• occ.treas.gov - complain about banks
• zipdash.com - satellite radios offering traffic/weather
• virginmobile.com - cell phone rentals in europe
• kemwel.com - car rental in europe
• autoeurope.com - car rentals in europe
• easycar.com - car rentals in Europe
• virginmobile.com - pre-paid cell phone delivered
• vanguard.com - legitimate mortgage refunds
• hud.gov - legitimate mortgage refunds
• myfico.com - credit score info
• choicetrust.com - get a CLUE report
• choicepoint.com - get a CLUE report

As the former owner of a business, Clark used to provide health coverage to his employees. And, although it seemed like a lot at the time, he was paying peanuts compared to what people are paying today. The expense and affordability of health coverage is a huge problem for people owning their own businesses. Prices have gone up so much that criminal rings are now selling phony insurance – at much cheaper rates - to these companies. A new report from Congress shows that 15,000 employers got duped by phony non-insurance companies. Bills would go unpaid, and finally the company would learn that there never was any insurance. Imagine if one of your employees got a serious or chronic illness and there is no insurance to cover it. It’s very easy to find out if someone is selling you real insurance or not. All you have to do as an employer is to call your state insurance department and ask about the company or supposed company. The criminals have been operating in three states in particular – Georgia, Florida and Texas. There have also been minor problems in Alabama, Illinois and New Jersey. There could be many other states out there with these problems and they don’t even know it. So, have your employer call right away.

Some technologies are coming that have caused turmoil in the radio business. These are things that will provide new ways to get information, some you may like and some you may not. First of all, Nextel has started a system in California whereby drivers can see exactly how traffic is moving on their cell phones. As you drive, green arrows are displayed if people are going full speed, yellow if people are slowing down and red if it’s stop and go. Cell phones know where you’re going, so you no longer have to ask for directions. You can learn more about it at zipdash.com. The technology has existed in Germany for a while. If another driver is in a wreck up ahead, the system alerts the driver to get off the road right away. The satellite radio services – XM and Sirius – also provide a similar service. They provide local traffic and weather information in certain areas. But people who have these satellite radio services are not very excited this new technology because the reports are very canned and computerized. It’s all about choice on demand. And people who live in congested areas will have more and more choices when it comes to getting their traffic.

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On the other hand, something radio people may love is a new Tivo-type for radio. Let’s say there is a favorite radio show you love to listen to but you can’t. This little handheld radio works just like a digital recording device for television. You can record it ahead of time and listen at your leisure. There is also a rewind function that allows you to record and play back as much or as little as you want. It’s available from Pogo Products and is about $150.

Cigna, one of the biggest financial houses in the country, just completed a survey regarding people’s behaviors and attitudes when it comes to saving money. The Cigna survey found that one-third of people younger than baby boomers are not saving a penny in employer-sponsored retirement plans. In fact, many of them said a 401k plan wasn’t relevant to them because it was “the benefit of yesterday.” Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s actually the benefit of tomorrow. When you start saving early, it can make so much difference in your long term financial health. So, what are the consequences of delaying the process of saving money? According to Cigna, if you start saving for the first time at age 35 and you save $200 a month, you will have $300,000 for retirement. On the other hand, if you started at age 25 and saved the same amount just until age 35, never putting in another penny, you would have $400,000 at retirement. It’s all about compounding money. You can’t forget tomorrow. So, if you’re 45 years old and you’ve never saved a penny, don’t throw up your hands and forget it. It’s never too late to start. And be sure to tell your children early on that starting to save as a teenager can mean a very early and comfortable retirement.

Clark is a diehard fan of competition in the marketplace. So, news that there are several movements around the country to ban big box retailers definitely caught his eye. Wal-Mart, Costo, BJs and Sam’s Club are several big box stores that have targets on their backs. One ongoing dispute was in Contra Costa County, California, where consumers were given the option to ban the building of all Wal-Marts. The citizens voted down the ban, voicing their opinion that they want Wal-Mart to stick around. The county commission was livid. But Clark thinks you should have the choice to shop at Wal-Mart if they want to. A supermarket strike was also recently settled in southern California, where employees were angry that consumers were shopping with cheaper stores. But the people weren’t hearing it. The California supermarket strike was the longest one in history. And these are probably going to spread across the country because we’re are in a transitional time. Supermarkets used to pay very well, but that has change. So, we’re in a brutal time for long-time workers. There are so many alternatives for groceries that it’s driving down prices and causing people to shop wherever the deals are. People should be able to shop where they want. At the same time, Clark thinks these big stores should have to post bonds or have money on deposit with a local community if they abandon the store. The huge areas of space become magnets for crime, and the costs for converting it to a good use are expensive. So the “big boxes” should provide the money.

If you have kids, it’s sometimes hard to live on a budget. They want just about everything they see. And it’s made even worse by marketers and advertisers whose target audience is children. According to Parents magazine, kids ages 4 to 12 now have $35 billion in spending money. That’s four times more disposable cash than they had just ten years ago. So, they don’t have big allowances but they have more than can spend. And companies know this. GM is now trying to impress kids very young, as is Home Depot. In fact, by the time a child enters first grade, he or she can recognize 200 different logos and labels. This is really hard for parents, who don’t want to say, “No,” to everything. But, as a parent, you need to set the ground rules and establish a “yes-no” system. You don’t give them everything, but every once in a while you give them something they like.

Junk faxes are showing up in people’s fax machines more often these days. About 90 percent of the faxes Clark gets are junk faxes. They eat up his paper and cost him money. But a new junk fax from Canada could really hurt you in the wallet. These are ads tempting you to shop, drive a car or eat in a restaurant for COLD HARD CASH. All you have to do is call a 1-900 number to find out more. What you don’t know is that the phone call will cost you just about $30. It will cost you $100 if you call about all of the offers. To make matters worse, if you don’t want the faxes anymore, and you check the “opt out” box on the fax, you’ll be charged $8 for that fax. It’s unbelievable! If you don’t have 900 number block on your home or work phone, get it. You never know when someone will try to send you one of these or try to make a phone call from your home. It’s just smart!