It's very likely that the Nov. 4 election results mean we'll see higher taxes for people who make $100,000 or more. So what do you do if you are fortunate enough to earn that kind of money? Where can you look for a safe harbor from potentially higher taxes?

There's phenomenal opportunity right now in tax-free municipal bonds -- which is where state or local governments issue a bond that comes with a lower rate of interest but your earnings are exempt from federal taxes. So even though the yield is lower, the tax-free status makes for a higher effective yield.

Clark recommends tax-free municipal bond funds instead of individual bond choices. That's because the buy/sell spread costs involved with the latter can be too high. Look for intermediate-term bond funds, which usually require a minimum investment of $3,000. And no big surprise here, but Clark thinks Vanguard is a great place to get into a tax-free municipal bond fund.

Still want to buy individual bonds? There are 2 main things to know. First, make sure the bond is not subject to alternative minimum tax (AMT). Second, you must know if the bond is "callable," which means that the state can cash you out prematurely even if you agreed to a longer term.

Finally, Clark believes there will be great opportunity in emerging markets and Third World countries. These funds have done horribly as of late, so that makes them an attractive option since you can buy low. Clark recommends having about 5% or 10% of your portfolio in the international realm.

Are you afraid to open your own mail for fear of seeing your 401(k) statement? Clark recently spoke to one man who referred to his plan as a 301(j) because it keeps going the wrong way!

The Financial Times of London reports that every mutual fund company is seeing people pull money out with all the market volatility. American Funds saw a 7% decline in assets during the last 90 days, while Vanguard has seen a 4% decline.

Why is this happening? People fear a loss twice as much as they enjoy a gain. It's part of being human. We're backwards creatures; when stocks roar along, people pour money into them. So we're always paying too much on the way up and getting too little on the way down.

No one can time the market. Rather, it's time in the market that matters. Clark has 3 rules of thumb to help you maximize your money over the years.


Avoid these 3 gotchas and you'll have more money over time. Just don't try to figure out when to sell and when to buy. Keep buying every month through your 401(k) or other retirement plan.

Time in is more important than timing. People are always asking Clark, "Is it time yet to get back in the market?" His standard reply is, "I never got out."

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.

Clark created a lot of excitement about Series I bonds last month. They were a great deal up until April 30. But as of May 1, Clark is no longer recommending them. That's because the government has reduced the fixed rate of return to 0%. That's just nuts! So you might want to dial back if you're on a payroll saving plans where you get Patriot Bonds or I bonds. Both are now practically useless as savings tools.

However, they will continue to be a decent deal if and only if you purchased before May 1. People who bought between last fall and April 30 are earning 4.28%. That will bump up to over 6% in November. And if you bought in the late '90s, wow, you're getting a phenomenal deal and should hold onto them for the full 30-year term. Remember that, as an added bonus, all savings bonds are exempt from state tax.

So let's reiterate what Clark wants you to know: If you already own I bonds, they remain a good deal. But if you are planning on buying them, stop! They are no longer a Clark Smart buy.

A lot of savers with idle cash are griping about the low rates on savings accounts and CDs from banks. Well, Clark wants to offer a possible solution. It's been a while since he's talked about Series I savings bonds, which were a fantastic deal in the 1990s up to about 2001. They're a great deal once again if you buy them before the end of April. Over the next 6 months, you'll get a return of 4.28% APY. Beginning in October, the rate will bump up to 6.06% for the following 6 months. That's a very competitive rate.

Series I bonds are an unnecessarily complicated product. The "I" stands for inflation, and they're like the cousins of the original savings bonds. I bonds offers a fixed rate of interest for as long as you own them, plus a floating rate based on the rate of inflation. You can own I bonds for a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 30 years.

I bonds give you the opportunity to benefit from what's harming you. As high inflation erodes the value of your savings, I bonds give you the rate of inflation and a guaranteed return. That guaranteed return is puny, but earning anything about the rate of inflation on something that's 100% safe is great.

