president obama back in washington from his appearance at the g-20 summit in pittsburgh at the congressional blauk caucus annual dinner last night, the president dove back into the health care debate saying congress needs to pass a health care reform bill this year. friends and faelts said their final good-byes to annie le. the funeral for le was held yesterday in california. she was found dead at the new haven lab where she worked on the day she was supposed to get married. a co-worker is charged with her killing. germans are voting in their national elections today. recently several threatening videos from al qaeda and the taliban have been posted to the

internet warning voters to stay away from the polls. meanwhile, chancellor angela mechanic elle is expected to win another four-year term. welcome to hln for this last sunday in september. time flies. iran's president got a warm welcome home after his trip to the u.s., but international pressure is rising after iran's revelation of a secret nuclear enrichment plant. officials there are blasting the u.s. and others for what they say was a hostile reaction. as elaine ki haquijano reports, promised to come through on a u.s. demand. >> reporter: one day after the u.s., britain and france called out iran for building a secret nuclear site, iranian officials insisted they have nothing to hide and will comply with demands to let international inspectors into the facility. >> there is no nuclear material in this new site and we are arranging and inspectors will

confirm. >> reporter: secretary of state hillary clinton welcomed the iranians' pledge to allow inspectors in but made clear the u.s. expects concrete action at key nuclear talks on thursday. >> we are hopeful that in preparing for the meeting on october 1st iran comes and shares with all of us you what they are willing to do and gives us a timetable in which they're willing to proceed. >> reporter: the united states has long suspected tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and in his weekly address, president obama warned iran's leaders the u.s. is not alone in its suspicions. >> yesterday i stood shoulder to shoulder with our european allies in condemning iran's program. in our meetings and public statements, president medvedev of russia agreed iran must face a new korgs or consequences. >> reporter: that means possible tougher sanctions. president obama says u.s. is keeping all options on the

table, including a military one. in an interview with john king, defense secretary robert gates said even that has its limits. >> the reality is there is no military option that does anything more than buy time. >> next up is that crucial meeting thursday in geneva. that's when iranian diplomats will sit down with officials from the u.s. and the other permanent members of the u.n. security council as well as germany to discuss iran's nuclear program. despite condemnation over its suk receipt nuclear facility, iran tested a missile launching system earlier today. state-run tv isn't giving many details but says two types of missiles were fired. in may, iran said it tested missile capable of reaching parts of europe. today's tests are part of an exercise expected to go on for the next 10 to 11 days. film director roman polanski

has been arrested on a 30--year-old rape charge here in the u.s. in 1978, he fled to france after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. this morning we learned he was arrested on his way to the zurich film festival yesterday. the 79-year-old director won an academy award in 2003 for "the pianist." also wrote and directed "rosemary's baby". for the next two years, social security will pay out more than it's taking in, officials say a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors is a big distributor contributor. the deficits won't affect payments to retirees because social security has a surplus from previous years, but this will aadd to the overall federal deficit. this is what happens when more than a month's worth of rain falls in just 12 hours. now more than 75 people are dead or missing in the philippines.

a tropical storm triggered landslides and massive flooding as you can see here by these people in the water. entire towns were swamped and authorities say that army troops and volunteers have rescued more than 4,000 people, some from their roofs. and take a look at one of our i-reporters in ma nip la. it shows thigh-deep water and submerged cars. this is the worst flooding the dri has had in 40 years. you probably don't think of prescription pills when you think of recycling, right? but lots of people showed up in niagara county, new york, yesterday to drop off old, unwanted medicines, the second year st. mary's hospital has hosted the prescription drug drop-off. the idea here is to keep the drugs out of the wrong hands and stop people from polluting the water system. >> like in the past i would just dissolve them in water and dump them down the drain. i don't know if that's the proper way to dispose of it. >> wivb says a similar event at

another hospital collected more than 300 pounds of prescription drugs last year. a "saturday night live" newbie dropped an f-bomb on the season premiere. the question is, was it a slip of the tongue? of course we bleeped it out for you. take a listen to new cast member jenny slate. >> you know what? you just threw an ash tray full of butts at my head. you stood up for yourself and i [ bleep ] love you for that. >> according to entertainment weekly.com, back in 1981 snl cast member charles rocket got in trouble for using the f-word on the show. this is not your average pothole obviously. check it out. heavy rain in north georgia helped open up this sinkhole. police had blocked off the intersection but someone still moved the cones and the driver crashed right into this

sinkhole. look at that. fortunately, the driver suffered only minor injuries in the incident. have you been having a soogy weekend? let's check in with reynolds wolf. southeastion the rain's gone, right? >> looks good for most areas, especially places like atlanta where we've just been inundated with heavy precipitation. we are expecting things to dry out. should be a fairly nice day. this area of high pressure is going to move into the region giving us a pretty dry spell for most of the coming week. however being into the great lakes we could see scattered showers and strong storms developing later on in the day. looks like the biggest threat is hail, heavy rainfall, possibly flash flooding and damaging winds. can't rule out an isolated tornado also. meanwhile, as we make our way to the west coast, very warm conditions for the four corners and back into southern california with high temperatures that will be going up into the triple digits for both las vegas and phoenix. 80 degrees in denver, 82 in

kansas city, 81 in memphis, 89 in tampa. one other thing to mention, up in parts of the high plains and back into central rockies we have an area of high pressure that's going to be setting into parts of the dakotas. with that and the frontal boundary and the low over the great lakes could give us windy conditions in the central plains and back into the rockies, some gusts possibly exceeding 60 miles an hour. that is a look at your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. a student facing death asked his classmates an important question -- >> i asked everyone, would you really give something up with no chance of payback? >> you've got to hear who stepped forward to give him the gift of life. show and tell

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get this. a new york teacher has received one of the state's highest honors for going out of her way to help a student. she gave him one of her kidneys. yesterday the teacher received the state senate's liberty medal. the teacher said she never set out to be an organ donor but a former student called and asked if she would donate a kidney to him. >> she's great. she's amazing. >> she's not a relative. she's not a mother, not a sister, not a brother. she's gone out of her way. it's an extraordinary step, a big operation. and she has receisaved a life. >> i was willing to do what i needed to to help a student and now a friend for life. >> don't you just love teachers? without her help, kevin o'brien would have had to wait eight years for an organ transplant and could have died before finding a match. you might call it bossology 101.

