good morning. i'm stephanie elam and this is "your bottom line." spring has finally sprung and that means it's high time for some spring cleaning. we'll save you time with weekend projects and with less than a month for tack day we'll make sure you don't have those overlooked tax deductions. plus protecting your privacy. how to make sewer you're not the latest victim of identity theft. the show that saves you money starts right now. all right. let's begin this morning with the final big push on health care reform and who doesn't

remember how a bill becomes a law? you know, from school house rock. i love that. for a refresher course on the inner workings of capitol hill, we'll turn to our political national correspondent jessica yellin, part of the best political team on television. hi, jessica. >> hi, stephanie. beale break it down for you. first we have the senate version of the health care bill. he's just a bill trying to become a law, remember school house rock? this is still awaiting action by the democrats in the house. some of these democrats in the house really don't like what's in that senate version of the bill and they're worried that if they vote for it they'll pay a big price on election day. so democrats in the house will vote on a series of changes or fixes to the bill under this now suddenly famous process called reconciliation. house leaders are considering a sort of two-for-one deal to get health care reform passed. that is a self-executing rule. it would simply deem the senate bill passed once those fixes are

approved by the house. stephanie? >> not that that's not confusing enough. how does this help the democrats? >> okay. breaking it down again. under this plan, house democrats would never actually have to take a direct vote on the senate bill. so again, they'll never have to vote on the bill that they don't like. they're just voting on the changes and those changes again is called the rule. house leaders hope this will give members a political cover because they're not voting on the thing they don't like. some republicans are not buying it and it's shady ask it's not the way major legislation should be passed and both republicans and dp democrats have used this procedure before. >> that's a whole lot to digest for everybody. thank you so much for tackling that for us. so what will this mean for your bottom line? andrew rubin is at the nyu land own medical center. all of this obviously is a lot

of politics, andrew, but when you really drill down on this, is this a good bill for just consumers out there? >> listen, it's been all about the politics, but there's a lot of good stuff in this bill that will actually work and solve a lot of the health care problems for this country. there are individual pieces that everyone will find distasteful, but if you look at the bill in the entirety there's good stuff in there for a lot of americans. >> if this were to pass how immediately can the americans can start seeing the benefit of it. >> a lot of the provisions don't kick in until 2014, but there will be immediate steps that will take place right now. for example, there's $5 billion in the bill for individuals that have pre-existing conditions and can't get health insurance so there's money there for them and one of my favorite clauses that allows children to stay on their parent's policies until they're 26 years old. so there's a lot in there. the pre-existing conditions is a huge one and the dependent

coverage is good, but what the doughnut hole and how it applies to seniors. the doughnut hole is confusing legislation that was enacted several years ago under president obama, but essentially what it does is it allows for seniors to get prescription drug coverage and the insurance pays for the first portion and then they go into the thing called the doughnut hole and them they come out of the dope ut hole and have coverage again. so they have to pay a portion for the drug costs and they money available for seniors who have those costs covered. what about the an mall caps there as well? >> it's very controversial right now. a lot of people buying insurance think they have unlimited coverage if they get sick. many policies have annual limits or life time illness and if you get catastrophic illness and you may end up spending a lot of money and hitting your cap very quickly and this removes annual caps and life time caps. >> you can't plan for something

like that because you never know when it will happen to you. >> what about small businesses because it would apply to them as well upon. >> the plan to get is to insure as many people as quickly as possible. often it means the difference between hiring someone or not hiring someone so there are tax credits available for small businesses to in fact cover the cost of part of the health care insurance. >> we covered some of the good. before you go, what are xhft cons with this bill? >> i think the biggest con and what most people, cons of this bill, not con, that americans are worried about is how will we take cost out of the system? there are provisions in the bill to start removing cost, but any time you touch cost it's a hot potato and people get very nervous of it. until there is more of the bill that is enacted people will be worried about it. >> andrew, thank you for breaking it down for us, we appreciate it. every week on this show we help you to save money on your taxes. get your pen and paper, next, how not to overlook the tax deductions. stay with us.

all right. we made you a promise that as the april 15th deadline fast approaches we'd be all over your taxes and helping you save money. this morning we've got the most overlooked tax deductions and for help with that we turn to our good friend janet bogner, editor of candidate kiplinger's personal finance in washington.

