he has been blessed. truly. >> what a man there. great story. we're going to be back in 30 minutes when cnn saturday morning continues. >> a lot more. first "your bottom line" with gerri willis, starts right now for you. happy new year. i'm gerri willis and this is "your bottom line" the show that will save you money in 2010. from your house to your job, savings and your debt and health care we're here to help you make the very best financial decisions for you and your family. "your bottom line" starts right now. no doubt, you've had to deal with your credit card company in the past year about raising interest rate, lowering your credit limit as you try to pay down the debt. with the new year, how can you rid yourself of debt, get cred knit tip-top shape and start to save? ryan mack the president of optimum capital management, donna risatti, and jeff gardere,

clinical psychologist a licensed real estate broker. let's start with credit cards. this is what has people so upset this year. you know they've got such bad terms of their credit cards. any hope in 2010 that this situation will improve? >> well, definitely. february of 2010 a new law will go into effect where credit card companies are not allowed to raise your interest rate on existing balances and there's a host of predatory practices that are not allowed to do. but what's happening in past year is that in advance of that law, a lot of people have seen their credit card rates go up significantly. so, there's hope for the future but right now, people are really feeling squeezed by their credit card companies. >> we should say in these next few weeks you need to be looking at your krbcredit card statemen anything from your credit card for clues what they're going to do the next year. when i talk to people about their credit card debt, the emotional journey for people who

are in over their heads is so tough. what's your advice to people right now, first quarter out of the gate, what do you tell them? >> stay on top of your statements, know exactly what's going on. and most importantly, don't personalize it, treat it as a business. because that's exactly what the credit card companies are doing. if you personalize it, all of your emotions are involved and when we use our emotions to make decisions we always make the wrong decisions. >> the wrong decisions. i think that's absolutely right. let's get to debt overall. what do you tell people who have a lot of debt right now? maybe it's credit card debt. you know, maybe they have a second mortgage on their house and they're trying to desperately to pay all of this off. what would you tell them? >> the first thing is stop borrowing from tomorrow for things that you want today. we have to stop adding to the debt. look at your debt, work out exactly how much you have, write it down. it's amazing how few write down what they have. you don't know where you're go,

where you need to turn. write it out, organize from smallest to largest debt. use the snowballing method. start calling companies, negotiate on interest rates and start going to annual credit report.com twice a year, get free one first, then pay for the second one and make sure you're avoiding identity theft and make sure you're checking your credit regularly. >> that's going a long way. of course we're also thinking about mortgages right now, donna. you've seen mortgage rates. in the last few weeks they've been at 40-year lows. this is a fantastic time to either be getting i a new mortgage or reupping on an old one. >> homes are so affordable right now one of the reasons because mortgage rates are extremely low. but mortgage rates are going to be going up. now, you have to make sure, as ryan said, you have good credit to qualify for those kind of low rates. it's great that the average mortgage rate is pretty low, but if you don't have a good credit

score, and i'm saying 720 or higher it's hard to qualify for that. so first, as ryan said, get your credit score, see where you stand. if it's not in that 720 or higher mark, do what you can to clean it up. pay your bills on type, reduce the debt that you've got. it's going to take a long time. if you want a new mortgage, refinance, these things are taking months to do because a lot of people want to take advantage of this as you do. so start the process now. and be patient. >> it is the one bright spot if n. all of this mortgage rates are low. if you have a job, fully employed, things are going well, your home's lost value. what kind of psychological pressure is that on people? >> we tie in a lot of our self-esteem where we're living, how we're able to maintain where we're living and making payments and the great recession that we saw last year, certainly people were very much afraid and became victim to that. i like to tell people empower

yourself. know what your financial picture is and what it is that you need to do. but the most important thing is to talk to the banks, have a relationship. sometimes you'll get a customer representative who don't know what the heck they're talking about be they'll give you a hard time. if you're having a tough time with them, tell them you'd like to speak with a supervisor, if that doesn't happen. politely hang up, dial again, get someone who is more empathetic of what happens going on. manage your stress when it comes to these mortgages don't less your stress manage you. >> you know we talked about homes, we've talked about credit cards. another important thing for homeowners, of course, is also their 401(k) and savings for retirement. ryaner i want to turn to you we. we had a bad year last year. people are saying the stock market's turning up now i can start looking at my 401(k) again. is that right thing to say? >> never. it's amazing how individuals

