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One of the most popular links on Clark’s Web site is his IRAs & Investments page, which lists Clark’s favorite, low-cost funds. Clark has just learned that there are some great new investment opportunities out there. So he is going to revamp this page and offer you even more choices. We’ll tell you about them here, too. Fidelity Investments has always had good, low-cost funds, and some of them are listed on his page. But, now Fidelity has outshined Vanguard and is offering a mutual fund with the lowest expense ratio ever on a mutual fund. Most brokerage houses charge 1.5 percent per year extra to manage your fund. In addition, there are typically commission fees taken out. It means that for every $1, that amount is immediately knocked down to 93 cents as soon as you invest it. Under Fidelity’s new, low-cost plans will have expenses of one-tenth of 1 percent. In other words, the average mutual fund charges you 15 times what Fidelity will charge. The funds include the “Total Stock Market Index Fund,” and the “Fidelity 500 Index Fund,” but there are a total of five funds. The minimum is sometimes more than you’d like to pay. But it’s worth it if you have the cash.

It’s become very hard for individuals and small business owners to find affordable health insurance. But the warehouse clubs are starting to offer very viable solutions. Costco Wholesale, for example, is offering its own branded health insurance for small group. Because of the buying power Costco has, the company can offer group buying power and better rates for groups. We’re talking about real health insurance policies, not just some slip to go see a certain doctor. The San Francisco Chronicle also reports that Costco is going to offer individual policies. The company is going to start this in California only at first, but it will eventually branch out to other states if it’s successful. We’ll see if it works. If so, Clark expects warehouse clubs to start offering HSAs (health savings accounts). This could be a terrific thing for small businesses and for our health care system in general.

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In other medical news, Target is starting to set up “Minute Clinics,” where people can stop in and see a nurse practitioner for certain ailments. If the problem is more serious, the patient will be sent to an emergency room. But people shouldn’t have to go to the emergency room for a minor emergency and pay extreme amounts. The cost at the Minute Clinic will be between $25 and $75. So, Clark commends Target and the warehouse clubs for their efforts to help consumers.