a partner at Fox Joss & Yankee LLC in Reston, Va., which manages about $200 million in assets, said he's hired two interns this summer and will keep its program going despite the down market.

“We've put a lot of energy into the whole hiring process and really developed a process for those we call "summer associates,'” he said.

Mr. Yankee said that the interns complete projects and prepare to be-come associate advisers.

“When we're looking to hire, former interns will have a leg up be-cause they'll know what we're like, and we'll know whether they fit into our culture,” he said.

Jon Yankee is co-founder of Reston, Va.-based Fox, Joss & Yankee, a financial planning firm with $200 million in assets under management. Yankee's firm has hired two young advisers, both of whom had completed M.B.A.s and their Certificates of Financial Planning designations. These associates, both still in their 20s, now help prepare for client meetings, providing support to more senior members of the small firm. 

"We involve our associates in everything we do," says Yankee. "Many of the clients now call associates with basic service issues. The partners then don't have to spend time on paperwork. Instead, we can spend time speaking to clients and addressing the issues that concern them."

Marjorie Fox has been named 2009 Financial Planner of the Year by the Financial Planning Association, National Capital Area Chapter

Financial advisers grapple with cutting loose employees who are like family members--

For some advisers in these small firms, even the mere thought is painful.

"It'd be terrible," said Marjorie Fox, an adviser and partner with Fox Jossb& Yankee LLC, a Reston, Va., firm that manages more than $200 million in assets and employs a staff of five.

"The three of us partners will cut our salaries before we let anyone go. We have such a terrific team," Ms. Fox said.

"We'd do just about anything not to let it happen," she said. "Our culture's extremely important; we are like an extended family."

"The only guarantee lies in saving and earning," says Marjorie Fox, a financial adviser in Reston, VA.

"The only guarantee lies in saving and earning," says Marjorie Fox, a financial adviser in Reston, Va.

Marjorie was named one of the DC area's top financial planners in the January 9, 2009 issue of Washingtonian Magazine.

The Washingtonian developed its list by surveying hundreds of experts, asking "Whom would you trust with your own money?" The magazine then followed up the recommendations with their own research. Those on the list received the most recommendations. Marjorie was one of only 33 financial planners named.

But with a chunk of cash, it doesn't make sense to shift a small amount from savings to investment accounts every month. One solution, says Dan Joss, a certified financial planner in Fairfax, Va., is to divvy up your investments into several larger pieces -- what Joss calls "diversifying by time."