scholars from around the world are in new jersey this weekend for discussions and panels on bruce springsteen. "glory days" coincides with the 60th birthday of the new jersey rock 'n' roll legend. topics include springsteen and psychology and springsteen and social conscienousness. top-ranked florida has next week off, giving tim tebow an extra week after the scary hit that landed the qb in the hospital. it happened late in the third quarter. watch this. it's a clean hit, but you look what happens after the hit that caused the damage. tebow, you see his head hit against the knee of one of his own linemen. right there. he lay motionless on the ground for several minutes, had to be helped off the field, carted out of the stadium and on to an ambulance. he spent the night in a hospital for observation. they're hoping for the best for tebow. the gators did win the game

without him there. penn state played as plain as those basic yuxuniforms. this is adrian claiborne with the blocked puntd, takes it in for the touchdown. penn state down to the hawkize 21-10 the finality. meanwhile, how about golf? the third round they managed to play before the rain came in in atlanta at the tour championship. a tough month in the city of atlanta, the whole area, not a tough month for kenny perry, though. one of his great shots there. he has a two-shot lead. tiger woods, look at this putt, two shots back. they'll play together. how about phil mickelson? everybody was kung fu fighting! maybe 13 is unlucky for phil. he's only four shots back. phil, got to work on something else. let's go to the play of the day. how about batista? last night's mariners-blue jays game, this is batista going

back, watch this, shades of willie maze, the over the shoulder catch, up against the wall. nicely done. that's worthy of play of the day. a war that ended more than 50 years ago has kept millions of families apart until now. see the tear-filled reunions between brothers and sisters and parents and the children they never got to know. making all the right moves on this week's "how we got started." paula, patty and carol aren't your typical movers. >> we help seniors downsize and move from a lagger place that they've been living in to something generally smaller. we help with every aspect of that move. >> reporter: while starting up their company, changing places,s the women kept their day jobs as they developed the business plan. >> we started to get together on sundays here at the kitchen

table to talk about how we could do it and get it off the ground rnkts the three friends pooled together their talents. paula is a registered nurse and geriatric social worker. patty has experienced in marketing and nursing and carol has a business background. after a year of research, they put their plan into action, got a $25,000 credit line and invested $1,500 each in the company. >> we jumped in and did our first client for almost no money, just to get the experience. >> just for the experience. >> and it was great. >> three years later, their hard work and passion for helping seniors is paying off. >> when they're in a house for 40 years, you know, it's not just a matter of moving their bedroom or their living room. it's a meatter of moving their lifetime of memories. hey, it's great to see you're back after that accident.

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ceremony was held in washington yesterday. it honors the families of fallen servicemen and women and allows them to share their pride and pain and collectively cope with their loss. >> each of you has lost someone special in your life. there are no words that anyone, least of all me, can say that will heal your terrible hurt. but i want you to know that my thoughts and the thoughts of our country are with you. i'm left thinking of a quote i heard once which ashsuredly applies to each of you here. to the world he was one. but to me he was my world. thank you. thank you for your sacrifice. >> more than 4,000 families have lost loved ones in iraq. another 840 families lost someone in afghanistan. a u.s. drone has crashed into the headquarters of an iraq

we political party in northern iraq. the drone went down friday in the city of mohs you'll, crashed into the roof of the largest sunni political party in iraq. the pentagon says the crash into the roof of the building was only a coincidence. the husband of a congresswoman died while on a mountain climbing trip in tibet. aides to new york representative carolyn maloney says her husband died in his sleep after reaching the summit of of the world's sixth highest mountain. the 71-year-old was a millionaire investment banker. maloney has served in congress since 1993 and recently announced she was giving up you her bid for the senate. dozens of families separated by the korean war were reunited this weekendful . for decades they've had no contact with each other, no mail, telephone, e-mail. here's more on the emotional, tear-filled reunions.

>> reporter: this 88-year-old thought this moment would never come. after nearly 60 years of being separated, he's holding the hantd handsive his son and daughters, babies when he left father, we thought you were dead, says his daughter, now in her 60s. 97 korean family separated by war and ideology for decades were reunited saturday in the north mountains. they showed each other photos of their lives and relatives who passed away. most of the families were separated by the korean war in the 1950s. since then there have been no phone calls and letters and no information at all about family members on the other side of the border. but the 79-year-old was

separated by her siblings. less than 20,000 have been able to meet with their families. soon these families will be separated again. they are allowed to be together for three days, and then the south koreans must return home. most are already elderly and frail. they are not sure if they will ever meet again. from the moment they say their emotional hellos, they must prepare for what may be their final good-byes. a world war ii veteran said he just had to get back into the plane that he flew over germany decades ago.

>> i jump the out. >> he should be able to complete his last mission with his family by his side. a

president obama is back in washington, d.c., and he is not stopping to catch his breath. the legislation he says must be taken care of this year. >> many families have told me that their loved ones died doing what they love. i think that they also died for the ones that they loved. >> families who lost loved ones in combat are given a moment of remembrance, a chance to share pain and pride. and driver after driver, dropped off prescription drugs. all of this could keep you safe

more ways than one. trading the word stage for a national one, president obama is once again making his case for health care reform. fresh thefrom making their appearance at the summit, they went to dinner last night. they emphasized the need forr g meaningful health care reform. >> few are more inhumane than the barriers to a healthy life and good education. for the sake of every american living today and for the sake of every american yet to be born, he must bring about a better health care system in this country. not in ten years, and not in five years, and not in one year, but this year.

>> so far democrats on the senate finance committee fought off republican attempts to kill a bill offered by chairman max baucus. although there are several other health care bills, the baucus bill doesn't include the public option is considered one of the most important. iran now says it will allow u.n. experts to inspect a nuclear plant that the world only found out about days ago. take a look at what are believed to be satellite pictures near tehran. the secrecy surrounding his ramped up international fears about iran developing nuclear weapons. >> we have an agreement between the iea and the organization of iran under the safeguard

agreement. under that agreement the arrangements will be made for inspectors to come and inspect the new site. and the dates and the details of the inspection will be worked out. >> despite condemnation over a secret nuclear facility, iran tested a missile-launching system earlier today. it does say two types of missiles were fired. in may, iran said it test add missile capable of reaching parts of europe. today's tests are part of an exercise expected to go on for the next 10 to 11 days. film direct yir polanski has been arrested by police on a rape charge. in 1978 polanski fled to france

after pleading guilty. for the next two years, social security will be paying out more money than its taking in. it's the first time this has happened since the 1980s. and a spike in early retirement claims from laid off seniors a big contributor. there is good news. the deficits won't affect payments to retirees, because social security has a surplus from previous years. but this will add to the overall federal deficit. this is what happens when more than one month worth of rain fall falls in an hour. it triggered landslides and flooding. and entire towns were swamped, and army troops and volunteers have rescued more than 4,000 people from their roofs. and take a look at what of the

i-reporters captured in manila. this is the first flooding in 40 years. and friends and family said good by to annie le. her body was found inside a wall the day she was opposed to get married. we go inside the memorial service. >> reporter: two weeks after annie le's murder, mourners gathered for a memorial service. it's near her hometown of placerville. le's mother wrote a poem. the poem was translated into english by one of annie's brothers. they thanked those that banded around the family during the tragedy. >> your thoughts and prayers