look at market and the market's going topsy turvy and gauge emotionally, wrongfully, what to do with 401(k) averages. the same advise in 2004, the samed aadvice in 2007, make twice a year look agent 401(k)s, look at all of your statements every month to see if we need to adjust our asset allocation. do we need to start putting more money? too heavily weighted in stocks if you're 55 only have 5 years left of retirement, 80% shn. stocks should you adjust it a conservative portfolio. >> donna, is there any set it and forget it? there's not. you have to constantly check in. >> t. rowe price did a study i was look agent folks who rebalance portfolio once a year come out ahead. they're portfolios tend to be at least 4%, 5% larger over the

long run than people who set it and forget it. the rally was great, but what this rally you are too heavy? stocks now so you need to look at asset allocation. >> one of the things we've learned we were asleep at the wheel. we let everybody else make the decisions. we hired folks who made decisions. we let our government make decisions. this year the new year's resolution should be let me be on top of my portfolio, my finances, what's go on with people who are billing me, let me balance my bank accounts a lot of people don't even look at their statements to make sure that they're not being misbilled, charges are coming out. we've got to lern though we're afraid of mathematics, finances get through that by being empowered by being on top of what's happening to you and your family financially. once you start, and you learn how to do excel you're going to have an easier time. >> you're go doing make me learn

xcell. >> donna, ryan, jeff, stick around. up next, talking jobs, where to find one, how to hold on to the one you've got. dband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. 154 are tracking shipments on a train. 33 are iming on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email on vacation. that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. right now get a free 3g/4g device for your laptop. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilitie.

so if you've got a job, if you're looking for one, or if you fear you're going to lose the one you have, what can you do to make sure your career gets back on track this year? back with an action plan, ryan mack, donna risato and jeff

gardere. ryan the unemployment rate 10% a tragedy. it's taken 27 months for people to find a new job, a long time indeed. what is your advice to people out there pounding the pavement looking for a job? >> first of all we have to be optimistic. i want to remind everybody what does microsoft, i-hop, facebook and cnn have in common? all started -- >> that's a good question. >> all started in recession. and over half of the s&p 500 are companies that were formed during recession. we need good idea for individual whose have jobs save their money in case they get laid off. we have to make sure going to local community colleges get retrained and certified we need to be expanding social networking losing facebook,

myspace, black planet, start advertising. >> reach out, reach out. >> exactly. >> donna people still have their job but forced to scale back, working less hours, making less. tell me there's going to be more. >> the good news in 2009 people were getting furloughs, pay cuts pay freezes. picture's better for 2010. people will be getting pay raises, still pretty skimpy but for the best performing workers the average pay increase will be 4.8%. >> that's a lot. >> it is compared to 2.7% for the average worker. you need to make sure you're standing out on the job. it's not enough to do your job and stick your nose to the grindstone. you have to actively participate in meetings do high-profile assignments, staffs are slim these days. so what you want to do is make sure you're volunteering for more responsibility, the opportunities are usually there. >> jeff, ryan says they have to be optimistic. how do you do that in this market? all of the news seems to be negative. how do you keep your spirits up? >> i look with people in therapy going through many issues. we talk about reassessing the

situation. is the glass half tempty or hal full? you need to be invaluable on the job. it's no more of this 9:00 to 5:00 i'm going to do the bare minimum p you have to empower yourself to love what it is that you do, it's all about perception at then of the day. and you have to be empowered to dot best that you can do that even if you get laid off you may be invited back you can't have the woe is me attitude. you have to do what we like to say in brooklyn, scrapple at the apple. absolutely. you look at ways to go out there and hustle and make that money and one more very trite saying there should be no shame in your game. about if you have to be a baby-sitter though an executive, if you have to sell newspapers on the streets whatever you do to survive have pride if that because it is about survival making that money. >> jeff is right. there's a lot of project work out there today. people are holding out for the

