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Behavioral targeting for ads is all the rage these days among both online and traditional advertisers. When you're surfing around on your computer, a user profile can be easily built as you're tracked from site to site using cookies. Based on that profile, you can then be fed targeted ads.

The Washington Post reports that one marketer has fine-tuned this process to the point that they were able to identify 40,000 brides-to-be based on their visits to sites that had nothing to do with getting married. Of course, the surfers were then served ads related to their coming nuptials.

The feds are trying to decide if these practices violate your privacy. The ad agencies and advertisers obviously don't want you to have anonymity on the web.

The cable TV industry, meanwhile, has a new $150 million initiative in the works called Project Canoe. The goal of Project Canoe is to come up with ways to feed targeted commercials to your TV based on your show preferences. So the ad spots you'll see may be completely different than the ones your neighbor sees. The hope is that you won't TiVo past the ads because you'll actually be interested in them.

Clark believes there's a serious creep-out factor here! What do you think?

For many years, people were buying more branded goods than store brands. But that's reversed now as consumers seek to stretch their dollars.

Each November, Clark does a toy test with children in his TV work to help parents sort through all the holiday choices. During a recent test, Target and Wal-Mart branded toys were almost more popular than the name brands.

Today you can buy store brands in most categories -- food, toys, household goods, etc. The warehouse clubs also push their own private labels. Sam's Club has Member's Mark; Costco has Kirkland Signature; and BJ's has Berkley & Jensen, among others. When it comes to OTC drugs, Clark exclusively buys store brands no matter where he's shopping.

So don't rely on emotions and reach for the brand name. Make the decision based on dollars and go for the store brand. And if you buy a store-branded food item and don't like it, take it back and they'll likely refund your money.

Clark has a serious obsession with cost. That passion comes through in his emphasis on low-cost investments. The lowest-cost provider in the United States is Vanguard. Fidelity and T. Rowe Price are right behind Vanguard.

Syndicated financial writer Scott Burns has done an analysis and found that if you don't go the low-cost route, you'll have 40% less money at retirement. The commissions you'll pay are like a cancer eating at your retirement security.

When you buy a mutual fund, you pay a management fee every year. Vanguard, for example, charges only 1/8 what other expensive facilitators do. When it comes to variable annuities, Vanguard charges one-thirteenth less than others.

Some people think they can't go the low-cost route because it means they'll have to pick their own investments -- something they don't understand. But investing is not brain surgery. You just have to know the basics.

Pay yourself first so you have money to invest. And go for a Roth IRA! Your money will grow tax-free and it will be spent tax free. The Roth, however, is just a house and you've got to decide how to furnish it. That's where Clark's investing guide comes in handy. It contains his favorite picks for ultra low cost mutual funds, among other things.

Vanguard founder John Bogle is a fan of the targeted retirement funds. With these funds, you put your money in the year closest to when you expect to retire. It's a "set it and forget it" kind of thing. Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price all offer this kind of investment.

One last thought: Beware of "employees" inside banks trying to sell you variable annuities when you go to renew your CDs -- unless you want to pay humongous commissions, face massive expenses and have immense tax problems.