Risk management

Managing cash flow risks through sound risk management and insurance techniques

Investment and Planning Issues

Planning, creating and managing capital accumulation to generate future capital and cash flows for reinvestment and spending

Retirement Planning

Planning to ensure financial independence at retirement including 401Ks, IRAs etc.

Tax Planning

Planning for the reduction of tax liabilities and the freeing-up of cash flows for other purposes

Estate Planning

Planning for the creation, accumulation, conservation and distribution of assets and Liability Management

Maintaining and enhancing personal cash flows through debt and lifestyle management

Relationship Management

Moving beyond pure product selling to understand and service the core needs of the client

Education Planning for kids and the family members

eople enlist the help of a financial planner because of the complexity of knowing how to perform the following:

• Providing direction and meaning to financial decisions;
• Allowing the person to understand how each financial decision affects the other areas of finance; and
• Allowing the person to adapt more easily to life changes in order to feel more secure

Defining personal financial decisions

Personal financial planning is broadly defined as a process of determining an individual’s financial goals, purposes in life and life’s priorities, and after considering his resources, risk profile and current lifestyle, to detail a balanced and realistic plan to meet those goals. The individual’s goals are used as guideposts to map a course of action on ‘what needs to be done’ to reach those goals.

Alongside the data gathering exercise, the purpose of each goal is determined to ensure that the goal is meaningful in the context of the individual’s situation. Through a process of careful analysis, these goals are subjected to a reality check by considering the individual’s current and future resources available to achieve them. In the process, the constraints and obstacles to these goals are noted. The information will be used later to determine if there are sufficient resources available to get to these goals, and what other things need to be considered in the process. If the resources are insufficient or absent to meet any of the goals, the particular goal will be adjusted to a more realistic level or will be replaced with a new goal.

Planning often requires consideration of self-constraints in postponing some enjoyment today for the sake of the future. To be effective, the plan should consider the individual’s current lifestyle so that the ‘pain’ in postponing current pleasures is bearable over the term of the plan. In times where current sacrifices are involved, the plan should help ensure that the pursuit of the goal will continue. A plan should consider the importance of each goal and should prioritize each goal. Many financial plans fail because these practical points were not sufficiently considered.

In fact, 90 of customers who negotiated with a salesperson on everything from the price of furniture to medical care got a price break on at least one buy over a three year period, as indicated by a 2007 Consumer Reports survey. The most successful of the lot stated saving $50 or more.

Another recent study the magazine conducted found that more than 70 of people selling their home who negotiated the standard 6 seller’s fee got their real estate broker to accept between 3 and 4.

More from Fool.Com:

•, 7 Ways to Cure the Urge to Splurge

•, 5 Ways to Stop purchasing Stupid Stuff

•, Confessions of a Shopaholic

Even medical costs are just game, as indicated by SmartMoney. The magazine reports that many doctors are wanting to lower fees by 20 to 50 for patients whose insurance offers only fractional coverage, also as for those with no insurance at all. Paying cash up front is one way to cut your costs. SmartMoney’s example: “Say your insurer covers 80 of a $650 root canal or $520. Negotiate a $450 cash fee before filing the assert, and you have cut your out of pocket costs by $40. An uninsured buyer could save $200.”

In other words, it really does pay to ask.

Prepare to Make Your Case

Unless it comes naturally to you, haggling is a approach best saved for big ticket purchases. That way, you have time to do your research a must and will save many serious coin for your efforts. Here are some rules of thumb for negotiating a better price on just about anything.

Shop before you shop: You will not know if you are to get a real bargain or a dud deal unless you have many pricing history for comparison. Go online and learn what the going rate is for the item you want. Then you may be able to use your retail recon to make merchants play good cop/bad cop. Flash your cash and a competitor’s lower advertised price you’ll need physical evidence, and many stores will match the price. Do not get too cocky, though. Most will honor coupons or sale prices only if they have the exact item in stock.

Know when to ask: Take your cue from the car business, where wheeling and dealing is most prevalent right before sales milestones, like the end of the quarter, end of the season particularly for seasonal things like patio furniture and Christmas ornaments, and end of the fiscal year. To get more granular, you will get better results by visiting the store when foot traffic is at its lowest throughout the center of a weekday, as an example.

Know whom to speak to: Many stores have price match policies which is why you want to come armed with a competitors’ deals if possible. Best purchase, for example, will match a local competitor’s price on the spot if the item is the same make and model. Same with Staples. Sears Holdings’ Sears stores will match the price on some items and give you an extra 10 discount. The catch with most of these offers is that the “competitor” must be local many merchants won’t match the price of an item found on the Internet.

Move up the chain of command: Many merchants leave discounting up to the employees’ discretion, usually at stores in which employees earn a commission. If the 1st person you talk to will not budge, ask politely! if there’s someone else, possibly a department or store manager, who can be able to make the call. Do not bound your line of inquiring to big multi location retail chains. Mom and pop stores are frequently wanting to meet or beat a big box retailer’s advertised price or supply free add ons when presented with firm evidence and a prepared buyer.

Show that you mean business, but generally be nice: A polite way to ask for a discount is to for example, “Is this the best price available?” If, after all else, the answer is “yes,” you have to want to walk away or at least act like it. But do not storm away in a huff or start your negotiation from an adversarial position. As an example, instead of saying “This is way overpriced!” say “I really like this item, but this is more than I Planned To use up.” keep in mind you and the merchant both have something to get in this transaction.