You can buy I bonds online from the U.S. Treasury at SavingsBonds.gov for as little as $25 or in-person from some banks and credit unions for a minimum of $50. The maximum amount you can buy is $5K per Social Security number. Be sure to pick them up now before the rates reset on May 1. You should plan on holding I bonds a minimum of 18 months until October 2009. If you surrender them before 5 years, you'll forfeit the last 90 days interest. So you don't want to cash them in a year from now and forfeit the 6.06%. The trick is to bail out when rates are bottoming out.

Vanguard took in more than $76 billion in deposits and crossed the $1 trillion mark in total assets during the past year. That's more money than Doctor Evil can get his arms around! Clark has long been a Vanguard fan. They're probably the world's largest cooperative; when you invest with them, you become a part owner of the company. All the money that normally goes out to traditional shareholders instead comes back to you in the form of expenses that are one-tenth what some competitors charge. Clark would love for you to look at them if you want to open a Roth account or have a 401(k) rollover from a former employer. Vanguard is self-serve, which means you must make your own decisions about what to do with your money. If you still want to use a commissioned person, the American Funds family is your best bet. Though their fees are substantially higher than Vanguard, they're still less than most other commission-based places. If you make more than $100K/year, consider putting your idle cash in a municipal bond fund, also available through Vanguard.

Other no-commission companies Clark likes include T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Investments. They both have fund managers who select mutual fund investments for you. Vanguard's specialty, meanwhile, is index funds where you buy slices and dices of many companies, like a Total Stock Market Index. Regardless of where you invest, you should consider putting a portion of your money in foreign capitalist markets. There are both established international funds and emerging market funds available -- known as BRIC investing (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Clark has not gone down the traditional BRIC road, but he has put 5% of his stock holdings in other third world countries. Fidelity, meanwhile, allows you to own the world in one purchase. Their 4-in-1 fund owns big companies, small companies, international companies and bonds. So if you don't want to think too much, this is simple one-stop shopping where you can put your money.

One caveat: Most of the investing world thrives on trying to use confusing language that impresses and intimidates. The goal is to make you feel incapable of making basic investment decisions. But Clark is all about trying to make things clear for you. Sometimes he succeeds, and other times he doesn't. Yet the first thing to do is spend less than what you make. There's no investing if there's no money left from your paycheck at the end of the day. That's the great American challenge right now.

The stock market has been very unstable the last several weeks with huge gains one day and huge losses the next. The volatility has caused a lot of fear in investors. There was a recent study that found people who pay too much attention to the market make poor investment decisions. That's probably because the financial press and outlets like CNBC tend to hype stock news and get people worried. But if you're still years away from retirement, just diversify your investments to spread out the risk and don't worry about every little bump in the market. After all, even investors who rode out the Great Depression eventually got some nice returns. Clark doesn't plan to adjust his investing strategy just because of stock market volatility. He thinks CDs and 401(k) options are relatively safe choices. If, on the other hand, you need your money in the next few months or years, you have to make investments that are very safe. Clark's Investing Guide provides info on some great options.

Clark says he needs to get better about talking in "shorthand" -- using specific industry terms without fully explaining them for the average listener. He sometimes forgets that most people just aren't as familiar with these words. This is especially true on the topic of investing. One example is the term "asset allocation"-- less than one in five people knows that it means to "diversify" your funds, or, not put all your eggs into one basket. Clark wants to define these things more clearly for listeners in the future. "Bonds" are another topic not fully understood. Here's how they work: A company or organization needs money and issues some bonds. People buy the bonds, get the interest promised, and ideally, hold onto them for the life of the term in order to get the purchase price back at the end. But let's say you have a bond that promises 5% interest, and now interest rates are at 6%. The issuing company would have to discount the initial price of the bond to get people to buy them. On the other hand, if a bond is paying higher interest than the current interest rate, it's worth more, and will therefore cost more to buy. So, as interest rates go up, the value of bonds go down, and vice versa. Another misunderstood topic is Roth IRAs, which are investments that allow you to save money tax-free. But if all these terms bore and confuse you, read Clark's online investment guide. He lists what he feels are the best companies and services that can help make retirement investing much, much easier for you.

