• nolo.com - Find "Will Maker" 2004
• toolbar.google.com - block unwanted pop-up ads
• fcc.org - file complaint against your phone provider

Clark talks often about the importance of creating a will for yourself. Many times, people put off doing wills because thinking and talking about death – especially your own – is not pleasant. Also, many people don’t want to spend money on an attorney. But you don’t necessarily need an attorney to do a will. There are several programs out there that allow you to do it yourself. Clark has spoken very highly in the past about “Will Maker,” a Quicken product sold by the folks at http://www.nolo.com. The complete title of this product is called “Will Maker Plus 2004,” and it’s very easy to use. But Clark often hears complaints from people in the legal profession who say these products aren’t as thorough as using an attorney. They have said Clark is not an attorney so he doesn’t know. So, Clark had to laugh when he read a story in the Wall Street Journal that compared various will making programs. The Journal bought four of these programs, prepared wills with each one and then took them to a legal professor for review. And the most complete of the four was “Will Maker!” It costs $50 or less and composes wills “just right,” according to the professor, who was from the Quinnipiac University School of Law. Now, if you have complicated circumstances such as blended families, you may want to see an attorney that deals with wills, estates and trusts. But if your situation is more simple, you can go to nolo.com and buy “Will Maker” to do the work for you. s program for not very much money. Another popular program is “Legal Zoom.” It is about twice the price of “Will Maker” and the professor didn’t like it at as much. But do something about getting a will done. The alternative is to give all of your money to the state and nothing to your children. That’s what happens if you don’t create a will. The state gets to divvy it up and your loved ones get nothing.

Clark can’t stand pop-up ads, those annoying ads that suddenly appear on your screen while you’re trying to surf the Web. They were originally an AOL invention, and AOL used to pop these ads up all the time. Thankfully, AOL has reduced the number of pop-ups it sends out because so many customers have complained. There are pop-up programs out there such as the one from google.com, which you can find at toolbar.google.com. Well, there is a new form of pop-up coming our way. Companies will now start bombarding you with full-screen television commercials while you’re online, according to the New York Times. The 30-second commercials will be downloaded while you surf. And, when you go to a new page, the commercial loads and covers the entire screen. Even if you have a slow Internet connection, the movie will still play. So far, Pepsi, AT&T, Honda, Vonage and Warner Brothers will be sending out these ads. Clark thinks people should have the option of seeing these ads. It’s fine to charge for content, as Fortune, Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal all do. But Clark thinks people should get something in return for watching these ads. For instance, people should be able to get free content for watching ads. If you don’t watch the ads, you must pay.

Interest rates on mortgages have taken a huge dip, creating a second chance for people who would still like to refinance their mortgages. About a third of the refinances that were done last summer and fall were “no-cost refis.” This means you accept a higher interest rate in exchange for paying no closing costs. And, right now you can get a 15-year no-cost refinance for about 5 percent. That’s if you have a good credit score. If you have to do a 30-year loan, the rates aren’t as great but they’re still good at about 5.625 or 5.75 percent. So, if you have a mortgage rate of 6 percent or above, you have the opportunity to put additional money in your pocket without a risk. And, if you plan to be in your house for 3, 4 or 5 years, you might want to consider doing a 5-1 ARM. That’s when the rate is fixed for five years. And right now, 5-1 ARMs are between 3.875 and 4.25 percent. That’s a great deal. These are also great opportunities if you’ve been skating on thin ice with a LIBOR loan. Although it's a pain to pull together all of the paperwork and do this again, it's definitely worth it. You will save several thousand dollars a year, after all.

The wireless business is one we both love and hate. We love our cell phones for keeping us in touch with people and, yet, we hate them for the lack of service and help we get. People despise the cell phone industry, in spite of the fact that we have the most competitive cell phone industry in the world. You would think that with competition comes good service. After all, we have six big wireless companies competing for our business. But that’s not the case. And, we are about to move into a consolidation phase that reduces the number of companies, and, therefore, the amount of competition even more. AT&T, once the dominant player in the telecommunications industry, is now on the chopping block. It seems that people are circling to scoop up the company, which would be worth a lot of money. They won’t be the last company to merge with another company and go away. In fact, the “Rule of Threes” may end up in play. The “Rule of Threes” says that if economic forces are at work, there will be three companies left at the end of the day. It’s happened with warehouse clubs – Sam’s, Costco and BJs. It’s happened with long distance companies – AT&T, Sprint and MCI. There were three television companies – ABC, NBC and CBS – until Fox came along. So, what does it mean to you if AT&T goes away? It will mean nothing in the short term. But in the long-term cellular universe, competition and choices will dwindle. And the decrease in prices we’ve seen over the years will come to a halt. Analysts actually believe that four players will be left in the end. We’ll see about that. But it’s clear that we’re reaching a saturation point as far as people signing up for service. Most of the people who will get cell service already have it. And, Clark is predicting that when cell service ratings are published in 2005 there will be a serious improvement.

Clark has been reading stories about the Consumer Electronics show held recently in Las Vegas. Apparently, there was a sideshow for people who buy ultra high-end audio systems. These are customized for your home and cost in the six-figure range. One reporter went to this show with an MP3 player to find out how the music would sound on his player. Turns out that it sounded just fine. So, there is no need to spend a fortune on these systems, when the bare minimum would do just fine. Clark paid $249 for his and it includes everything he needs to create a great system.

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In other technology news, Tivo has come up with a new device that allows you to transfer files from your Tivo to your laptop computer. It’s called “Tivo To Go.” What you do is download the show into the device, which then plugs into the USB port on your computer and you can play it there. This new technology is all over. It’s possible to watch shows through your eye glasses, for example. Is that a problem waiting to happen or what? Clark recommends that you buy current technology, not state-of-the-art products.

Getting a decent return on your money when you’re just saving it is really hard. Savings rates are pathetic right now. So, what should a conservative saver do with his or her money? Clark has an innovative offer for you from Washington Mutual, which has grown very quickly over the years. The company has sprouted so quickly, in fact, that it has come under scrutiny lately for customer service problems. But Washington Mutual is always coming up with new ways to provide products to the public, and Clark likes that. The most recent idea is to bid on CDs using the help of eBay. You tell Washington Mutual what rate you want on the CD. And, whoever offers the lowest interest rate gets the bid. So, you have to be willing to lose. But if you win, you will have the exact CD you want. It requires that you do your homework, and that includes checking rates online at sites like bankrate.com. You shouldn’t bid any lower than a quarter of a point above the best rate. In other words, you should get something back for taking the time and risk to bid. Clark loves the creativity involved in this initiative. They’re going to be doing all kinds of experiments like this, so it’s great for the future.