Phone a friend: If you need time to waffle and stall the sale in hopes of to get the best price possible tell the salesperson that you want to get a second opinion from your spouse/partner/buddy/mother in law. The idea of seeing a near sale walking out the door may inspire the salesperson to trot out the complete best price possible.

Fool.Com Consumer finance columnist and confessed shopaholic Dayana Yochim Is lobbying for “shopping” to be recognized as an official Olympic sport. She could like to appoint herself as team captain. She does not own any of the stocks mentioned here. Best purchase is an Inside Value and Stock Advisor pick, and the Fool owns shares, too. Staples is another Stock Advisor selection, and Sears Holdings is an Inside Value recommendation. The Fool’s Disclosure policy Shops the discount aisles till it drops.

“Consumers are in the procedure of moving to a different lifestyle,” says Kit Yarrow, a Golden Gate University business professor specializing in buyer psychology. “That does not happen overnight.”

More from SmartMoney.Com:

•, Put Your Pet on an Austerity Plan

• Deals on the High Seas: five Cut Rate Cruises

•, Five Ways to Get Gadget Help Cheap

In fact, a recent survey by the National Retail Federation found that budget conscious buyers have been fast to give up certain costs, like satellite radio subscriptions, high end cosmetics and cellphone upgrades, while they cling to others, like cable subscriptions, haircuts and dining out.

“What’s frivolous and what is practical is totally subjective,” says Yarrow. If that $4 mocha latte is the only thing making your mornings bearable, you will most probably give up your monthly manicures or lawn mowing service before switching to the office coffee machine.

Even while you may be able to justify keeping many splurges, that does not mean you still have to pay full price for them. Here is how to save on six of the “untouchable” costs buyers say they do not want to live without:

&bull, A Refashioned Fashion Week

&bull, Get Stimulated! Your Questions Answered

&bull, Where many of the Best Rewards Cards may be Found
Visit the Banking &amp, Budgeting Center

Internet Service

81 of respondents in NRF’s survey say they will not cut it.

“Now’s the time to pit the different carriers and providers against each other,” says Rob Enderle, president of technology advisory firm Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif. Most Internet service providers are willing to go with competitors’ prices to keep you from going elsewhere, particularly if you are threatening to move your phone and cable services, too.

Weigh the different technological alternatives, also. WiMAX, an rising high speed wireless service, as an example, is available in many regions and typically at a much reduced cost than cable or DSL Internet services. Residents of Great Falls, Mont., as an example, could use up $29.99 per month for WiMAX through BridgeMAXX, versus $42.95 for Comcast’s CMCSA Fiber optics. The savings: more than $150 a year.

Cellphone Service

64 of respondents in the NRF survey say they will not cut it.

Don’t pay for cellphone services you do not use. Assess your monthly phone use to ensure you are not paying $80 a month when a $60 plan could suffice, advises Jordan Amin, vice chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ National Financial Literacy board. With so many alternatives out there, it is comparatively easy to customize a plan that suits your talking and texting behavior. Rare talkers may save more by switching to a prepaid plan, which lets you to pay a per minute rate instead of a monthly plan for minutes you will not use.

Cable

61 of respondents in NRF’s survey say they will not cut it.

Bundle your services. You will get a better rate packaging cable with at least one other product, if Internet or phone, says Enderle. New Yorkers using Time Warner TWX Cable, as an example, could cut the cable part of their bill by $10 per month by adding on cable and phone.

Subscribers to premium channels should also check to see if their favorite shows are available online free of charge. Many Liked Shows may be viewed through network approved and frequently, partnered sites like Hulu, TV.Com And Joost. Eliminating Showtime and HBO from that Time Warner bill could save a New Yorker $29.90 per month.

Discount Apparel

43 of respondents in NRF’s survey say they will not cut it

Before you purchase online, check for online coupon codes at sites like RetailMeNot.Com And CouponCabin.Com. though discount merchants like Kohl’s KSS And Target TGT Have stayed Liked Shopping places amid buyer cutbacks, the in general retail slump means mid level department and superstores are offering lots of savings, says Dan de Grandpre, founder of DealNews.Com, an online buyer guide. Kohl’s, as an example, offers 20 off a buy of $100 or more with promotion code PYDTWENTY through March 3.

Hair Care

40 of respondents in NRF’s survey say they will not cut it.

While the number of at home beauty treatments Surged, buyers are wanting to pay handsomely for services that can not easily be done at home namely, haircuts and complex coloring procedures, says Yarrow. Vocational and salon training programs usually offer low cost cuts, with trained teachers standing by to ensure your new ‘do does not become a do not. National chain Bumble and Bumble, as an example, offers free haircuts, color and style to buyers who apply for its model program, which trains student hairstylists in basic styles. Applicants must have healthy hair and be open to hairstyle changes that are more dramatic than a trim.

Dining Out

37 of respondents in NRF’s survey say they will not cut fast food and 33 will not cut informal sit down dining.

One way to trim your dinner tab: Make a reservation. Free site DinnerBroker.Com Offers up to 30 off just for making a reservation at participating restaurants, while OpenTable.Com Allows you to rack up points toward dining gift certificates.

