The alarm went off at 3:10am. My wife and I call it "stupid-early." But since we live on the east coast of Florida, where the cooler temperatures of the fall season have yet to make an appearance, we have to start our long runs early to beat as much of the heat as possible. We were meeting in the park at 4:15 for our weekly group long run.

Let me tell you a little about our running group. Over the last couple of years, we have grown from a small group of four to more than twenty. We are all different from each other in many ways. We have young and we have old(er) members. Some are single. Some are married. Some are divorced. Some have kids, some do not. We have Jews, Christians, Agnostics, Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. And we cover the spectrum of political viewpoints, from far-left to far-right and everything in between. Running brings us together. Not only does it bring us together, it creates a bond that I find is pretty rare in today's world.

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The stock market is starting to become cocktail chatter again. After the debacle that was 2008, and the rally that we've seen over the last six months, many who ran from stocks are starting to come back. There are stories about the "seller's remorse" that many are feeling because they moved out of the markets in February and March and have missed the recent rally. There are other stories from the financial press offering guidelines on how to get back in.

So, where do we go from here? It's not easy to say. In fact, I would say it's impossible... but it's a question that begs an answer. I just read a story that makes a case for Dow 14,000. Over the weekend, I read one that called for a pullback to March lows. So, what's an individual investor to do?

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If not, you should be. A passive investor spends their time and energy controlling what they can control... the level of risk in their portfolio and the best way to provide coverage of the different asset classes that make up the portfolio. Compare that to an active investor who spends their time and energy on things outside of their control…like trying to determine which stock, sector, or asset class is most appropriate at a certain point in time.

In February and March of this year, many active investors decided that stocks were no longer an appropriate asset class for them. In most cases, fear was the driving force behind their decisions. Fear that our financial system was on the verge of collapse. Their fear was justified because it looked like that might be a real possibility. We were in the midst of the worst bear market in decades and there were few signs of hope. So, many active investors sold out of part, or all, of their equity positions in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

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In his weekly radio address to the nation on Saturday, President Obama announced some new initiatives for retirement savings. The ideas are designed to make it easier for families to save for retirement and were created to complement his legislative proposals to boost participation in IRAs and match retirement savings.

The initiatives, which do not need approval by Congress, include:

• Expanding opportunities for automatic enrollment in 401(k) retirement plans
• Make it easier for millions of families to save all or part of their tax refunds
• Allow workers to convert unused vacation time into retirement savings
• Help everyone better understand the options available for tax-favored retirement savings

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