Weathering the Wall Street roller coaster: what financial advisors are telling their clients.

• Author: Caley, Nora

SCOTT WYLIE, CEO OF FIRST WESTERN FINANCIAL

Investors are nervous, and financial advisors are trying to help relieve some of the stress. Local wealth managers are fielding phone calls and also making calls to explain to clients what's happening on Wall Street; how it affects their money, and why they should stop watching MSNBC.

"This is an extraordinary time, and understanding what's going on is difficult for financial experts, senators and the treasury secretary," says Scott Wylie, chief executive officer of First Western Financial Inc. in Denver. "If you are going to be nervous, this is the time."

Whether the client is a third-generation heir or a worker who contributes to his 401(k) plan each year, the experts' message is the same: Don't panic.

QUESTIONS FOR THE EXPERTS

Clients sometimes call because they watched the news or read something on the Internet.

"A lot of times they hear some story about some concern, and they want to know how that affects them," Wylie says. "If somebody is getting near retirement, they don't want to be having volatility with their principal."

For example, when Lehman Bros. filed for bankruptcy protection and JPMorgan Chase acquired Washington Mutual, clients wanted to know if their money was safe at First Western.

"What's getting lost in the story is just because the biggest investment banks in the country are having problems doesn't mean trust banks are," Wylie says. He also explained to clients that First Western, which is a trust bank, doesn't do subprime mortgages, so that helped the institution says healthy.

Other wealth managers are fielding similar questions. "They ask, 'How am I doing? What is your take on the market? Are we intelligently allocated to withstand the turmoil?"' says Wally Obermeyer, president of Obermeyer Asset Management Co. in Aspen, which just opened an office in Denver. "Or they say, 'I'm listening to the news and it seems like the sky is falling."'

Jon Stuck, regional president of BNY Mellon Wealth Management in Denver, says people of all demographics are worried. "Some of them are panicked, from people with high dollar assets to people with $10,000 in their savings account," he says.

Wayne Farlow, a certified financial planner whose Boulder company is called Financial Abundance LLC, says people have been asking him about another topic. "I get the question, 'With all the turmoil do you think inflation is a concern if we go into a severe recession?"' he says. "I do."

Farlow, who...