Also be on the lookout for savings. T.G.I. Friday’s, as an example, is offering a printable coupon to purchase one entree, get one free through March 1. Or purchase a city specific Entertainment Book, which offers coupons at local good dining and chain eateries. The books cost up to $30 a part, a charge that is easily recouped with one or two nice meals out.

From national retail chains to local mom and pops, many businesses are offering freebies and special sales to taxpayers this week. National boutique hotel chain Kimpton Hotels, as an example, is eliminating the room tax as high as 10 for guests who book its Sweet Tax break package through the end of April. P.F. Chang&rsquo,s China Bistro plans to knock 15 off the total bill for diners on April 15, while L&rsquo,Institut Sothys Spa in New York will cut the price of its $135 hour long massage in half till the end of tax week.

More from

SmartMoney.Com:

•, Six Smart Ways to use up Your Tax Refund

• Ten Things the IRS Wont Tell You

•, Tax Tips: More Time From the Tax Man

Take benefit of the savings and deals where you may be able to. Just be cautious about blowing a big part of your refund there are smarter ways to use it.

Here are many of the tax day or, in many cases, tax week deals available at businesses nationwide:

National Deals

Chick fil A
Visit a Participating restaurant April 15 and hang onto your receipt. The &ldquo,Tax break Day Special&rdquo, allows you to return before April 30 to get the same order free of charge.

&bull, Last Minute Tax info

&bull, 10 Things the IRS will not Tell You

&bull, 10 info for Taxpayers Hit by the Recession
Visit the Tax Center

Cinnabon
Stop by Cinnabon From five p.M. To eight p.M. April 15 free of charge cinnamon roll bites regularly $2.49 for four. Jacuzzi
The Tax break Sale Offers savings of up to $2,000 on choose models bought on or before April 15.

Kimpton Hotels
Through April 30, ask for the Sweet Tax break Package And the hotel must pay the tax on your room. At the Sky Hotel is Aspen that saves you the 10 that could have been tacked onto the $187 per night deluxe room. Dine at a property’s restaurant, and they&rsquo,ll pay the sales tax there, too.

Maggie Moo&rsquo,s Ice Cream and Treatery
On April 15, get One free scoop of ice cream.

McCormick &amp, Schmick&rsquo,s
On April 15, the chain offers a $10.40 menu of entrees. Entrees on a regular basis vary from $16 to $33. Each diner also receives a $10.40 &ldquo,tax relief&rdquo, Gift certificate For a future meal.

PF Chang &rsquo,s China Bistro
Dine at one of P.F. Chang’s 130 plus restaurant locations Across the country on April 15, and save 15 on the total bill.

Taco Del Mar
Sign up online To get a coupon for a free taco regularly $1.89 throughout the &ldquo,Taxes Suck, Tacos Don&rsquo,t&rdquo, promotion April 15.

T.G.I. Friday&rsquo,s
On April 15, Diners get a $5 gift card When they use up $15 to $25. They earn a $10 card for a buy of more than $25.

Zazzle.Com
Save 10.4 it’s advertised as 10.40 on all orders at this T shirt and apparel website using code TAXDAYZAZZLE at checkout. Offer only good on April 15.

Local Deals

2Fast Snohomish, Wash.
Sign up for a motorcycle ride At this instructional school&rsquo,s track April 15, and save $10 off the price of registration regularly $189. Bring in a blank tax form with you to the track, and get another $10 rebate.

Area 31 Miami
Skip the sales tax When you dine out April 15.

Boise Co Op Wine Shop Boise, Idaho
Save 15 off six or more bottles On April 15.

Energy Kitchen New York
Drop by the local chain On April 15 between noon and two p.M. For a free sandwich with a drink buy.

Grafton Street Pub &amp, Grill Cambridge, Mass.
Swing by Grafton Street on April 15 for Late night menu Prices exceeded at $9.90 in honor of Form 990, the return form nonprofits file. On a regular base, bar menu prices go up to $12.

L&rsquo,Institut Sothys Spa New York
Through April 17, enjoy an hour long massage regularly $135 for Half price.

Va Pensiero Evanston, Ill.
Dine at this restaurant on April 15 and Receive 15 cent martinis Regularly $10.

White Crane Winery Livermore, Calif.
The winery pays the sales tax On purchases on April 18 or 19.

Consider life insurance for a newborn. Here is the pitch: purchase a policy for your child today and you may be able to supply him or her with a “financial head start.” Not only are rates cheap, but you may also ensure your baby’s future insurability, no matter what sickness should afterward strike. And if the unthinkable happens, the proceeds could cover the child’s burial costs. The icing on the cake: if he or she grows up to be healthy and strong, you have not thrown any money away. Provided you bought a whole life policy rather than a term policy, your adult child can tap into the cash value at some point.

Sounds substantial, right? This helps explain why some number of million American households own such policies.

But buyers should think long and hard before signing on the dotted line. Most experts agree that while purchasing life insurance for a child may offer parents many peace of mind, it is not a savvy financial move. In fact, James Hunt, an actuary with the buyer advocacy group buyer Federation of America, says “it’s never a smart idea.”

Let’s start off with why people need life insurance in the 1st place. An insurance policy is mainly meant to protect the earning of the family’s breadwinners, says Paul Graham, chief actuary with the American Council of Life Insurers ACLI. The idea is that, should one or both die, their dependents could continue to live comfortably.