have been a source of comfort and strength for our family. >> le was found strangled and her body hidden in a wall where she worked. police found her body on the same day she was to be married. charged in the in you are dur, raymond clark, a lab technician that worked alongside her. le's family coming to grip with her death. >> this crossroad, we are confronted with the tragic passing of annie le. >> reporter: yale officials are planning an october memorial service on campus and are establishing a scholarship in hure her honor. you probably don't think of a prescription pill when you think of recycling, right? but a lot showed up to drop off

their old unwanted medicines. it's the second year the hospital hosted the prescription drug droppoff. the hope is to stop people from polluting the water system. >> before in the past, i would desolve them in water and dump them down the drain, but i don't know if that's the proper way to dispose of them. >> well, another hospital collected more than 300 pounds of prescription drugs last year. huh-uh, a "saturday night live" newbie dropped the f bomb. >> you know what? you -- you know what? you stood up for yourself, and i love you for that. >> back in 1981, snl cast member

got in trouble for using the f-word on the show. heavy rain in north georgia opened up the sinkhole. somebody still moved the cones and the driver crashed right into the sinkhole. look at that! fortunately, the driver only suffered minor injuries in the incident. and we have a look at the forecast across the nation. we have been talking about gray skies in parts of the southeast. and we will see some in the northeast. and the great skies and great fall colors. these i-reporters from from concord, vermont. if you have hag out, enjoy all the beautiful sights you will see with the fall colors. and the showers will stick around for a good part of the day. we will see a chance of not only

rain but possible thunderstorms in parts of the great lakes. we have a frontal boundary traveling even through detroit before the day is out. you will have a chance of severe weather. and maybe some heavy rainfall. and an isolated tornado is also a possibility. could see strong winds. and in the desert southwest, the story will be the extreme heat. and then take a look at some of the temperatures you will be seeing there. 107 for phoenix. and 60s mainly from seattle, and even into portland. and 87 in los angeles and 93 in dallas. and low 90s in houston. and that is a look at your forecast. i am reynolds wolf for hln.

we have something new to tell you about. joe behar is coming to have her own show. >> who was sitting with marie? jermaine jackson. the man is like, everybody. like smog. and the former house majority leader may soon be dancing behind bars. tom was wearing a tiny brown invest with gliter and looked like one of the flying monkeys with the "wizard of oz." once the competition started he loosened up. i don't think that a republican

had that much fun tapping his toes since craig worked the men's room in the minneapolis airport. i think tom danced okay until the judges were rough. i hope tom sticks around all season. i can't wait for little bruno to nail the hammer, but that's just me. a student facing death asked his classmates an important question. >> i asked everybody, would you really give something up with no chance of pay back? >> you have to ask who stepped forward to give him the gift of life. pure cane sugar and the stevia plant.

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the teacher said she never set out to be an organ donor, but a student called and asked if she would donate a kidney to him. >> she is great. amazing. >> she is not a relative or mother or sister, but she has gone out of her way. it's a big operation. she saved a life. >> i was willing to do something to help a student and now a friend for life. >> without her help, kevin o'brien would have had to wait eight years for an organ transplant and could have died before finding a match. no word on why he did it, but a man snuck into the grizzly bear visit. they fired a warning shot to keep the bears at a safe distance from the guy. he was rescued and had no apparent injuries, luckily.

how nondescriptive is kenny perry. every once in a while somebody will come up and ask, do you know kenny perry? that may change. he has a putt like this. under par. he took the two-shot lead over this man. tiger woods. they will play together, and kenny has a message for mr. woods? >> he better bring his a game is all i have to say. and the bulldogs down at the one yard line. four tries to get it in, and they couldn't. great finish at michigan as

well. and forcier injured his soldier. and ouch, don't touch the soldier. and bill lynch can't believe it. it's probably a good thing for a sunday morning. throws his head sets, and it didn't do any good! michael vick won't star as quarterback, but will be in uniform and active the first time he was an atlanta falcon. his suspension is over. that's sports. families who lost loved ones in combat sought strength and comfort in numbers. >> thousands gathered for the

annual time of remembrance. this year a hollywood celebrity showed up to share their grief. ever worn your clothes in the shower? if you're using other moisturizing body washes, you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin, almost as if you're wearing it.

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one in combat gathered to remember them. it was held in washington yesterday. it's honors the families of fallen service men and women. it collectively helps them cope with their loss. >> each of us lost somebody special in your life. there are no words that anybody, least of all, me, can say it will heal your terrible hurt. i want you to know that my thoughts and the thoughts of our country are with you. i am thinking of a quote i heard once, which assure applies to you. thank you for your sacrifice. >> more than 4,000 families lost loved ones in the iraq war since it began in 2003. and another 48 families lost somebody in afghanistan.

a u.s. drone crashed into a city of mosul. it was the largest political r party in iraq, and the fact that it crashed into the roof of that building is only a coincidence. clark howard tells us how to make money without the hassle. >> i want you to know something. i am obsessed with something known as index funds. it's a thing. it's a good thing for you. what is an index fund, anyway? it's instead of you buying a mutual fund where somebody tries to figure out what to buy and sell and how much of it to get, in an index fun it's simple.

you just buy all the big companies in the country. or you buy what is in the total stock market, which is generally thousands of companies. you don't need anybody to figure out what to buy and sell, they just buy everything. here is the big news. a new report from the wall street journal finds that for bonds, 90% of the time a index fund will beat a manager, and for stocks, 60% of the time. go to cnn.com/clark howard. don't miss clark's show today at noon. he will help you save more and spend less and avoid getting ripped off. a world war ii veteran says he just had to get back in the plane that he flew over germany

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president obama back in washington from his appearance at the g-20 summit in pittsburgh. the president dove back into the health care debate saying congress needs to pass a health care reform bill this year. friends and family say final good-byes on grad student le. she was found dead where she worked on the day she was supposed to get married. germans are voting in their national elections today. recently, several videos have been posted to the internet

warning voters to stay away from the polls. meanwhile, a chancellor is expected to win another four--year-term. that's a quick check of your headlines for this last sunday in september. time flies, doesn't it. and the once president got a warm welcome home. and international pressure is rising after iran's revelation of a secret nuclear inrechment plan the. officials are blasting the u.s. and others for what they say was a hostile reaction. but they also promise to come through on a critical u.s. demand. >> one day after the u.s., britain and france called out iran for building a secret nuclear site, officials say they have nothing to hide and will comply to letting international inspectors into the facility. >> we are arranging

inspectors into the facility. >> we are hopeful that in preparing for the meeting on october 1st, iran comes and shares with all of us what they are willing to do and gives us a timetable on which they are willing to pro. >> united states has long suspected tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. in his weekly address, president obama warned leaders the u.s. is not alone in its suspicion. >> yesterday i stood shoulder to shoulder in our allies in condemning iran. and we agreed that iran must pursue a new course or face consequences. >> that means tougher an ktions, and the u.s. is keeping all options on the table, including a military one. but in an interview with cnn

state of the union john king, robert gates said even that has its limits. >> the reality is there is no military option that does anything more than buy time. next up is the crucial meeting in geneva, and that's when the iranian officials will sit down with the u.n. security counsel as well as jugermany to discuss this issue. state-run tv is not giving details, but two types of missiles were fired. in may iran said it tested a missile capable of reaching parts of europe. today's test are expected to go on for the next 10 to 11 days.