>> let's talk pt things that people overlook. 46 million people itemize on their 1040s and so many of them are missing out on so many of the good deductions that they could be taking which is painful to hear. >> that's right. >> let's talk about the charitable donations what can people do there? >> people are aware of the big charitable donations that they can deduct, but they may not be aware that they can also deduct money for smaller donations. for example f you make food casseroles for soup kitchens, ingredients are deductible. if you drive a car to charitable activities you can take a deduction for that. if you use a stamp for your fund-raiser for your child's school, that could be deductible as well. don't forget the small stuff. >> credits are actually better than those deductions. so tell us about the making work pay credit. tell us about that one. >> people have been enjoying that since last spring. it's actually a reduced withholding that people have been enjoying in their paychecks, but in order to make

that credit permanent, in order to get the permanent benefit of that credit you've got to claim it on your 2009 tax return. that means, guess what? you have to file a separate form, schedule m, it's called, and there is a maximum on the amount of the credit that you can get credit for. it's $400 for an individual and $800 for a couple filing jointly and there are income phaseouts as well so you have to be aware of those numbers, but if you're entitled, take it. >> a lot of people are afraid of the extra leg work and they don't do it. we all know about the $,000 kred fit you bought a home, but let's talk about the home improvements. some of you can help you out in tax season. >> these have been around for a while and they're much more generous for 2009 and 2010. you can deduct up to 30% of the cost of making energy-efficient home improvements up to a maximum of $1500 over the two years, but it's much more generous than it was before and it encompasses things like new

doors, outside doors, windows, which is a big home improvement for a lot of people, furnaces and air-conditioning units and and that counts and people should look into that. >> if you bought a new vehicle, the sales tax associated with that, that's a good one. >> yes issue it is, because if you bought, in most of last year, ever since february 2009, if you bought a car, a truck, a motorcycle or rv, you can deduct the sales tax on that up to a maximum purchase price for the vehicle of $49,500. the interesting thing is you get this deduction whether you itemize deductioners on not. even if you get a stand art deduction, you get a souped up, if you will, a souped up deduction for the purpose of sales tax deduction in this case. it's worth looking into. again, there are income limitations and phaseouts so you need to be aware of those independent. >> there are too many for us to go through, but you have 19 on the list in total. >> yes. >> what's your website so we can

tell people. >> oh, yes, it's www.kiplinger.com. we have 19 of them and every single one that you're entitled to. >> thanks as always for joining us. it's all about saving you money and that's why we're here every saturday morning. up next, spring cleaning. it equals big savings. in your legs causing you pain. ok. what is it? dad, it more than doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. you'd better read about plavix. if you have p.a.d., plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots- the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. talk with your doctor about plavix? i'll do it. promise. (announcer) people with stomach ulcers or other conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, may affect how plavix works. tell your doctor all the medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops,

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finally, today is the first day of spring. so let's break out those brooms, the mops and the buckets. it's time for some spring cleaning and here with what needs to be done at the top of your list to save you, of course, time and money is our friend fred dell grande. >> it's good to be back. >> let's talk about one of these

thing asks probably what most people want to do, anyway, let the fresh air in. tell us what they should do. >> it's not an old tale. it's great to air out your house in the spring. not only is opening upon your windows, but also turn on all of your exhaust fans and like the bathroom fans and any fans over the stoves and that will get that air running and run it for about a dad day, but pick a good, dry day. >> that would be a good idea. we're all ready to get out and we're, like, get outside, get out and the little critters are thinking get inside. this is a time to take care of that? >> i get carpenterants and the best thing i found is not to use the poison that kills them instantly, but to put out the bait traps. the bait trap -- you don't want to kill them right away. let them get back to the nest and get the right stuff and kill the colony. >> get them all with that. >> yes. >> it's time on get ready for those april showers although for

those of us in the northeast we feel it's been april and we've gotten hit with so much rain and you're talking about the pumps and making that ready. >> there's a pump called the sump pump and test it before the big rain comes and make sure it's working properly and it's a good idea to have a battery backup on the sump pump or a generator to keep it running during a power failure. >> generators are something you should have, but isn't that costly for people to have in their homes? there are the portable ones and the ones we have to put gasoline in, but an up and coming trend is a standby generator, a permanent piece of equipment installed in the house, and the engine part is outside and a power surge or power storm and it will automatically provide your house with the power you need. in the future people will have

their own personal power plants and maybe it will make people feel worrell in the cold months. what about the walkway and the driveway issue. i call it slal om driving trying to avoid the potholes in the street and you're saying this is a good time to fix those. >> pretty soon the pollen and seeds will land in the cracks and crevices and if you wait too long to repave your driveways and walkways weeds will come out and once they take hold you will have more trouble. >> people will have to jump out of bed and start working on all those chores. thanks for joining us. love and hand and marriage, why a prenup allows you to speak now or forever hold your peace.