Protecting a child’s life does not fall under this group. While we surely value our kids, they are theoretically liabilities, not assets that need protection, says Elaine Bedel, an Indianapolis based certified financial planner. Unless you are a stage parent, you most likely are not counting on Junior’s earning to help put food on the table.

What about future insurability? Only in rare cases could a person in his or her 20s or 30s have a hard time purchasing life insurance. Those with illnesses ranging from juvenile diabetes to heart problems can find coverage. “There are niche businesses that concentrate in risky insurance,” says Graham. “If you look hard enough, most conditions are insurable.” Granted, it’ll cost him a bit more than a healthy person. But purchasing a policy while your child is an baby does not crack this problem. That is because the face value of juvenile policies tends to be quite low, frequently just $5,000 to $10,000. “A child out earning a living and having dependents will need many more than that, so it guarantees a meaningless total for future insurance,” says Hunt. Gerber Life’s max of $150,000 could must be supplemented considerably in 30 years.

A whole life policy does not make a good piggy bank, either. In fact, Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company, one of the biggest providers of juvenile life insurance, says baby policies should be sold mainly as an insurance product —, not as a savings car. Whole life insurance policies are laden with hidden fees and costs. That is why SmartMoney.Com recommends term life insurance for most buyers, which lets them to put the extra money they could have spent on a whole life policy into a 401k, IRA or another long term investing car. For more on life insurance, Click here. The major exemption could be people who need a tax savings car for a big estate. For more on estate planning, Click here.

Children’s insurance, in specific, is disproportionately costly compared with the benefits gained, says buyer Federation’s Hunt. If you are wanting to set on the side a little money for, college, a 529 plan could be a better choice, says certified financial planner Bedel. The savings are tax free at the federal level if used for education —, and based on the state, you may get an upfront tax break. For more on college savings, Click here.

Most important: Parents should be sure they have enough life insurance for themselves. The biggest mistake people make is purchasing a policy for a child when they’re underinsured, says Hunt.

Life insurance is one of the rare cases when parents’ needs should, indeed, come 1st.

The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has investors everywhere wondering if to purchase, hold or bail. Though there is no telling if the current world recession will turn into a sepia toned, soup lined sequel to that historic calamity, it did get us thinking: If the whole point of stocks is to purchase low and sell high, then the Great Depression must Offered Many pretty good purchasing opportunities.

But what were they? SmartMoney.Com went in search of the Great Depression’s best buys, with help from the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. The CRSP crunched numbers to find the 50 best performing stocks from 1932 to 1954 by accumulative total return. The result: A dream portfolio for the greatest investors of the Greatest Generation.

More from SmartMoney.Com:

•, Five world Stocks for Bargain Hunters

• The Patriotic Investor: eight Stocks to Lift the USA

•, Think Your Money’s Safe?

We started with 1932 because, while the famous market crash occurred in 1929, it did not hit rock bottom till nearly three years afterward. Uglier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average did not regain its precrash level till 1954, meaning it took more than a couple of decades to make investors whole.

Looking over the list is a reminder of days gone by and a time when company names were straightforward and mundane. No Navistars or Altiras here. Fans of “The Simpsons” may recall that Mr. Burns had put money into the fictional Amalgamated Spats, but in real life he should Doubled Down on Electric ship and National Acme Co. The former, which still makes submarines to this day as a unit of General Dynamics, returned a whopping 55,000 over those 22 years. National Acme it made machine tools, not giant slingshots for perpetually irritated cartoon coyotes returned more than 10,000.

We’ve taken the complete list of 50 top investments and selected 15 of the most telling. One thing many of them share and a factor that may resonate with investors today, given the Obama administration’s stimulus plans is the affect of big shortage spending. New Deal, World War II and Cold War outlays fueled many of these stocks. Here, then, is our look at many of the greatest Great Depression stocks.

1. Electric Boat: Unsinkable Submarine Maker

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 55,000 Rank in Top 50: 1
Where is it now? A unit of General Dynamics
Churning out hundreds of PT boats and submarines throughout WWII as well as building the U.S.S. Nautilus, the world’s 1st nuclear sub, throughout the Cold War more than kept this stock afloat.

2. International Paper &amp, Power: Paper, Not Plastic

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 30,503 Rank in Top 50: 4
Where is it now? International Paper
Long before plastic packaging or the digital age, for that matter, paper Ked When it came to communication and containers. Indeed, four of the 50 best stocks from 1932 to 1954 were in businesses that made paper, paper bags and corrugated cardboard.

&bull, How to Prepare Your Finances for the Obama Era

&bull, Banks Make Rewards Plans Less Rewarding

&bull, What a Penny Saved Costs
Visit the Banking &amp, Budgeting Center 3. Zenith Radio: Tuned In

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 24,146 Rank in Top 50: 7
Where is it now? Part of LG Electronics
Once upon a time radios were so big they were not personal buyer electronic devices, they were furniture. Back then American, not Asian, manufacturers dominated the market for civilian and military use.

4. Douglas Aircraft: Bombs Away

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 23,586 Rank in Top 50: 8
Where is it now? Bloodline leads to Boeing
It is little wonder a military freelancer that helped make the B 17 bomber as well as iconic civilian planes like the DC 3 and DC 9, could fare well throughout WWII and the Cold War. North American Aviation P 51 fighter, B 25 bomber also made the list.