same job they had at same salary. you may have to attack a job at a lower salary but there's a lot of temporary work out there, too. >> that's right. >> take advantage of that stuff and think outside the box especially if you're not working. >> bottom line is if you give me $50, you take $10, go to amazon.com read how to start a weatherization company and take $40 and go to home depot and get a caulk gun you, can have one of the fastest growing companies for 50 bucks or less. these are the ideas to come up with me we have to be brave enough to dare to get into the fast-growing industries for yourself. >> you have to get out of the comfort zone. the emotional comfort zone where we stay in the same place. it is about re-creating yourself and taking yourself to the next level. >> we talk about being an entrepreneur, whether a caulk begun or a computer how realistic is it you can start

your own company? >> labor is cheap. office space is cheap. you can do things where now in other times it's more expensive. it's good to be entrepreneurial but there's a lot of industries that are doing okay, too. you can be a consultant, professional servicize was looking at numbers from the bls that project -- >> bureau of labor statistics. >> bureau of labor statistics the strongest job growth over the next ten year is health care, education, federal government jobs but professional services individuals doing consulting, employment services to help businesses be more competitive. a lot of things you can do. try to think outside of the box and you can probably, as ryan said, you know, rely on yourself. we're all free agents this year. it's a free agent nation and you've got to take care of yourself. >> that's right. you can go online, reeducate yourself. now the online degrees are considered to be much more acceptable. so you can prepare for in something does happen whr you can go out and do something

different but better yet do it at the same time. >> i have to wrap you now. >> i have to wrap you now. appreciate your what changes can you expect to see in 2010 when it comes to health care? [ female announcer ] get the taste of a home-cooked meal at work with new marie callender's home-style creations. marie callender's home-style creations -- a little touch of home for lunch. [ male announcer ] becky loves marie callender's home-style creations. but where does she find them? not in the freezer section. that's why becky uses gps. not that kind. go to the pasta or soup aisle to find marie callender's home-style creations. keep up the good work, becky. pediatricians trust children's tylenol. to help their fevers, aches and pains feel better. who try to quit cold turkey will be unsuccessful. if you haven't been able to quit smoking,

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health care reform is a topic that's being debated from the living room to the oval office. so what changes can you expect in this new year and what should you keep an eye out for? with us clinical psychologist jeff gardere and the vice president for medical center clinical affairs at nyu medical center and host of health care connect on serious xm radio. you and i have talked about open enrollment and how it's changing this year. i mean, i think a lot of people are out there really worried about their health care in 2010. what would you tell them? >> i would tell them to save a little money because they're going to have higher co-payments, higher co-insurance amount as we been talking about open enrollment season and be prepared to have higher medical bills you have to pay for out of pock. it's all about what's in your wallet not what your employer is doing for you. jeff, you say it's all about

preventative care what do you mean? >> absolutely. so many people pay high insurance premiums because they're afraid something catastrophic may happen it's not about the day-to-day doctor day doctor's visits for their kids, which they pay out of pocket anyway for their favorite doctors. if you spent more time taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, but especially physically, working out, doing exercises at home, it might take off some of that pressure you have to pay that insurance, have that insurance, making sure that it's in place and taking care of what you need to do right now, which is staying away from the doctor. >> staying away from the doctor. that's good advice. if you're healthy and keep yourself healthy by working out. >> that's right. >> one of the questions out there, andrew, i think is how are we going to end up paying for all of this? is this ultimately going to come back to me in higher taxes? what's your outlook for health care costs overall? >> well, listen, it's health care costs in the near term are going to go up because we'll be

insuring a lot more americans out there and the cost control provisions are going to take some time to get under control. we have to figure out where we're going to find the costs to cut. taxes, fees, assessments, they don't start until a couple years down the road. in the short term, higher costs, longer term, hopefully lower costs. if we can't get the costs down, we'll have a problem in this country. >> is there a silver lining, andrew? >> i think so. i think this country has made a decision we have to insure more americans and get our cost structure under control, and no matter what happens and what it looks like in the future, we'll see some changes in that direction. >> one thing we never talk about and we should is mental health. >> yes. >> jeff, this has been a tough year for people. people aren't just suffering physically, they're suffering mentally. >> that's right. >> what would you tell them? >> when we suffer mentally, we suffer physically, too, because we have an emotional breakdown, which invites more disease in. i would tell them if nothing else, if you don't have the

