Jitterbug.com - Cell phones for seniors (or call 1-800-918-8543)
Edmunds.com - Research incentives when you want to buy a car
CarsDirect.com - A good site to help get your car shopping started

Many years ago, Clark switched his mom's phone service to a non-traditional company that offered better rates and more features. That worked out fine for years. Then his mom recently moved, and an unreal odyssey began when they tried to get her phone service moved from the old address to her new one. Now his 83-year-old mom is without her landline. This is really laughable in 2008 when it takes just hours to move a phone number between cell phone companies. Clark had been trying for years with no success to get his mom to use a cell phone, but they aren't always senior friendly.

Recently Clark signed his mom up for a cell phone service called Jitterbug that's designed for senior citizens. Now she's a cell user for the first time in her life -- so much so that it will now be a big expense! In fact, she may no longer care about her landline when it does eventually get hooked up. There's a real business opportunity out there for entrepreneurs who can develop products that take modern technology and make it easy for elders to use. After all, seniors have all the money; why should technology exclusively be geared toward young people? Someone will make a bundle creating simplicity out of complexity.

Clark recently read an article in Money magazine that revealed 25 percent of people bury their heads in the sand when facing financial hardship. Think about all the folks who avoid calls from bill collectors or throw out past due notifications that come in the mail. This mentality reminds Clark of his late father, who once had a heart attack during a meeting. He simply excused himself from the table, sat in the bathroom until he felt better and then returned to the meeting as if nothing happened. Clark's friend Michelle Singletary recently wrote a column arguing that you have to face your difficult financial situations to deal with them effectively. The sooner you face it, the sooner you can work out a solution.

Have you ever taken a refund loan on your tax return? This option is heavily pushed by tax-preparation chains like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. About 12 million Americans go for this option every year. There are a couple of reasons why this is not a Clark Smart decision. First, you have to understand that the government is not giving you something when you get a refund on your taxes. You're the one who gave the government an interest-free loan all through 2007 by having too much withheld out of your paycheck. Second, the big tax-preparation chains will charge 100s of percent interest on the refund loans. So you're paying to get your own money back that you shouldn't have given to the government in the first place!

Many people use their tax refunds as a way to force themselves into saving money. But Clark recommends instead that you reduce your tax withholding to be even-steven. Then contact your credit union (or ING Direct, Emigrant, etc.) to set up automatic deductions for that exact windfall every pay period. The end result is that you'll build your savings and earn interest all year. Meanwhile, the IRS is seriously considering banning refund loans. But their motive is not to protect taxpayers. Rather they discovered that tax-preparation chains have been falsifying taxes to generate larger returns and more profit for themselves when they make refund loans. After the IRS announced its intentions, Jackson Hewitt lost around 25 percent of their stock value in a day. As if you needed something else to convince you that refund loans are a bad idea!

In the past year, Clark took well in excess of 100 flights and had almost no problems with delays or other horrors that routinely plague travelers. He never checks a bag, so he never has to deal with lost luggage. Discount airlines and full fares alike had meltdowns in 2007. Everyone remembers the American Airlines fiasco, but JetBlue, Skybus and United also went on the fritz. JetBlue responded by creating its own Passenger Bill of Rights that is the best in the world, according to Clark. But this is an arrogant industry and many others have been slow to embrace the idea of putting the customer first. New York recently passed its own air travel protection act for flights leaving or arriving in the state. Airlines at JFK are required to provide water, refreshments and clean toilets if passengers are stranded on the tarmac for 3 hours. Many of the full fare airlines went to court to fight this act. Thankfully they lost. Here's Clark's take: If the full fares want to move business operations to a third-world country where there are no working toilets and clean water, go right ahead. But this is America and here we have first-rate standards of hygiene. Now when will Congress get around to passing its own comprehensive Passenger Bill of Rights??