and polanski has been arrested because of a rape charge here in the u.s. he fled to france after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. he was arrested on his way to the zurich film festival yesterday. he won an award for "the pianist." officials say a spike in early retirement claims is a big contributor to more money going out of social security instead of coming in. and this will add to the overall federal deficit. this is what happens when more than a month's worth of rain falls in 12 hours. 75 people are dead or missing in

the philippines. massive flooding was triggered, as you can see here. entire towns were swamped, and army troops and volunteers rescued more than 4,000 people from their roofs. take a look at one of the i-reporters and what they captured. thigh-deep water and submerged cars. this is the word flooding the country has had in 40 years. you probably don't think of prescription pills when recycling, right? but lots of people showed up to drop off their old, unwanted medicine. and the idea here is to keep the drugs out of the wrong hands and stop people from polluting the water system. >> before, in the past, i would desolve them in water and dump them down the drain. i don't know if that's the proper way. >> a similar event at another

hospital collected more than 300 pounds of prescription drugs last year. >> a "saturday night live" newbie dropped the f-bomb for the season premiere. and let's listen to the new cast member here. >> you know what? you know what, you stood up for yourself, and i love you for that. >> you are in my heart. >> back in 1981, a cast member from "snl" got in trouble for using the f-word on the show. this is not your typical sinkhole. and police had blocked off the intersection, and somebody still moved the cones and the driver crashed right into the sinkhole.

look at that. the driver only suffered minor injuries in the incident. banks make a lot of money from extra fees, and soon you, the customer, could get a small break. jennif jen westhoven is looking out for you. >> bank of america and wells fargo started it, and chase, and u.s. bank followed, and maybe more. the question is, is that going to be enough to pacify congress. congress has been hearing a lot of people saying they are furious after getting socked with overdrawn fees. banks don't want to give overdraft fees up. they brought in $38 billion this year alone. and so banks are hoping to give an inch so they can keep most of

the revenue intact. bank of america and wells fargo are cutting the number of times they can hit you in a day. it used to be 10 times a day, and in some cases $250 in fees. say you go over by $10, and they won't whack you for that. congress is getting set to pass new regulations on debit and credit card fees that could possibly protect you. i am jen westhoven, looking out for you. >> you can get more money advice each day from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. eastern. i asked everybody, would you really give something up with no chance of pay back? >> you have to hear who stepped forward to give him the gift of life.

frequent flyers can pick up deals right now. >> waivers of the baggage fees. >> some are making cashing in rewards easier. >> united nations permanently waved the award trips that can be at the last minute. delta is added a new level to the elite level, and these people fly 125,000 plus miles per year. the best benefit there is free membership to the sky club. >> and jet blue is making changes including no blackout dates. >> what made that different this time around is the program is based on how much you spend versus how many miles you fly. have some fun with that truck.

vroom... vroom. okay, time's up. here ya' go ! that's a nice one, i made that. that's a piece of junk. yeah. i want the red truck. well, you can't have the red truck. see, that was a limited-time offer only. it's, ah, right here in the fine print. even kids know it's wrong to hide behind fine print. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank who always gives you a great rate, with nothing buried in the fine print. it's just the right thing to do.

a new york teacher received one of the state's highest honors to go out of her way to help a student. she gave him one of her kidneys. yesterday she received the state senate's liberty medal. the teacher says she never set out to be an organ donor, but a former student called and asked if she would donate a kidney to him. >> she is great. she is amazing. >> she is not a relative or mother or sister or brother. she has gone out of her way.

it's an extraordinary step. it's a big operation. she has saved a life. >> i was willing to do what i needed to do to help a student. and now a frened for life. >> don't you just love teachers. without her khelp, he could hav died before finding a match. you might call it busology 101. there is a discussion and panel on bruce springsteen. glory days of bruce springsteen's emposeam coinsides with his birthday. it's a good thing florida has next week off, because that will give them an extra week to

recover from the hit. it's a clean hit. it's what happened after the kit. you see the head his against the knee of one of his own lineman. he had to be helped off the field. he was carted off of the stadium. he spent the night in the hospital for observation. > and this is adrien claiborne with a blocked punt. and penn state goes down to the hawkey hawkeyes, 21-10 for the final. and in atlanta, the championship, a tough month in the city of atlanta. the whole area. not a cuff month for perry.

and tiger woods, look at this putt. he is two shots back, and then look at phil mickelson. you can't do that. he is only four shots back, though. phil, you have to work on something else. let's go to the play of the day. how about batista going back. watch this. the over the shoulder catch, up against the wall. nicely done. that's definitely a play of the day. a war that ended more than 50 years ago kept millions of families apart until now. see the tear-filled reunions between brothers and sisters and the parents and the children they never got to know. [ominous music]

[screeching] [dejectedly] oh. [screeching] [barks] (man) if you think about it,

this is what makes the ladders different from other job-search sites. [screeching] we only work with the big talent. [all coughing] welcome to the ladders-- a premium job site for only $100k-plus jobs and only $100k-plus talent. families that lost a loved one in combat gathered to remember them. it was held in washington yesterday. it honors the families of fallen

women and men. >> each of you lost somebody special in your life. there are no words that anybody, least of all me, can say that will heal your terrible hurt. i want you to know that my thoughts and the thoughts of our country are with you. i am thinking of a quote that i heard once, that applies to each and every one of you here. to the world, he was one, but to me he was my world. thank you. thank you for your sacrifice. >> more than 4,000 families have lost a loved one since the world began. a u.s. drone crashed into the head courters of an iraqi political party in iraq. it went down friday in the city of mosul.

it was the largest sunni political party in iraq. the government says the crash into the building was only a coincidence. the husband of a congresswoman died while on the top of tibet. clifton maloney died in his sleep after reaching the summit of the world's sixth largest mountain. he was a millionaire investment banker. and maloney served in congress since 1993, and recently announced she was giving up her bid for the senate. dozens of families separated by the korean war were reunited this weekend. for decades they had no contact with each other, no mail or telephone or e-mail. and we have more on the emotional tear-filled reunions. >> reporter: 88-year-old une thought this day would never come. he is holding the hands of his

sons and daughters, and babies when he left them during the korean war. father, we thought you were dead, says his daughter, now in her 60s. daughter, now in her 60s. 97 families separated by war and ideology for decades were reunited saturday in the mountains. they showed each other photos of their lives and relatives who had passed away. most of the families were separated by the korean war in the early 1950s. since then, there have been no phone calls, no letters and no information at all about family members on the other side of the border. but every story followed a similar, tragic pattern. a 95-year-old man thought he was leaving his youngest son behind in the north and this