insurance, to talk to someone about your mental health issues, there are free groups, support groups, groups where interns are providing mental health services through the colleges and so on. but don't just sit on a lot of that emotional pain. and we have a lot of it coming up this year. but also more importantly, talk about it, let it out, have your informal support groups but don't be afraid to discuss the issues. >> andrew, action plan for next year. what would you say, including this mental health issue, to people who are concerned as they come into the new year here about what's going to happen? give me just three steps to take. >> listen, again, save some money for health care. i think on mental health and primary care you're going to see a big focus on that next year so there will be a lot more access to that. we'll see some money spent on primary care physicians. >> and take advantage of it. >> and mental health providers, and absolutely take advantage of that. make sure you're prepared. a lot of people still aren't prepared, still don't have insurance. try to get protection lined up

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2009 was a rough year for the housing market and maybe for you, too. so what do you have to look forward to when it comes to your number-one investment? we have the senior editor of hdtv's frontdoor.com. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> i want to start by talking about whether this free-fall in housing is over. >> i honestly don't think so. we've seen that home values are each month continuing to fall. and although more people are more aware of it, i think it still has a ways to go. >> so you think we've got more downside here. i want to talk about some of the bassics of the market, like lending standards. you know, one of the reasons we haven't been able to see a rebound in the market is because you can't get a loan for a house. is that going to get better in 2010? >> a little bit. i think more people are aware of what needs to be shown, you know, the w-2s, the paychecks and having their ducks in a row, the credit and everything. >> but it's the bankers, it's not us. >> i agree, but i think we've also engrained in our own thought process that it's easy

to get a loan. that shouldn't be the case. i'm on the other side where i think it should be a little bit challenging to get a loan. you don't want to give out free money to just anyone. they have to make a good case for it. >> but do you think that lenders will actually will writing loans? the problem has been that, you know, people are showing up at the table with what they need, but they're still not getting the loan. the requirements for those loans have gone up, up, up. >> yeah. >> do you think that lenders will actually, as the president has tried to get them to do, come to the table and make loans? >> i think so. i think, you know, there's more incentives for them, you know, the obama administration has created more of these programs like making them more affordable, still a question as to how successful that is, but still at least they're doicng a lot to increase incentives for lenders. >> i understand you think there will be more buyers for next year. >> the tax credit has been expanded so that includes existing home buyers now as opposed to just first timers, and the income limits have been

raised, up to $225,000 per couple and $125,000 for individual. >> and more buyers, obviously. interesting you think that short sales may be easier next year. why? >> well, i think now that they are -- more people are aware of the sales, there was a big buzz phrase this year, everyone wanted to avoid foreclosure. it's the one option that they have that they don't need to have, a huge ding on their credit, you know. it still dings it a little bit but it's not as bad as foreclosure. but they were finding the short-term process, lenders were not amenable to actually approving these just because, you know, might as well just go with the foreclosure. and no one had standards to go by. now the foreclosure alternatives program that was just announced is going to start in april. those are going to apply to the conventional loans, not fha per se. >> if you're one of those people out there and you haven't been able to sell your house and it's

worth less now than what you paid for it, you might be looking into the short sale, you might get your bank to work with you. look forward into 2010 and as the year goes on here, do you think that people have really got their arms around the fact that, you know, housing values don't necessarily go up forever? >> definitely. 2009 was a huge wake-up call for a lot of people. 2010 will continue to be challenging, but i think more sellers, for example, are going to know that their home values be more conservative and manage their expectations. you know what i mean? because in 2009 as a buyer it's really hard to kind of convince sellers to their values aren't what they used to be. >> thanks for that. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks for spending part of your saturday with us. "your bottom line" will be back next week on cnn.