5. Minneapolis Honeywell Regulator: Thermostats Were Hot

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 21,608 Rank in Top 50: 9
Where is it now? Honeywell International
Central heating is taken for granted these days, but only thanks to pioneering advances like the company’s original Butz Thermo Electric Regulator “damper flapper,” which helped keep offices and factories at just the right temperature.

Click here For a complete list of the 15 greatest investments from the Great Depression.

Two bright people may see sharply different things in those numbers. To one, the shrinking economy is a healthy unwinding of past extra, as an example, while to another it is a dangerous downturn that calls for bold government action. But what could happen if the numbers themselves are something we should be debating? In the alarming view of a vocal not many, America’s economic measures are misstated rigged, really.

More from SmartMoney.Com:

•, Why Unemployment Data are not Moving the Markets

• Job Seekers: How to Negotiate a Higher Offer

•, 7 Things you are Paying More Money For

The accusation goes like this: Surveyors gather the nation’s data and statisticians compile and report it. Politicians naturally want the numbers to show improvement. Not being able to change the facts, they concentrate on the handling of facts, pressuring statisticians to change their measurements. It is not quite one great conspiracy but decades of minor ones compiled. Today’s reports are so perverted, the hypothesis holds, that the numbers Detached From common experience.

Pollyanna Creep

If the hypothesis has a chief architect, it’s John Williams, a semi retired grandfather of five living in Oakland, Calif. The son of a chainsaw importer, Williams sold the family business in the 1970s and began consulting for corporations, recalculating government economic data to arrive at what he says were more dependable measures, and with them, truer forecasts. Today Williams runs Shadow Government Statistics ShadowStats.Com From his home. For $175 a year subscribers get economic data and analysis adjusted to back out the accumulated effects of what Williams has called the Pollyanna Creep Pollyanna being the orphan protagonist of the 1913 children’s book who learns to play the “glad game” to find cheery views on life’s sorrows. In other words, he gives figures he feels are properly depressing, to offshoot government ones he says are too prettied up.

If Williams is right, unemployment is over 20, gross domestic product is shrinking by 8 and buyer prices are jumping by almost 7. His forecasts border on apocalyptic. The government is creating so much new money, he says, that the all but inevitable result is hyperinflation, where “your highest denomination, the $100 bill, becomes worth more as toilet paper than money.” purchase physical gold, he advises.

&bull, 7 Things you are Paying More Money For

&bull, Savings Accounts Beckon Investors With Better Rates

&bull, The biggest U.S. Bankruptcies
Visit the Banking &amp, Budgeting Center

Whether we think the forecasts or not, the possibility of a Pollyanna Creep has serious implications. Social Security payments are just one benefit adjusted yearly for increases in the cost of living. If the figures had not been corrupted, says Williams, checks may be close to double what they’re.

Williams Managed To attract lots of press. A year ago, Harper’s magazine shown a cover drawing of a grinning Uncle Sam fondling numeral shaped party balloons, with the headline, “Numbers Racket: Why the Economy is Worse Than We Know.” The story focused on Williams’ data. The San Francisco Chronicle followed with “Government Economic Data Misleading, He Says.” Last fall in the London Times: “Forget Short Sellers and Manipulators, Pollyanna Creep may be the Culprit.”

Government statisticians are irritated. “Economic Data looks Accurate” does not make for a catchy headline, so the press, they are too fast to give credence to conspiracy theories. “We go out of our way to be transparent,” says Thomas Nardone, who throughout 32 years at the Bureau of Labor Statistics helped implement many of the changes in calculating the unemployment rate. “We’d be remiss if we did not make changes,” he says. “I’ve never seen measurement changes that were politically motivated.”

Katherine Abraham served as commissioner of BLS throughout the Clinton governance. Commissioners, unlike the statisticians who work for them, are political appointees. Now a professor at University of Maryland, Abraham says she did see political pressure, but rarely, and never with results. Once, she says, a prominent lawmaker told her the BLS may get more financial support if it could agree to propose changes that decrease the look of inflation. Abraham says she rebuffed the offer.

Decide for yourself. Here is a roundup of measurement changes at the heart of Williams’ claims, with responses from people who work closely with the measurements. I will concentrate on unemployment and inflation, but not GDP, since the chief flaw with it, as indicated by Williams, is how problems with the inflation measure overstate real, or after inflation, growth. There’s a different case to be made that GDP measures many pretty undesirable things, like the cost of war and divorce lawyers, and so is not a great proxy for economic well being but I will save that subject for another day.

Disappearing Jobless?

About 13 million people were unemployed throughout the Great Depression, or around 25 of the work force, but they are pretty recent estimates. At the time, the government simply did not track data like it does today, which made it hard to judge if things were to get better or worse. Two major developments in the 1930s made tracking unemployment feasible. The 1st was an improvement in the way statistics were used to turn a comparatively small sample into a faithful representation of the bigger population. That allowed for the use of surveys. The second was the notion of basing one’s position as part of the unemployed work force on actions. If someone wants to work, after all, is a subjective thing. If they are looking for work isn’t.

Today the BLS reports six measures of unemployment, called U 1 through U 6, for which the meaning of unemployment slowly broadens. As an example, 4.5 of the work force was unemployed for 15 weeks or longer and is actively looking for work U 1, while 15.8 is unemployed if we count those who say they want work but are not looking, and those who work part time for lack of full time alternatives U 6.