79-year-old was separated by her sibling in the panic to escape the fighting. more than 100,000 koreans have registered to look for relatives on the other side of the border. less than 20,000 have been able to meet. and soon, these families will be separated again. they are allowed to be together for three days, then they must return home. most are already elderly and frail. they're not sure if they will ever meet again. from the moment they say their emotional hellos, they must prepare for what may be their final good-byes. a world war ii veteran says he just had to get back into that plane he flew over germany decades ago. >> it would mean a lot. i jumped out. >> you'll see how he was able to complete his last mission with his family by his side. a%

ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money -- making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i'd earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. the recent flooding in the southeast was devastating. loss of lives, homes where the homes are just ruined. and you know what? most of the people who suffered flooding losses were uninsured for flood. they thought, why would i need this? i don't live in a flood plain. but do you know according to

federal statistics, one in four houses that end up getting flooded are not in flood plains. well here's some things you need to know. first, you are not covered for floods by your regular homeowners' insurance policy. you have to buy a separate flood insurance plan. second, they're really, really cheap if you're not in a flood plain. and, third, do you know if you're a renter or you own a condo, you can buy a flood policy that will cover the contents of what you have and those policies are dirt, dirt cheap. don't leave yourself exposed to complete financial ruin. at this house, every possession of this family is gone. now, let's see what's on your mind.@@ how can i help you with your @@ wallet? tokien, what has happened to you? >> caller: okay, basically i received a -- i came home from work and received a real estate person's card on my front door. i thought it was a little

strange. i called it. they told me to contact the local bank. in regards to when i would be moving out of the residency. i didn't know anything about what was going on. as it turns out, for the last year, i've been paying my rent on time or ahead of schedule and apparently it turns out that the people that owned my house hadn't paid the mortgage in the last ten months. so, in the process of not paying the mortgage in the last ten months, the house went in to foreclosure and now the bank has the -- the house that i live in and they're telling me they want me out by sunday. >> what? >> caller: and this is thursday afternoon. and i said -- >> no, no, no, there's a law to protect you that gives you 90 days if your lease was up. was your lease still under way? >> caller: no. i had gone month-to-month. >> so if you were month-to-month, you are allowed to remain for a 90-day window.

>> caller: by just paying -- continue to pay my rent? >> you say what address do i pay my rent to. you cite to the bank that the law is called "helping families save their homes act." but you have a right to remain and stay in that property as long as you do pay your rent each month. >> caller: because i -- i actually -- was obviously upset and i contacted the bank and the bank told me, i have no rights or basically no -- >> you don't take that! you don't take that! >> caller: right, so i contacted -- i called the court, the local courthouse and stuff to find out any information i could in regards to it. so as it turned out, i came home from work the following day and the local sheriff's department had put a notification on my door. >> easy. >> caller: saying i have seven days. >> that's easy. that's the tenant suffering. you have a right to a hearing before the judge. you file a hearing, you go before the magistrate, you present to the judge the statute

and the judge will then find in your favor almost without question and you will have three months. what's going on in your life, james? >> caller: well, clark, first of all, i enjoy your show very much and unfortunately, i wasn't listening to it enough or i wouldn't have gotten myself in to what i got into. but if you -- >> wow, that was a mouthful. what did you get yourself into that now you wish you could get out of? >> caller: my wife lost her job about three months ago. and her 401(k) we decided to roll it over and we went down to my bank. he tried to lock me in to a variable note. i'm not a financially savvy person i'm a hard worker and so is my wife. i'm not a compulsive person. but i just jumped into it. he wanted to lock me in for

eight years. it was a reputable company. i took a four-year plan. my question to you is, am i in a lot of trouble with this money? because they guaranteed me 7%. >> there's dozens of pages of contracts that come with that variable annuity. >> caller: yes, we got them. >> who knows what it all says about that supposed guarantee and you can't lose and all that. your wife had 401(k) money that i guess is inside an i.r.a. now at the bank. and inside the i.r.a., they did a variable annuity. does that sound right? >> caller: what we did, we had the money transferred from the varitable -- i mean from the 401(k) to the bank and the bank evidently distributed it to the -- to the company. >> but the thing is, i need for you to go back and look at that statement. >> caller: looking at it right now and it says i.r.a. >> great. when the surrender period is up on the variable annuity, your wife is free to take that money and put it in to whatever would

be the most appropriate form of i.r.a. at that time. what we should do is you and i make an appointment. and four years from now, if that truly is when the surrender period ends on it, we'll talk it through about where would be the best place to go. and i can't stand variable annuities, especially with i.r.a. money. but it's done. and let's just do a reset once the period of time that you can move the money comes up. next on "clark howard" -- >> we should be saving a lot more than we are. because primarily, my whims, i guess you could say, and that's how i'll put it to you. i like to go on trips and on ebay and i like to do things like that. >> caller: and he said, well, you are in a contract. i said, no, i've had my alarm since 2002. how could i be in a contract. >> a-ha! a-ha! how are you in a contract? announcer: "it looks like nothing else on the road right now,"

proclaims "gq" magazine. did you see that? the interior "positively oozes class," raves "car magazine." "slick and sensuous," boasts "the washington times." "the most striking vw in recent memory," declares-- okay, i get it already. i think we were in a car commercial. ♪ yeah ♪ yeah. s it hard to breathe. but now that i'm breathing better with advair... i can enjoy the zoo with my grandkids. (announcer) for people with copd including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other medications because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers

for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. we had a great day, grandpa! we sure did. ask your doctor how advair helps improve lung function for better breathing. (announcer) find out how to get your first full prescription free at advaircopd.com. but it can't have... can't have about half a day's worth of fiber? i assure you it does. i can only taste... only taste the crunchy clusters, honey, and brown sugar. no madam, i don't have esp. (announcer) fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes.

you put in your user name and password. you get there and it's like ha, the joke's on you, but they've got what they want, your credit card number and checking account, and bam! they're eating up all your money. >> catch that and a lot more this sunday at 4:00 p.m. on "clark howard." >> monica, how are you? >> caller: good, how are you? >> great, thank you. >> caller: i'm trying to find different ways to save money. i thought, well, let's cut the alarm off. i called to inquire about that and they said we need to let somebody call you from that department. and this guy did. he said well, you're in a contract. i said, no, i had my alarm since 2002, how can i be in a contract? >> a-ha! a-ha!

