Given markets over the past nine months and in fact over the last ten years, it's easy for clients to feel discouraged.In some cases, though, investors think things are actually worse than they are - this is especially the case for older clients who have been withdrawing money. In those instances it's important that advisors provide an accurate perspective on what's actually taken place.

Many clients simply look at their statement and compare the current balance to the amounts they have invested - forgetting or underestimating dividends and withdrawals for living expenses.

In a recent advisor roundtable that I hosted in Vancouver, one advisor described how he deals with this.

Going into a meeting with older clients, he creates a chart that has four bars for each year: Funds deposited, net increase or decrease through performance (including dividends), funds withdrawn through dividends taken and withdrawals and finally the net change for that year. He then totals this up for the time he and his client have been working together.

He commented that clients who simply compared the current balance to the amount invested are frequently surprised that they've actually made money - a frequent comment is "I didn't realize how much I've taken out."

Part of an advisor's job these days is to provide clients with an accurate perspective on what's actually happened and to remind them that in many cases their experience, while not great, has not been as bad as many believe. Reports such as the one this advisor uses may take a while to prepare - but can be a good investment of time in keeping clients onside.