prenups are a hot topic these days and with the divorce rate around 50%, one-third of respondents in a recent poll now say they would ask their significant other for a prenuptial agreement. so should you sign on the dodded line before you say i do. lynette is a personal finance author and in los angeles we have joe, he's a celebrity attorney who specializes in family law. thank you both for being here with me today. let's talk about this first, lynette, because i really, really think a lot of people think prenups are just for the rich. you're saying that's not the case. >> absolutely untrue. it's a big myth it's only for the fabulously wealthy. the fact of the matter is a lot of people could benefit from

using prenuptial agreements. the problem is that when people get married in their 20s or 30s, they think i don't have much. they're not long-term thinkers. they're not thinking when i'm 40, 50 and if a divorce happens. >> how do you protect an asset you don't have? >> well, you start to put in procedures to say if we divorce or if something goes wrong, who would keep what? what percentage might be split? are there certain things do you have right now, maybe an inheritance or things you value that you just want to keep separate. >> so, joe, tell me about this because i think a lot of people would try to work this out on their own but do you really need to get lawyers involved here? >> yes. it's a highly specialized area. you need good advice. a good portion of my practice in divorce is dedicated to the litigation of prenuptial agreements that were not properly done. >> that's scary. that tells you allow. when should you bring up this conversation with your significant other? >> i think it's obviously after

you get engaged. don't do it while you're in the dating phase. >> that might scare them away. >> the tendency is to not talk about it initially. perhaps the person who is the lower income earner or the person with the least amount of assets feels like i don't want to be perceived as a gold digger and i don't want to send the wrong impression. but after you've gotten engaged, talking about a prenup should be part of your overall money conversations. >> when you are having this conversation, how long does it actually take to complete a prenuptial agreement? >> it probably takes about 30 days to get it done if you're well-organized. >> so that's actually not that bad, but you do need to give it a little time and you should probably do it before the wedding happens. lynette, when you say they are more important now than ever, why do you say that? >> a lot of people are marrying later in life. there's a lot of people who are already divorced. people are coming into second marriages with a lot more assets to protect, perhaps homes,

401(k)s, maybe things for their kids from a previous marriage that they want to make sure it doesn't go the wrong way. >> here is the biggest question i think a lot of people have. joe, this is probably something you have seen. the post-nuptial agreement. i can't imagine anyone bringing that up. like, hey, honey, you know i love you, but sign here. you say those happen a lot now, right? >> right. many people wake up one day in a marriage going sour and want to kick themselves because they didn't insist on a premarital agreeme agreement. that's when i get a call. what about a post-nuptial agreement? >> i think you have to put this in the context of your overall relationship and the money question. will we have joint or separate accounts? how will we pay off debts we have? he said it takes about 30 days to get it done. people might be planning for the wedding and doing other things. even right after you get married, you can still do it. it doesn't mean oh it's five years later and the marriage is

going south, let's do a prenup. you might be a recent bride and maybe you can't get it completed in time, there's nothing to say you can't get a post-up in 30 days after you get married. >> it's still an option. >> while the love is still there. >> while you're feeling rosy and warm. joe, thank you for joining us, and lynette, thank you for being here. >> yell wum. year-over-year identity theft related crimes are up and that brings us to today's free for all. how to protect your privacy without spending a dime. imagine a whole new life for your hair.

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time for our free for all, and it's all about protecting your privacy. the more wired we all get, the more opportunities there are for someone to steal your identity. steven is the ceo of identity truth in boston. he joins me now. thank you so much for being here. >> good morning, stephanie. thank you very much. >> so tell you, you say the one place we all tend to go to, most of us have social networking sites we go to all the time. you're saying that's the number one place we can get our ids stolen. explain. >> absolutely. as millions of people share information on social networking sites like facebook, myspace, et cetera, there is a wealth of information that is being exchanged daily. people provide their name, social security numbers, addresses, dates of births, and all of this provides countless opportunities for identity thiefs to harvest this information and create fake identities at the detriment of the original individual. >> people put their social security numbers on their social networking sites?

>> they have been incidents where that has happened and they say something that people should not do that it's a very dangerous thing to do. >> you also say that losing our cell phone or pda could be the least of our concerns if you put too much information on that device, right? >> yes. as smart phones become smarter and we have all kinds of personal devices with us, obviously most of us store a lot of very interesting data, personal and private data on our phones such as addresses, but most importantly our passwords to our e-mail, pin numbers, et cetera. if we lose these devices it's very easy for a thief to extract this information and profit at the detriment of the owner of the device. there's research that shows, stephanie, over the last year twice as much as personal devices have been stolen giving countless opportunities to identity thiefs. >> so we definitely need to be diligent about that. also for women when they get married, they need to make a

definitive decision on whether they will take their husband's name or not do it. why is that? >> well, having both names creates opportunity for error and confusion. it's very difficult to track, use one or the other or hyphenate both, but clearly identity thieves use any opportunity they can to leverage confusion and profit from it. >> that's a reason why i didn't change my mind, i zn want to have any identity theft issues. >> pretty good idea. >> the last thing i want to ask you about is the whole idea of shredding. i don't think enough people pay attention to this. your student in college, if he has a credit card application or you get applications in the mail, you're saying make sure you shred them, right? >> absolutely. it's very important to keep some basic things in mind. shred your receipt, especially when credit card receipts come from a foreign country. they still have the number of credit cards imprinted on them. it's important toed