how are you in a contract? >> caller: he says, well, if you look at your contract, it will automatically renew in the same terms. >> what are the terms of your sleazy contract? >> caller: well, it's a three-year term that started in october of 2002 at $29.99 per month. >> $30 a month! $30 a month? $30 a month? >> something strange on the radar screen. >> caller: we live in a -- >> monica, the money police are on their way to your house to take your wallet away from you. read to me what the contract says about how it automatically renews. does it say you have a five-day period every three years to notify them by certified mail that you're not renewing your contract? i've seen that before. >> caller: you have a 30-day. i thought that was wrong. i told them you're taking advantage of people. >> of course they are.

you can try to play hardball but you'll likely lose. >> caller: really. >> because you're in the contract where awe greed to the sleazoid rollover clause. if you choose not to pay them anymore, they will, a, either sue you against the contract, or, b, they will try to ruin your credit with a collection agency. and neither are very appetizing things to do. so the way i would look at it is if you could somehow come up with the $25 a month, make sure you mark all over your calendar when the contract is up. give them a notice in the 30-day window by certified mail and be done with them. the greatest thing you've done is you've warned so many people listening right now what to look out for. do you have a question for me? it's so easy to ask. all you do is go to cnn.com/clarkhoward and click on

our video submission button. if you do so, i might be answering your question the next time you tune in. just as i'm doing with mike and tina. >> i'm mike. >> and i'm tina. >> and we need a money coach. we've been fortunate and very blessed. we made some good financial decisions. and therefore we paid off our home. i guess i learned a lot of my financial responsibility from my mother. she raised three children by herself and she had to be frugal with her money. and as an adult, i've always been frugal with mine. we should be saving a lot more than we are because primarily my whims, i guess you would say, and i think that's how i'll put it to you, because i like to go on trips and i like to go on ebay and i like to do things like that. there's a lot of money just kind of disappears. we don't track it. my question is, we bought an older home. we're going to do some home improvements. roof, heat and air system, et cetera. how should we budget for these

upcoming needs? >> well, mike, first thing's first, how neat is it that the two of you own your house free and clear. you've got tens of thousands of dollars in savings and cds, but there is a weak link here. you got almost no money saved for retirement. and you still have time to play catchup. all right. how do you do the retirement thing? how do you pay for the repairs your house is going to need? you are actually going to have to fund both at once. what you're going to have to do is put 15 cents of every dollar that both of you make in to savings. a dime of every dollar towards retirement, a nickel of every dollar in to a house maintenance fund or in to your rainy day stuff that you're doing with bank cds and savings. that way, you'll start to build up a stash of cash. i wish all 15% could go towards retirement, because you're starting a little later.

but at least get that dime on a dollar done. as for you -- a dime on a dollar is a magic number. if you, through your entire working lifetime, will save a dime of every dollar you make, it means that by the time you retire, you should be able to retire with some level of comfort. if your investments do really well, it might be a little more comfortable even than some level. next on "clark howard" -- >> caller: but we're still talking somewhere around $30,000 and pretty high interest rates on all of it. >> wow, $30,000 in credit card debt? >> caller: yes, sir. interesting grooming. thanks. i did it to let the judges know that my dog is the right choice. i got the idea from general mills big g cereals. they put a white check on the top of every box to let people know that their cereals have healthy whole grain, and they're the right choice...

just like buttercup. (announcer) general mills is the only leading cereal company to put healt whole grain in every box. the choice has never been easier. for whole grain guaranteed, just look for the white check., this is humiliating. stand still so we can get an accurate reading. okay...um...eighteen pounds and a smidge. a smidge? y'know, there's really no need to weigh packages under 70 pounds. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. cool. you know this scale is off by a good 7, 8 pounds. maybe five. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. ok ! ok. whoooa, heyyy ! see, the terms require that you keep the bike within this pre-determined space. if you want to take the bike out, i'm going to have to charge you a penalty. i can't really ride in this little space. you can't ride very far.

even kids know an offer shouldn't come ha, ha, ha... with ridiculous conditions. why don't banks ? at ally bank our 9-month no penalty cd gives you a great rate with no fees for early withdrawal. it's just the right thing to do. j.r., you have a question for me about dealing with some debt that's bugging you. tell me about that. >> caller: yes, sir, hey, clark, i've got some debt from when i was back in college, or actually out of college after september 11 trying to find a job. so, anyways, we got married and we've been able to pay off a little bit of the debt, but we're still talking somewhere around $30,000 and pretty high interest rate on all of it. >> wow. $30,000 in credit card debt? >> caller: yes, sir. >> what kind of family income do you have now? >> caller: well, if it's before

-- obviously no bonus this year, so we're probably looking at about $59,000. >> again, you're at that key trigger you may have heard me talk about in that your credit card debt is half of your income. >> caller: right. >> are you thinking of going to nfcc to negotiate for you? or what are you thinking of doing about this? >> caller: right, that's what i'm thinking of. you talked about the nonprofit service that could potentially help. so we're -- what we're thinking about doing is going to them, trying to get them to set out a plan for us so we can cut all of the interest rates that have an end to it. >> what interest rate does this debt carry generally? >> caller: anywhere from about -- somewhere between 15% up to 28%. >> there's no way. unless suddenly your income were to double, that you're going to be able with interest rate carrying like that, to do this.

i think it does make perfect sense for you to go to a national foundation for credit counseling affiliate. >> caller: here's the question i have, though. hopefully -- our goal is to try to get into a -- we own a condo and the idea is that maybe in a couple of years we'd be able to sell it. will that hinder us from looking at getting a new house? >> yes, during the time you still owe money, that will hurt your ability to buy a house. you can go to nfcc and see if they can come up with some budget that would work for you. that would not hurt you at all. and could be of help to you. but if you find that you need to go in to the debt management plan, yes, that would freeze you from buying a house while you're still in the payment plan. todd is with us. hello, todd. >> caller: hi, clark. >> how are you doing? >> caller: i'm doing great, yourself? >> wonderful, thank you. what are you thinking of doing with your wallet? >> caller: well, years ago, i opened a traditional i.r.a.