Williams takes issue with a 1994 change that coincided with a shift to computerized data collection from pencil and paper. Till then, a discouraged worker was someone who wanted to work but had given up looking because there were no jobs. The BLS tightened the limitations with extra questions, which reduced the ranks of discouraged workers by half. As Williams puts it, “The Clinton governance dismissed to the non reporting netherworld about five million discouraged workers.” Add those in, he says, and unemployment approaches Great Depression levels.

Nardone, the longtime BLS economist who today serves as helper commissioner for current work analysis, says the 25 unemployment rate frequently cited for the Great Depression is depending on research that corresponds with today’s U 3, the unemployment rate most usually stated by the media. It stands at 9.4, recall not close to Depression era levels. The 1994 changes did decrease the ranks of discouraged workers, but also presented a new category: the marginally attached, who want jobs but are not looking for reasons like transportation problems and child care prerequisites. The most usually watched measure now U 3, before the change U 5 is usually unaffected, since it does not include discouraged workers. The benefit of the changes, explains Steven Haugen, a BLS economist, is a less subjective measure of discouragement, and many extra ways to judge if the nation isn’t only working, but working up to its capability. Williams says the change reduced the broadest measure of unemployment in a way that “doesn’t match with public view, and for good reason.”

For a BLS paper reporting changes to its unemployment measure, see Here.

Page one 2

More from SmartMoney.Com:

•, Seven Places College Grads Can Find

Work

•, The Man Behind a Meat Craze

•, Ten Things Your Farmer’s Market will not Tell You

Going out for cheap eats is an evident way for buyers to keep their spending in check. That is why fast food restaurants are seen as a good investment in tough times. McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, which operates Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut among others both stated stellar 4th quarters as evidence. Bucking that trend were Burger King and CKE Restaurants, the operator of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. Burger King, stated that it experienced “significant” traffic declines in March it stated 1 same store sales growth and CKE’s same store sales were down 2.7. Still, that slide is still simple when compared with the double digit losses at higher end restaurant chains like Ruth’s Hospitality Group’s Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Benihana.

&bull, Products With Falling Price Tags

&bull, 10 Things Cable businesses will not Tell You

&bull, Battle of the Netbooks

See alike Stories

Bang for your buck continues to be one of the biggest selling points for fast food now. But how much food are you really to get for your money? SmartMoney.Com sought to learn which menu things are the costliest and cheapest per calorie. The results may surprise you. Looking at the cost per 100 calories of many things underscores what nutritionists have been saying for years: The cheapest calories usually are not the healthiest.

Here’s our dish by dish look at many Liked Menu things and their total cost per 100 calories &mdash, from the most costly to the cheapest.

Photograph courtesy of McDonald’s

1. Premium Southwest Salad With Grilled Chicken

McDonald’s

Cost per 100 calories: $1.47

Calories: 360

Calories from fat: 29

McDonald’s answered the call of health conscious buyers by adding salads to its menu in 2003. Nobody can deny that it is a healthier choice than, a Quarter Pounder with cheese, but it’ll cost you. Once we added many Newman’s Own low fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing another 40 calories and three grams of fat for a little extra taste, this salad became the costliest per calorie dish on our menu.

2. Mandarin Chicken Salad

Wendy’s

Cost per 100 calories: 96 cents

Calories: 540

Calories from fat: 43

In the 1980s, Wendy’s Asked “Where’s the beef?” These days, the chain is many less meat focused. Wendy’s now offers four varieties of salads and five varieties of chicken sandwiches it also offers fish fillet sandwiches throughout Lent. Of course, burgers still reign supreme: There are now twelve different kinds of hamburgers on the menu.

Photograph courtesy of KFC

3. Big Popcorn Chicken

KFC

Cost per 100 calories: 94 cents

Calories: 550

Calories from fat: 58

Typically chicken is regarded as the cheaper meat. The average retail price for chicken is $1.75 a pound, 56 less than the average price of a pound of beef, as indicated by the National Beef Cattlemen’s affiliation. But if you want KFC’s bite sized popcorn chicken with the Colonel’s eleven secret herbs and spices, be prepared to pay up. This is the most costly per calorie item on our list that is not a salad.

4. Steak Gordita Baja

Taco Bell

Cost per 100 calories: 90 cents

Calories: 320

Calories from fat: 47

Jack Russo, an analyst at financial services firm Edward Jones, says Taco Bell is regarded as one of the industry’s leaders when it comes to menu novelty. The Gordita &mdash, a soft taco made using flatbread rather than a tortilla &mdash, may well be evidence of that. Since it 1st debuted in 1998, the Gordita Helped Increase sales at the chain considerably, he says.

Photograph by Brian Chirls

5. Low Fat Footlong Turkey Sandwich

Subway

Cost per 100 calories: 89 cents

Calories: 560

Calories from fat: 14

Since the ads featuring Jared Fogle who lost 245 pounds only by eating Subway sandwiches 1st launched in 2000, Subway’s sales have more than tripled to nearly $13 billion. A Subway spokesperson says that while some number of factors contributed to that growth, Jared’s weight loss campaign played a important role. Unfortunately for waist conscious buyers, the low fat sandwich comes at a premium per calorie price in comparison to our other menu things.

