(And, am I the only one feeling that there was way too much excitement last week?  The Giants won the World Series, the election, the fall back to Standard Time, and then I had my client appreciation event all day yesterday.  That’s a lot of life in one week.)

And so now what?

This might be one of the most interesting lame-duck sessions we’ve ever seen in Congress.  The two big ones I have my eye on are whether the Bush tax cuts will be extended and whether Congress is going to do something about the estate tax for 2011 and beyond.  Many of us stand to be impacted dramatically by those decisions. I can’t remember the last time I saw so many of my CPA and estate planning lawyers paying so much attention to Congress.  Decisions made at the last hour of this year might allow for little planning and maneuvering before year-end, so it seems much planning is being done in anticipation of one move or another.  Make sure you are in touch with these professionals in your life, especially if you are self-employed, have a family income in excess of $200K, are 70-and-a-half or older, or have a net worth in excess of $750K.

Take a long-term look if you must make short-term gasps

First of all, my clients are not driven by the day-to-day, what’s-going-on-in-with-the-market-now investors.  They’re not stock price chasers.  They’re not betting on the next big thing.  Or, if they are, they are doing it on their own in the context of the larger plan that we’ve built for them.  So, it’s not necessary for me to blog or twitter or comment on what’s going on in the market(s).

Second of all, information is widely available from many various contradictory sources of varying reliability.  Remember, predictions and explanations are often the result of crystal ball work, and your crystal ball is as good as anyone else’s.  I don’t need to add to the insanity.  That brings me to my last point….

The markets are going to do what the markets are going to do.  The only thing you can control is your relationship to it—whether to participate in it, how much and with what philosophical bent.  If you feel good about your overall plan and your relationship to the markets, then anytime you see “bad” news, you can say to yourself, “My plan anticipates this market volatility happening, and I know that I’ve set up my investing to accommodate that volatility with the level of risk I’m willing to take.  Nothing to worry about.”  Then go spend time with your family or doing things that bring you happiness.