MagicJack.com - Make unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls for $40/year
Nolo.com - Offers top quality, plain-English legal products
Wesabe.com - Learn simple budgeting techniques
FinancialEngines.com - Get help planning your retirement

Today's topics feature "Best Of Clark" repeats from recent shows

Have you been approached by a representative from a company called either Metro Dream Homes, POS Dream Homes or Metropolitan Grapevine promising to help you pay off your mortgage in about 7 years? This offer is yet another scam that's come to Clark's attention. All you have to do is pay $5,000 and agree to give up 15 percent of your home equity! Metro then says they'll invest your money in credit card machines, ATMs and other "revenue-generating devices" and use the profits to pay off your mortgage in 5 to 7 years. Once the mortgage is paid, you then have to give Metro half of the new equity in the home. The state of Virginia recently crunched the numbers and found that they are mathematically impossible. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that Virginia and Maryland are seeking temporary injunctions and cease-and-desist orders against Metro. Don't buy into the pipedream being pushed by the company.

The nation's largest cable monopoly is at it again creating mischief in the marketplace. Comcast has been shutting down its customers' Internet service without notice when they use too much bandwidth. Comcast won't divulge either to customers or the media what defines too much use. They say it's a secret. Their arrogance illustrates the danger of allowing technology to be in the chokehold of monopolies. Here we are in the United States -- the place that brought the Internet to the world -- and we're falling further behind in Internet use and speed. In Japan, you can surf about 9 times faster and it's cheaper because they have competition in their marketplace. To add insult to injury, now we have clowns like Comcast refusing to explain their bandwidth limits. You'd think they're protecting some kind of national security secret. Clark has nothing but contempt for Comcast and the way the company is using its monopoly position to take away people's access to the 'Net. While other Internet service providers say they also reserve the right to do this, no one else has as far as Clark knows. These monopoly-enforced bandwidth caps run counter to the spirit of America. Monopolies keep the prices stubbornly high and leave innovation stuck in the mud. But it's more than just our wallets that suffer; it also harms us as a country because we're no longer able to compete with other nations who have better and cheaper access to the Internet. Clark would love to hear from a Comcast spokesperson who wants to come on the show and explain the company's ridiculous position.

People often contact Clark asking about good free budgeting tools online. Clark recently discovered one free site that he really likes called Wesabe.com. If you're curious about that name, it apparently derives from saber, the Spanish word for "to know." So the name is a Spanglish-ism that roughly translates to "we know." Wesabe.com offers you the opportunity to assess your finances and make sure you're on the right track. It's a community-based site, so that means you'll find users of the site helping each other. Clark wants people to know that there's no one right way to save for the future. Some people like the envelope system, while others use the pay-yourself-first method. Wesabe.com is just another tool in the toolbox that you might be able to put to work. Another site Clark likes is FinancialEngines.com, which can help you plan your retirement. It uses the Monte Carlo analysis method, and tries to prepare you to meet your financial goals even when factoring in the odds of a market crash.

Have you ever parked at a big event and lost your car? One of Clark's staffers recently was at a racetrack for a concert and couldn't find her car for a full hour after the event. She eventually located the vehicle when security drove her around to look for it. Similarly, the husband of Clark's executive producer once wandered around an airport parking deck for 4 hours when he couldn't recall where he parked following a weeklong trip. Imagine if you could avoid these kinds of scenarios in the future. GPS maker Garmin has developed a device that can help: a car finder. Clark recently read about it in The Kansas City Star. It will electronically mark where you leave your car and walk you back to the spot later. This is one device that Clark himself could really use; he fesses up to forgetting where he parks at the radio station about twice a week. And that's after working for only six hours! If you're in the market for a basic GPS, Clark thinks we'll be seeing Black Friday sales in the $99-$129 range. And in a few years, every car will probably come standard with a GPS -- just as mostly every car has a radio.