6. Croissan’wich

Burger King

Cost per 100 calories: 75 cents

Calories: 330

Calories from fat: 44

Breakfast was driving the fast food business. “That’s where all the growth was,” says Steve Solomon, president of FSInsights, a menu development company. In February, Burger King’s CEO said that breakfast made up 15 of its sales. This rival to the Egg McMuffin made its first appearance in 1984.

Photograph courtesy of McDonald’s

7. Big Mac

McDonald’s

Cost per 100 calories: 74 cents

Calories: 540

Calories from fat: 48

Since its first appearance in 1968, the Big Mac was McDonald’s flagship burger. More than 550 million are sold world wide every year, as indicated by the company. In comparison to its double decker rival, the Double Whopper, the Big Mac is pricier on a per calorie base.

8. Pepperoni Personal Pan Pizza

Pizza Hut

Cost per 100 calories: 68 cents

Calories: 660

Calories from fat: 42

On a per 100 calorie base, the six inch pepperoni personal pan pizza lands in the center of our roundup, but you may be able to really save yourself 20 per 100 calories by ordering the big pepperoni pan pizza and eating a slice. Doing so will also trim about 43 off the total calories.

Photograph courtesy of KFC

9. Toasted Wrap With Tender Roast Filet

KFC

Cost per 100 calories: 64 cents

Calories: 310

Calories from fat: 42

KFC was slow on the uptake when it came to catering to the health conscious crowd. It just started offering its grilled chicken lineup earlier this year &mdash, a move that most likely should have made about five years ago, says Edward Jones’ Russo. “It’s what the buyer obviously wants today,” he says.

10. Medium French Fries

McDonald’s

Cost per 100 calories: 58 cents

Calories: 380

Calories from fat: 26

Before 1949, McDonald’s did not offer French fries, burgers came with a side of potato chips instead. In fact, it was not till the 1960s &mdash, when potato farmer J.R. Simplot pioneered the 1st frozen French fry &mdash, that these fast food staples started becoming the Liked McDonald’s side dish they’re today.

Photograph courtesy of Dairy Queen

11. Butterfinger Blizzard

Dairy Queen

Cost per 100 calories: 49 cents

Calories: 990

Calories from fat: 31

Surprisingly, the Butterfinger Blizzard &mdash, a vanilla flavored milkshake with bits of Butterfinger candy bars chopped up in it &mdash, has one of the lowest of calories from fat in the foods we looked at that can be because it is not made with real milk. In fact, the is impressively close to what nutritionists usually recommend for a healthy diet &mdash, 30 of one’s daily calories can come from fat. But that does not mean you may want to be going on an all Blizzard diet. One of these large size concoctions is a full 990 calories &mdash, almost half your suggested daily intake.

12. Double Whopper With Cheese

Burger King

Cost per 100 calories: 49 cents

Calories: 1010

Calories from fat: 59

The average person spends around $247 on beef a year, up from $48 in 2001. That total of cash could purchase you 49 Double Whoppers with cheese. And you’d get a pretty good return on your investment: The Double Whopper’s cost per 100 calories is about two thirds of what the Big Mac costs.

Photograph by Thomas E. Weber

13. Fiesta Taco Salad

Taco Bell

Cost per 100 calories: 48 cents

Calories: 840

Calories from fat: 47

The Fiesta Taco Salad is the only salad on Taco Bell’s menu, but do not let that fool you into thinking it is the healthiest item. In fact, the salad has the highest calories and fat content of any single item on the menu. Its 840 calories and 45 grams of fat are equal to four Crunchy Taco Supremes, three MexiMelts, or two Spicy Chicken Burritos.

14. Cheeseburger Slyder

White Castle

Cost per 100 calories: 41 cents

Calories: 170

Calories from fat: 47

At 41 cents per 100 calories, White Castle’s snack sized cheeseburger bested every other sandwich in our survey when it came to cost per calorie. In 1930, White Castle conducted a study it afterward called it the “Craveology” study that monitored the health of a student who lived on nothing but the Slyders and water for 13 weeks. As indicated by the company, the student maintained good health. Barbara Baron, a New York registered dietician, says you most likely do not want to follow suit. “I would not tell anybody to eat only one food item for 13 weeks,” she says.

Photograph by Brian Chirls

15. 32 Ounce Coca Cola

Subway

Cost per 100 calories: 38 cents

Calories: 330

Calories from fat: 0

Here it’s, the cheapest per calorie item in our survey of fast food land: the big Coca Cola. Dear by many, but eyed by many as a big contributor to the obesity problems in this country. Our brains procedure calories from liquids differently than those from hard food, so we do not feel full and are more probably to overeat, says Karen Ansel, a spokeswoman for the New York State Dietetic affiliation. If you really have to have your soda with your meal, order a Diet Coke.

Document the Loan

The 1st step to keeping away from trouble is to obviously document that the money is really a loan, with or without interest. The documentation should also include payment terms and the collateral for the loan, if any. This will avoid clash about what exactly you agreed to pay. And, if you do not do this, your lender could find himself paying earning taxes on interest he never received and gift taxes on money he never gave away. And, in the lasting, the loan could cut into the lender’s gift and estate tax exemptions.

You do not need a lawyer to draw up the documentation. In fact, you may be able to easily satisfy the IRS with a do it yourself document. Attempt the document creation software Quicken Family Lawyer, which sells for about $29. It is simple and well worth the price, if you use it only once.

