I'm sure you will all agree that 2009 will be a difficult year for investors, as well as for those in employment. With interest rates falling, returns on deposits will fall significantly, not just this year, but over the next few years. As offers and fixed rate deals mature, funds on deposit will produce returns of less than 2% by the end of the year. Many people who made losses last year would no doubt be happy with a 2% return, but of course that misses the point of investing.

This month's book of the month is interesting in that it looks back to the 14th century. Those of you who get around to buying and reading the book will see that investments have fallen and risen for over 600 hundred years, so we should not be surprised that they continue to do so. And this is the point when investing - investments should never be made for the short term and you can never time the markets.

We believe market timing is impossible. Market timing is where you go in and out of investments, to try and secure a gain when they go up and move out of the market when they go down. Anyone who believes that it is possible to catch all of these swings is wrong. Indeed, those believing that it is possible have probably lost all of their money to a certain, recently arrested American investment manager. By definition, market timing means short-term investing.

However, long-term investing, with a sensible investment allocation strategy, produces excellent returns over the long term. But because you never know when movement will be up or down, you must always be invested. With an asset allocation structure, you will limit the losses and enhance the gains.