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Once upon a time, Americans worked for 1 employer for an entire lifetime. They also got a pension for their years of service. Back then, you didn't have to save for retirement or make any of the accompanying investment decisions.

Today, only government jobs and a small number of large companies still offer pensions. The rest of us are on our own. Unfortunately, the average worker is faced with an alphabet soup of retirement options -- everything from the 401(k); to the 403(b); to the SEP if you're self-employed. Just figuring out the terminology itself can exhaust, bore or intimidate you.

Once you get past weighing the merits of a 401(k) or a Roth IRA, for example, then you have to choose individual investments to actually put your money in. Most people don't have the first clue. That's why Clark compiled his investment guide to give you a starting point.

Clark is a big fan of targeted retirement funds, which offer a very hands-off approach to retirement planning. With these choices, you pick the year you expect to retire -- let's say 2040. Then you buy the 2040 portfolio and sit back. Over the next 30 years, the company you choose picks a mix of stocks and bonds to get the best returns with the lowest overall risk. As you get closer to 2040, your investments automatically become less risky.

Forbes now reports there are 289 different targeted retirement funds in the marketplace. So which company offers the best? That would be Vanguard. This financial house offers no load mutual funds; no hidden 12b-1 fees; and management costs that are about one-sixth the average of other companies. T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Investments are also good places for your targeted retirement funds. You can't go wrong with any of these 3 low cost houses.

Many Americans are so addicted to their Blackberry devices that they've become "Crackberry" addicts. In fact, Clark knows that he could easily become one -- but he's taken preventative steps to ensure it doesn't happen.

Recently he was at the dentist when his smartphone began buzzing with incoming calls. So he actually took it out -- while the hygienist was hovering over him -- to see who called him. He'd be done in if he had a Blackberry that delivered e-mails on constant feed!

A new English study finds that 1 in 3 Blackberry users show addiction signs similar to alcoholism. While out at a restaurant, Clark noticed a couple both on their Blackberries during a candlelit dinner. That's definitely not a good way to earn brownie points with your date.

Some 14 million people now have Blackberries because they think it frees them up. But really it's more of a burden that makes you less productive, according to the study. You work more, but you're not necessarily more productive.

While Clark likes the convenience and portability of a Blackberry, he vows never to have a portable phone device that automatically feeds e-mails as they arrive. Christa, however, has wagered $1 that says Clark will have to eat his words in a few years. She expects all handheld devices to auto-deliver e-mails as a standard feature in the near future.

Clark has set his smartphone to deliver e-mail about 14 times a day. That way he doesn't get oversaturated. But Kim has already noticed that Clark is conditioned to look at his phone whenever it vibrates with an incoming call. Is he moving slowly but surely toward Crackberry addiction? Only time will tell…