• annualcreditreport.com - Get your free credit report
• telestial.com - pre-paid SIM cards for overseas travel
• tel3advantage.com - cheap international phone rates
• score.org - great resource for small business
• vonage.com - VOIP service
• sunrocket.com - VOIP service

Clark gets tons of calls about identity theft. It has remained a real aggravation for people, especially when they have been a victim. As a result, a number of entrepreneurs have started enterprises that they hope to sell to people who are concerned. The Wall street Journal did a write-up about these companies, which are designed to keep your credit under control. One company is called “Trusted ID” and it uses credit freeze laws in various states to shut down and reactivate your credit when necessary. It costs about $100 a year, and no one else is offering this kind of online control. Another program is “Lifelock,” which places fraud alerts on your credit. It’s great that companies are trying to help people by offering these plans, but it’s not completely necessary. Clark thinks people are capable of doing this on their own if they live in one of the states that have credit freeze laws. It won’t cost you a thing. Get the list of those states here. The only time he would recommend paying for a service is if a human being comes with the deal, and that person is going to clean up your credit for you. Otherwise, it's not really worth it. The real problem is that banks and retailers don’t care that consumers are getting ripped off. That is where we need to start if we’re really going to stop ID theft.

American automakers are doing horribly in the market these days. The latest report from GM shows that the sale of SUVs, pick-up trucks and mini-vans is down 31 percent. Ford is having the same problem. Pick-up truck sales are down by half. SUV sales are down more than 50 percent, with Explorer falling 57 percent. They were building all these cars because people really wanted them. But the market has shifted and people don’t want cars that guzzle that much gas anymore. GM, Ford and Chrysler simply don’t have those kinds of cars. The upside of this is that the companies are offering great deals on SUVs and bigger cars. If you like driving an SUV and don’t care about the gas cost, you can get a great deal. Used SUVs are literally a steal. Three-year-old SUVs are back on the market at rock-bottom prices because all of the leases are coming back to dealerships and they’re just sitting there.

Kids have a tough time understanding money. Some don’t even know that money is real, in fact. Clark remembers going to the candy store and buying candy bars when he was a kid. A candy bar cost 5 cents, and back then it was a lot. Today, he gives his daughter $1 for helping him and she doesn’t think it’s very much. So, how can kids learn the value of money? One way is to open a mutual fund for your child and let him or her watch it grow. You teach your child ownership and responsibility. USAA actually has some great funds, one of which is called “First Start.” It costs just $20 to open, which is unheard of in the business. And, anyone can open one of these accounts. Typically, USAA is only available to military families and their dependents. But this package of products for kids is open to everyone. So, check it out!