before i started listening to your program. so over the years, i accumulated some money and then i started listening to your program and you talk a lot about the roth i.r.a.s. >> yeah. >> caller: so i'm kind of wanting to move all that money in to the roth i.r.a. but the company i have my traditional i.r.a. says it will cost me a lot of money in penalties, fees, i would have to pay some taxes. >> there's no penalty at all for going from a regular i.r.a. to a roth. you have to meet an income threshold, which is you have to earn less than $100,000 a year. but in 2010, there is no income limit. >> caller: okay. >> but what you do have to pay, not penalty, but you pay tax as if you earned that money. in this year, you would pay the tax come april. if you wait until january, the

tax is spread over 2011 and 2012 doing a conversion from a regular i.r.a. to a roth. are you sitting there with a lot of cash just going unloved in your life that you could use to pay the tax bill that would be due on converting a regular i.r.a. into a roth? >> caller: no. not really. >> then don't even think about it. >> caller: right now, i'm just working part time. i lost my full-time job. so i'm not making a whole lot. >> whatever you can start putting in to a roth now moving forward each year rather than contributing to a regular i.r.a. would be to your advantage, at least all future i.r.a. contributions should be roth i.r.a. instead of regular. >> caller: wow, clark, thank you so much. that's exactly what i needed to know. >> and i want to wish you the best in the job market. i'm sorry it's been tough out there going full-time to part-time. the economy is recovering, jobs

recover later. but eventually, they do come back. do you know that car rental companies being on the financial ropes have been in the best position of anybody in the travel business to do something about the country being in a recession? they've simply reduced the number of car rentals they have in their fleets. you think about hotels, they don't shut all of the hotels. airlines? what do they do? they park a lot of planes in the desert, but they're expensive. car rental companies can simply say we're not going to buy as many new cars for this next cycle. that's what they've done, reducing the number of cars they have on hand by large numbers -- meaning car rental prices are going up, not down in the down economy. how should you beat it? shop multiple companies and try hotwire and priceline for big savings on car rentals. next on "clark howard" -- >> caller: is it worth walking away from the pension despite

the decreased cost of living, lower sales tax? >> you're asking me, pay me now, pay me later. a

ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money. making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i had earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission -- helping you take care of your money, so you can save more. spend less. and avoid getting ripped off. >> now from his radio studio, your money expert, clark howard. >> all right, i am really excited. why? because i'm a travel nut. and if you are a travel nut, too, and you can afford to go somewhere and you have the time, this fall is your friend. because the travel business flat out doesn't have any customers. i saw a report recently from the

website, hotels.com, that the average hotel rate in the united states is down by 17% this year from a year ago. that is a huge drop in price. i've even gotten some rooms recently using priceline and hotwire that are in the 30s per night. these aren't flea bags. every sector of travel you look at is a real deal in the time period leading up to just before thanksgiving. you want to fly somewhere -- the bargains are everywhere. and especially not just in the united states, but to the caribbean and to europe. how about cruises? the fall is always value time on cruises, but especially this year. one thing that's not a bargain right now -- car rentals. car rental rates are actually going up. but maybe you could walk once you get to your destination? now it's time for your questions.

henry? supposedly we're out of recession. and it doesn't feel like it to you today, does it? >> caller: no, sir. our company filed chapter 11 bankruptcy. what does that mean for our 401(k)? >> all right, 401(k) assets should be in the hands of a 401(k) administrator. and the money that you have in the account is your money and cannot be seized as part of you employer's chapter 11. i will tell you, though, that your last couple of payroll deductions for your 401(k) may not have ever made it to the 401(k) plan administrator. and that money may be lost in space. but your actual 401(k) account -- you get a statement from -- from an outside company, right? for your 401(k). >> caller: yes -- yes, sir. >> that money stays with them and is at no risk from the employer filing bankruptcy. >> caller: the thing that

concerns me with the 401(k) is we all quit contributing to our 401(k) in july and we do -- we cannot get any answers about how we can move our money to a -- to a vanguard or whatever. >> your money -- if you have stopped contributing back in the summer, then you don't have to worry about what i said about how some of your money may have been lost. >> caller: yes, sir. >> if the administrator for the plan continues to administer the plan just as they did before. so you cannot move your money from them as long as you stay employed with the employer. if the employer were to later not make it in bankruptcy and they shut down -- >> caller: yes, sir. >> then your 401(k) money becomes available to each of you and that's when you can move your money to wherever you want in an i.r.a. >> caller: yes, sir, okay. >> so that part is nothing to worry.

that money is safe. and that money will be there for you with the bank and then ultimately for your retirement. ashley is with us on the "clark howard show." ashley, how are you? >> caller: i'm fine, clark. good to talk with you. >> good to have you along. i understand you have a mortgage dilemma you want to run by me. are you buying a property or refi'ing one? >> caller: we are thinking of buying a new property. >> so you are the one person in america who is thinking of buying a home. >> caller: we're going to sell our home first. that may be a challenge, but assuming we can sell our home, we are on the market. the problem we're having is i've talked with several mortgage brokers and they have told me in the price range we're looking for, we're going to need to make a downpayment of 20% because it's in the jumbo loan range. and so it's -- it's frustrating because we feel like we can

definitely afford the monthly payments, and we've got enough for a downpayment that would be in excess of 10%. but getting to -- across the 20% mark would definitely be probably beyond what we could do immediately. i have had one broker suggest that we could do sort of a piggyback loan where you have the first mortgage up to just under the jumbo loan limit, and you put a second mortgage on top of that. that would be an extremely high rate. he suggested that would probably be 9%. >> all right, i don't see that as an outsized risk on your part. >> caller: okay. >> i don't see that as a horrible thing. what other options are you looking at? >> caller: i got one other suggestion. i think i know what your response to this suggestion would be. one of the brock brokers i spoke to said i ought to borrow money from my 401(k) to try to get

across the 20% mark. >> as long as the borrowing rate is reasonable on the 401(k), i hope that lightning doesn't strike me down right now -- i think that that would be an acceptable way for you to get to 20%. but i don't dismiss out of hand what you're thinking of doing. because if you can called me up and said we have no downpayment money at all but we can come up with it borrowing from our 401(k), that would show me no discipline and no habit of saving money on your part. i would say no way you should do that. because it helps you close a gap, i think that would be a reasonable way for you to get it done. next on "clark howard" -- >> i want to be financially secure. that would mean no mortgage, cash in the bank. where i would be able to live off of my investments. they said that in seven years, they have never failed to return somebody less than -- how

much money? >> caller: $53,000. it's like -- [ mooing ] >> you hear the manure coming out of that cow, right? okay. you were right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, they taste fresh... say it again! say it like, "mmmm, these healthy choice fresh mixers taste freshh!!" they taste fresh... wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? u know, it wasn't a secret to us, we knew. yes, but it was a secret to me. of course, otherwise i would be sitting like this and completely block his shot. so that's why i was like...

didn't you notice this was weird? no. made fresh from your desk, cook it fresh, strain it fresh, mix it fresh. healthy choice fresh mixers, look for it in the soup or pasta aisle.

lisa is with us. hi, lisa. >> caller: hey, how are you? >> good. leesars you're doing things in the right order. you want to run something by me to make sure it's not a scam. >> caller: yes, i do, very much so. >> what is it that you had the offer of? >> caller: i got contacted by an agency that told me basically that if i give them $2,000 that they'll fill out the paperwork

and do all of the work of finding grants for me and they are -- out of the seven years they've been working or what not, they never returned less than $53,000 worth of grants to somebody. and i already kind of gotten ripped off by a grant-writing company, so i'm not very quick to jump at this. >> they said in seven years, they have never failed to return somebody less than -- how much money? >> caller: $53,000. [ mooing ] >> you hear the manure coming out of that cow, right? >> caller: yeah. >> yep, bull manure. in fact, this is -- if they've been scamming people for seven years, that's seven years too long. this is an old-timey scam with organizations saying they have the secret inside scoop on

grants and you pay them the money and they're going to get that money for you many times over. and that has been around as an oldie but baddy. they don't have your credit card number or checking account number? >> caller: no, negative. definitely not. >> al right, i just breathed a whole lot easier at that point. this is completely bogus. if the clown calls you back again, tell whoever it is who calls you -- tell that person that i said they were a crook, that they should be ashamed of themselves, spell my name and give that hoodlum my phone number, and i'm happy to say right to that individual what a creep they are. i'm so glad you're staying out of harm's way. do you want me to be your money coach? well, here's what you've got to do. go to cnn..com/clarkhoward.

