Wouldn't we all like to time the market perfectly? Wouldn't it be great if we could buy each investment at it's all time low price and be wise enough to sell each investment as it reached it's pinnacle? This investment practice is called "market timing" and it is not advised or supported by professional money managers or historical analysis. If "market timing" were as easy as it sounds everyone would be investing this way!

The single most important investment decision regarding your retirement dollars is ASSET ALLOCATION--how you allocate your contributions and your company's contributions between the EQUITY and DEBT selections.

In general, your "mix" of equity and debt investments is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than which specific equity or debt investment you choose or when you choose to invest.

With Retirement Investing, Time is on Your Side!!
FOCUS ON LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE!

There are two primary types of financial investments - "equity" or "common stock" and "fixed income" or "debt". The key characteristics of both types of investments are listed in the chart below:

Investment Comparison
Common Stock	Fixed Income
Stockholders are Owners Shareholders are entitled to a share of the earnings Shareholders are the last in line to be paid Stock shares are forever Market values change daily	Bondholders are lenders Bondholders receive regular interest payments Bondholders are near the front of the line to be paid Bonds mature Market value is a function of current interest rates

No investments--stocks or bonds--are "risk free" investments. Risk is not an "either-or" proposition that allows investments to be divided easily into "safe" or "risky" categories. Investment risk is a spectrum: if you want higher potential returns you have got to accept a higher level of risk. The amount of risk you are willing to take is a personal decision that should incorporate the time you have to invest and your personal risk tolerance.

There is no such thing as a “risk-free” investment. There are at least three risks you must consider when evaluating an investment:

• Credit Risk: What if you choose an investment that goes bust?
• Market Risk: What will my investment be worth if the market drops?
• Inflation Risk: What will stuff cost when you need to spend your savings?

This chart sets forth the historical performance of stocks and bonds over the past one, three, five and ten year periods (as of 2/28/01). Stock returns are shown for two "standards" the S&P 500 Index which is an index representing the 500 largest U.S. companies and the Wilshire 4500 Index which is 5,000 largest U.S. companies excluding the S&P 500 Index.

Bond returns are shown for the Lehman Brother Aggregate Bond Index (LBAGR) which is an index representing a composite of government and corporate covering a variety of maturities (short to long term) and credit quality.