Clark has talked for years about Series I savings bonds, and there are few things as confusing to people. I-bonds, as they’re called, can be a great investment. But it depends completely on timing. Clark knows the explanation can be tough to grasp in one explanation so he’s written a guide to help you understand it better. For more, click here.

Clark has been talking about Series I Savings Bonds for years, and usually it’s been good feedback. But these bonds are going to see a major drop in value real soon. With I-bonds, you get a minimum guaranteed payment from the government, plus an inflation rate. For the past six months, it’s been a great deal for people. But for the next six months, the rate is going to tank. So, if you have them, you just have to ride it out. But DON’T BUY THEM if you don’t already have them. When you buy them matters because the Feds offer a new rate every six months. Clark may be singing a new tune come November. But for now, don’t buy Series I bonds. And it’s generally not a good idea to buy EE bonds. And don’t dump them if you’ve had them for less than five years. So, what should you buy instead? CDs! Rates on CDs are well into the 5 percent range now, so it’s a good deal. Also, stock brokers can place “broker placed” CDs that are at or near the top of the best rates in the country.

In years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, Clark talked quite a bit about what a great deal Series I savings bonds were. Known as inflation adjusted bonds, they were a great opportunity for the small saver. People who bought the bonds back then are now earning 9.4 percent on their money. Today, you still have an opportunity to buy them. And at today’s rate, you’ll earn 6.73 percent. Six months from now, however, that rate could move higher or lower. You get a base guaranteed interest rate plus the rate of inflation. So, when inflation rises, you’ll make more and vice versa. You can own between $50 and $30,000 worth of I-bonds. In some cases, people will hold onto them for 30 years. But if they turn out to be not such a good deal down the road, you can cash in the I-bonds for free after 5 years. As long as you keep them a year, the penalty for cashing them in before five years is not so bad. To buy them, go to savingsbonds.gov and enter your checking information. It’s ok to do because the U.S. Treasury takes the information and issues you an electronic statement. Think about getting some!

Clark has encouraged people for years to put money into U.S. savings bonds. For years, there was one kind of bond to buy – Series EE bonds. And then came the Series I bonds, which are “inflation adjusted” savings bonds. These pay you a guaranteed rate of interest, plus whatever the rate of inflation is. The EE bonds have been offering people a decent deal with a current rate of 3.25 percent. The I bonds are paying 3.67 percent. But things are about to change. With the next reset in May, traditional savings bonds are no longer going to earn “market interest rates.” Any EE bonds bought before the end of April will still qualify under the old system for up to 30 years. Those bought after that will earn under the new inferior system. The rationale is that the U.S. Treasury wants to offer more money to people who already have money and less money to those without it. So, the EE bonds are slowly going away. So, starting in May, you want to purchase I bonds only, not EE bonds. You human resources will be able to help you if you buy through work. The I bond rate changes every 6 months, and Clark will let you know soon whether they are a good idea to buy.

Clark advised people last November to stop buying Series I savings bonds. For five years prior, he’d been recommending that you buy because they were such a great deal. But in November, they were not a deal. Now that it’s March, it’s time to review the situation again. There are two interest rates on I bonds – one is guaranteed and the other is based on the rate of inflation. Combined, I bonds are earning 3.39 percent right now. And, if inflation picks up you will make an even better return. If inflation does not pick up, you can dump the bonds after a year with a small fee. Basically, you drop the last 90 days of interest if you do that. But you’ll still have earned a decent amount in that year. If you have cash sitting idle in a bank, this could be a great deal to make a little more money. Unfortunately, you can no longer buy these I bonds online with a credit card. You have to tie them into your checking account. A close cousin to I bonds are TIPS – Treasury Inflation Protected Security. Clark has invested in TIPS since the ‘90s. They pay a higher return than savings bonds, but you need to put more in up front. And the best idea is to hold them inside a retirement account like an IRA.