The unemployment rate has cleared 6%; gas prices, though lower are still high, inflation is hurting consumers and the housing crisis, complete with mounting foreclosures, shows no sign of waning anytime soon. So, what's an advisor to do? As one branch manager told me in a recent phone call, you can't tell your clients that everything is going to be fine. At the same time, you can't scare them either.

Let's face it. Clients are calling, petrified of losses in their portfolios because of the struggling markets. But, as this branch manager says, you shouldn't say to a customer
what one advisor did: "I've lost as much money as you have."

That advisor, the branch manager says, also ended up losing the client.

Now is the time for advisors to prove their worth to their clients. The best advisors keep their customers from panicking and keep them on a steady course with the right asset allocation and the right attitude toward long-term investing.

In our pages this month, we once again convened a panel of experts for "The 2008 Retirement Roundtable." Managing Editor Lee Conrad moderated the panel in which the participants discuss how the next 10 to 15 years are going to become more complicated for their high-net-worth clients and what needs to be done to ensure a great retirement while still leaving money for heirs. As an additional feature to our website, we videotaped our roundtable this year and are offering it online as well.

Just as our roundtable participants encourage advisors to think expansively about options in order to help their clients, Associate Editor Helen Kearney tells you how critical it is for you to do the same when it comes to thinking about potential new client segments in "The New Face of Philanthropy." Kearney points out that women are increasingly making decisions about donations to charities and more important, discusses some gender differences when it comes to their selections.

The articles in this issue run the gamut-from regulatory issues involving the new arbitration pilot program to recruiter Danny Sarch's piece on "Seven Reasons Why Advisors Move."

And, as we head into the final weeks of the presidential election, Senior Editor Donna Mitchell outlines where Senators John McCain and Barack Obama stand on certain topics important to both you and your clients. So read "Sizing Up the Candidates on Major Money Issues."

As always, feel free to tell me your thoughts and opinions on what you see this month in the pages of On Wall Street.