Secure the Note

If you’re borrowing money to purchase a new home, you may want to take the extra step of legally securing the note with your residence. This does require a lawyer. That way you may be able to take benefit of one of the most Liked Tax deductions: interest on a home mortgage. Anybody thinking of not reporting a family loan when applying for a mortgage should think about this point: You could face criminal charges if you falsify a mortgage application to hide the origin of your downpayment money.

Establish Solvency

In order to clarify that the loan isn’t a gift, the lender should write a memo establishing that you, the borrower, were solvent at the time of the loan. This proves the lender has a reasonable expectation of repayment and isn’t really making a gift.

Set an Interest Rate

Interest Free does not mean hassle free. Many loans among family members are interest free. But be cautious. If you do not set an interest rate, the IRS, in its family friendly way, will do it for you. And since that interest could be considered earning for the lender, the IRS will happily tax the interest payments that were never paid. You have now entered the hideously complex world of “imputed interest.” generally, the IRS, keen to increase profit, Decided That for a loan to be a loan, interest must be paid, and if interest is being paid, someone is making taxable earning.

The IRS’s enthusiasm doesn’t stop there. Not only does the agency place a tax on imaginary earning, but it assumes that the borrower couldn’t pay for to make the interest payments he had to borrow money, did not he? , then acts as though the lender gave him the money to pay the interest. Enter the gift tax. So the money the lender never received but pays taxes on anyway could also count against the $11,000 yearly tax free gift bound, and if it exceeds that, then the gift and estate tax exemptions. This isn’t all as bad as it sounds, and usually these penalties may be evaded with good planning.

Avoid Imputed Interest

First, imputed interest and all the crazy imputed earning and gift tax problems usually don’t apply when a loan totals no more than $10,000. But, watch out for this: The $10,000 bound applies to all remaining loans between you and the lender, as well as those charging interest. But if the $10,000 rule doesn’t help, you may be able to turn to the $100,000 rule.

The $100,000 rule applies when the aggregate balance of all remaining loans interest free or otherwise between you and the lender is $100,000 or less. For earning tax reasons, the total of imputed interest is zero if the borrower’s net investment earning for the year is no more than $1,000. Net investment earning, which will include interest, dividends and certain royalties, but not essentially capital gains, is the figure used to find out how much margin account interest may be subtracted on Schedule A. Since majority of people who borrow money from family members are most likely not sitting on big investment portfolios, imputed interest can usually be evaded.

Under the $100,000 rule, when the borrower’s net investment earning exceeds $1,000, imputed interest is restricted to the real total of investment earning. Here is an example: If a mother lends her daughter $100,000 interest free but the IRS sets an interest rate of five , then the mother could have to declare imputed interest payments of $5,000. But if the daughter’s investment earning is less than $1,000, the imputed interest could be zero. If the daughter earned $1,500 in interest earning, the mother could have to pay taxes on only $1,500 rather than $5,000.

To meet the criteria for the $100,000 rule, the lender must gather an yearly declaration that discloses the borrower’s net investment earning.

Demand a Demand Loan

So far, so good. Unfortunately, the $100,000 rule gets really difficult when it comes to the gift tax. The net investment earning rule doesn’t apply here. To minimize gift tax problems, designate the interest free advance as a “demand loan.” that means the lender can demand full repayment at anytime. While this may seem unduly threatening, it may save your lender money due to way the IRS calculates the imputed gift. You may be able to still informally agree on a repayment schedule. With a demand loan, the total of the imputed gift is calculated on a yearly base and will total less than $11,000 a year, so the imputed gift for yearly the loan is remaining will fall harmlessly below the $11,000 yearly bound for tax free gifts.

But if you don’t designate the loan a demand loan, the IRS will add up all the interest you could pay for the life of the loan and count it as a gift in the year the loan is made. The result may be a comparatively big imputed gift that exceeds the $11,000 yearly tax free bound, and also cuts into the lender’s gift and estate tax exemptions.

These rules can get difficult, though, so it’s most likely a smart idea to consult a tax pro before drawing up this kind of loan. The IRS will let you avoid all these hassles if you simply charge interest on the loan. The IRS uses what it calls related federal rates, which change monthly, to find out if the interest rate is correct. If the lender charges at least the related federal rates, he simply reports the interest payments as taxable earning. You may be able to find those rates on the IRS website.

What if You Default

There are not many things that hurt family relations more than bad debts. But the IRS isn’t ashamed to get involved. If your lender tries to write off your bad debt on his tax return, the IRS will try to gather the lost tax from you. Think it will not happen? Well, a 1995 U.S. Tax Court case tells the story of a father who made thousands of dollars in undocumented loans to his 23 year old daughter, who wanted to open a roller skating rink.

The skating rink sooner or later failed, and the father claimed a $35,000 nonbusiness bad debt deduction, though no formal collection efforts were undertaken against his daughter. She had filed for bankruptcy four months earlier. The Tax Court finished that the advances were loans because of “loan” notations the father had made on many of the checks, and because he had earlier made undocumented loans to family members and friends and had been repaid.

So the IRS’s collection efforts against the daughter were accepted.

More from Smart Money:

•, Help! I am Drowning in Debt

•, Debt and your Taxes

•, Bankruptcy: When you are Out of Options