then you'll see our video submission button. you submit your question to me and, voila, you might be with me on the tv just like chris. hi, my name is chris and i need a money coach. i hope to retire in nine years. i just need to know where to put my money. i've been saving money for the past several years. i have some money in an i.r.a. with vanguard and several other i.r.a.s. then i've managed to save some cash on the side. i don't have any debt. i want to be financially secure. that would mean no mortgage, cash in the bank where i would be able to live off of my investments. my question is, how do i protect what i have while being somewhat aggressive in planning for the future? >> chris, you are handling money so well. think about this. by the time you plan to retire, you will have no mortgage. you carry no credit card debt or any other personal debt.

and, you've been saving money like clockwork, saving for the future. but did you ever make me nervous by saying, do i need to be more aggressive with my investments? all right, this is what i want you to think about. if you look at how many years you are away from retirement, you can't be too aggressive because you wouldn't have time to recover if the markets tanked. at your age, you should have somewhere around 40% to 50% of all your savings in stock-type choices. the other half needs to be more conservatively invested in bond-type choices, cds, savings accounts, so that you don't put yourself too much at risk. now, let's say you're in your 20s or 30s. you're in a completely different position and situation. it's fine for you to overwhelmingly -- and you should, actually -- go into the stock-type choices available to you in a retirement plan at work, like a 401(k), or if you do a roth account, a form of retirement account that use after-tax dollars.

and the most important thing if you're younger, save like a maniac. you'll be amazed how much money you'll end up with by the time you do decide you don't want to work anymore. next on "clark howard" -- >> well, all that stuff is going to take seven years from not when you turned 18, but when you stopped paying on all of these things. it will be seven years before those things completely stop harming you. >> caller: wow, that's not good. ring ring ring ring.

hey, your chicken noodles ringing. ring ring. progresso. hi, may i speak to my oggy please? thank you. i'm sorry, who? my grandma. this is obviously her chicken noodle soup. only hers tastes like this. just put my oggy on the phone. thanks so much. hold one moment please. another person calling for her grandmother. she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs. she is so cute. okay well i'll hold. she's holding. wha? she's holding. tell her its karen.

(announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. jason joins us. hi, jason. >> hey, clark, how are you? >> i'm doing great, thank you. you want to go back to your teenage years? >> caller: that is correct. when i was 18, 19, i took out some student loans. i also took out a personal loan from a credit union. and also had purchased a vehicle with my grandfather as a co-signer. however, i let all of those things get away from me. i decided to get in to music and

do the musician thing and i didn't end up paying for a lot of them. my credit is not in the best of shape. i need to figure out because i have no idea how to get it back on track with a good credit score. i haven't had any credit cards or anything like that. >> first, on the student loans, you know you have to bring the student loans current. >> caller: okay. >> of the things you mentioned, the student loans are the one thing that will follow you the rest of your life if you don't make amends on those. >> caller: okay. >> so, the first step to getting your credit on the right path. >> caller: mm-hmm. >> you need to go meet with a default counselor. i would get started with that. now you said your granddad co-signed the car loan. >> caller: yes, sir, the car got repossessed. >> it did. you're paying off the balance? >> caller: the balance. >> well, that's good. you're cleaning that up. all that stuff is going to take

seven years from not when you turned 18, but when you stopped paying on all of these things. it will be seven years before those things completely stop harming you. that means you're not far away from the negative of these things disappearing from your report. although the items stay on your report for seven years, the good news for you is that once you pay them off, that instantly raises your score a lot. but i have no worry about you, jason. because you made no excuses. you took full responsibility. and now you're making good on the money. i think you're going to be fine with how you handle money the rest of your life. john, how are you doing? >> caller: i'm doing well, how are you? >> good, thank you, john. you are a landlord like me. is that right? >> caller: i am a landlord just within the past two years. i have two three units, two triplexes which i have a lease

option on. and i'm two years in to that. and the remaining units i have through seller financing. >> wait, wait -- you are such a good sales person that you have convinced all of these people to sell you places and finance the purchases for you? >> caller: yes. only two different individuals and the term is great. but the terms i've got 3% at -- on a 15-year. and i've got a five-year balloon. so my question is -- you know, well, one, i would like the seller to be able to report to a credit agency on my behalf. >> because you're trying to establish a track record so that you, then, can qualify for a loan when the balloon hits? >> caller: correct, right. >> right. i have a suggestion for you. because it's going to be hard

for you to make that happen. you're trying to get a square peg to fit in a round hole. you need to get with a local community bank where you go and you meet with the president of that bank. that bank. >> okay. >> and you might want to go to two or three of them, and you go in and you sit down with the president of the bank, and you lay out for him or her what it is you're doing. you have your financials for them. and you tell them what your needs are. >> okay. >> and that is how you as an entrepreneur build up a long, successful relationship with the bank. because you're never going to make that happen with one of the giant banks. and i think that it's really exciting that you've been able to be so persuasive to get people to owner finance. i think you'll be equally successful persuading banks to be your partner. >> i hate to ever talk about a

problem to which i can't offer you an easy remedy or solution. but there's something going on out there that i feel i just have got to tell you, and then there are precautions you should take to protect yourself. do you know, according to the "washington post," you can hire companies is a strange term for it. you can hire hackers on the web for $30 or more to crack somebody else's e-mail password, so that you can go into their account and snoop around. who is doing this the most often? well, it's a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend who is worried that somebody is cheating. but it could also be used for any of a number of dishonest purposes, including corporate espionage or for finding out information about your finances. so here's what you need to know. the hackers are going to be able to break in, somebody is determined. but you need to be careful what you store in your e-mail they could gain access to.

next on "clark howard." >> i need a professional, need to build it up quickly, only 25 years left of work. how do i go about doing that? >> all right. well, you have a double opportunity here. says it has fiber in it. yep. four tasty new soups with 28% of your daily fiber. but i like this chicken tuscany., i like it too. but it has fiber in it. that's right. fiber? yeah. but i like it. (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. s it hard to breathe. but now that i'm breathing better with advair... i can enjoy the zoo with my grandkids. (announcer) for people with copd including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other medications because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms

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