well, personal finance editor, gerri willis, is here to talk free job training for you. yep, i said free. gerri, where do we start? anything that's free, i'd say is good. >> that's right, don. it's a great place to start. costing you no money at all, and the most obvious place is the job. if you're laid off, look, some severance packages include job training or other benefits. talk to hr about your severance package and find out how you can take advantage of job retraining. don't forget to ask about other positions in the company or at different locations if you work for a big company. don? >> all right. well, can uncle sam help out with this? >> yeah, you bet. the department of labor sets up local one-stop career centers. and at this offices you can find information about local jobs available, free classes on jab prep, computer training even. there are also a number of specific programs that can help you out. the displaced worker program. this is a program that will help you find work if you are laid off and the industry in that area is in decline. there's also something

gerri willis this morning, thank you, gerri. president obama due to talk about the economy a little bit later on. dan, i'm not sure if the president will be talking about these numbers, but for him, that is certainly good timing. >> reporter: it really is, and as gerri is pointing out, we're not talking about stellar numbers, but better than expected. good news because all morning we've been talking about the potential of these numbers eventually reaching into the double digits. the white house, the president himself has been talking about how these unemployment numbers would eventually hit the double digits. no doubt good news, and we expect to hear from the white house later this morning on those numbers. what the white house will continue to say is that they believe that the stimulus package, the plan, is beginning to work, the jobs are being saved and jobs are being created. but that americans really need to be patient because this is all going to take some time. >> yeah, certainly. well, the cnn national report card last ni

. >> well "your bottom line" with personal finance editor gerri willis starts now. >> hello. i'm gerri willis and this is "your bottom line," the show that saves you money, become an empowered patient, tips to wage a battle against your insurance company if your claim is denied, making the most of a miserable job solution that don't involve sacrificing your paycheck and starting a small business. grab a pen and paper. we'll show you how. "your bottom line" start right now. >>> cash for clunkers, some say a big success. others argue poorly planned by the government. the program burned through its bill lon dollar first round of funding in less than one week. now with $2 billion more headed on the way, how long can we expect it to last? jack is the chairman of smart transportation.org. you helped design this plan so we really got the person who knows the most about it with us today. i want to share some numbers we have, though, and ask you about them. >> sure. >> total number of clunkers out there, some 40 million. even with the $2 billion, we're going to take out less than a mi

>> all right, our personal finance editor, gerri willis.t, we'd like to dig deeper into what these housing numbers really mean part of our snapshot across america today. matt blashaw host of deconstruction. >> and we have regional president of toll brothers, leader in new home construction and julie is a ceo with omny bank out of houston, actually in new york out of houston. we'd like to begin with you, doug, this morning. in fact, we have seen these encouraging numbers that we've just been talking about. does this mean that the housing market is really on the rebound or is it a little too early to say that? what do you think? >> well, we feel great. we certainly feel better than we did six months ago. we've been reporting improvement in sales over the last five and a half months. if you look at our communities on a same-store community we're up 32%. the buyers are much more motivated and beginning to reduce incentives and beginning to raise prices and while it's a buyer's market, they may not last too long. we have lot of buyers out there

personal finance editor, gerri willis, is in new york, she joins us now to break it all down for us. hey, gerri. >> hey, betty. good to see you. these are amazing numbers. wall street had been expecting 9.6%, they got 9.4%. it was much improved over june, 9.5%, and a 26-year high. we even had a revision of payroll data, june data, of course, almost 500,000 jobs lost in the original report. they scaled it back to 443,000 jobs lost. and look how good it gets for july. 247,000 jobs lost. obviously you want to see this number go away. you don't want to see job losses at all, but it looks like the trend is in the right direction, which you can easily see from that graphic right there. i want to drill down just a little bit to these numbers, betty, and talk to you about the sectors that are using jobs and where we find jobs growing. now, as you can see from this graphic right here, construction jobs falling, pretty dramatically, the worst category in the group, down 76,000. manufacturing, you've been seeing the stories out of detroit, jobs on the showroom floor, down 52,000. retail, people

willis mcgahee a chance. i thought a lot more than 3 yards. >> stan: the linebackers up and he was sitting there wide open. troy didn't look to tothat half of the field. >> gerry many young lineman looking to fill up back up spots. from the pocket. willis mcgahee will take it. ly has no room to run. he's shoved out of bounds. a lot of creativity but no gain. avoiding the sack with the shovel passed. >> stan: i don't know what to think about that. sometimes sometimes it looks good and in this looks bad. we saw orton who threw a pass and got intercepted. >> gerry: edward jones in the back field with willis mcgahee. here comes the blitz. troy smith under pressure and it's incomplete. smith feeling the heat released the ball early before demetrius williams had a break in the route. >> stan: demetrius williams ran a curl pat pen and troy threw it to the out. whether he was throwing it away, he didn't get grounding, i'm not sure. he it had to throw it to the receiver. >> gerry: sam koch crushed this one. let it bounce in the end zone. sam koch with a 52-yard punt. carolina takes over.

just because you have $4500 for your clunker, gerri willis says this. >> cash for clunkers can give you a nice boost if you're looking to get a more efficient car. no matter what the incentive is, you have to make sure you can afford the new car in a first place. let me show you an example here. if you buy a car, average price tag, $26,000, let's say you get the most you can from the government, $4500, that reduces your cost to $21,500. if you finance it throughout four years, you pay 7% interest, your monthly nut is $514, just for the car. and so you got to be able to make sure you can afford it, it is something you can really take advantage of it. cars aren't like houses, they don't increase in value over time. they get into accidents, you don't know for sure if it will be around for another 20 years. it is a product constantly losing value. >> we want to examine this further. is the cash for clunkers program for you? ken and daria dolan are joining us from west palm beach, florida. you know their faces, this dynamic duo. good to see you sir and ma'am. these are financial analysts. yo

i'm poppy harlow in today for gerri willis. this is "your bottom line" the show that saves you money. how about saving 500 bucks a month just like that? we'll show you how. plus how to best utilize social networking in your job search. and jeff lewis from bravo tv's flipping out from chaos to clarity in today's housing market. "your bottom line" starts right now. >>> trying to keep up with the debate over health care reform is a job in and of itself. all the facts, the figures, the different plans being thrown around but our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is here to break it all down for us and most importantly tell us why it matters and what it really means for you. thanks for being here. appreciate it. >> of course, poppy. the big news this week about health care reform was whether or not the public option, which is basically government sponsored health care as an option has to be a part of health care reform. obama proposed it and then there were some questions as to whether or not he was backing away. here's w

i'm gerri willis. this is "your bottom line" the show that saves you money. the future of your health care debated on capitol hill. how you can ensure you get the best possible care at the best price. avoid getting taken for a ride. the top ways you're getting ripped off and what you can do about it. and the cost of college. where to find the best financial aid and which schools are the best value. "your bottom line" starts right now. >>> we begin with what could be some glimmers of hope, yes hope in the housing market. according to the s&p home price index the index of homes has increased and prices have gone up for the first time in three years. new home sales rose 11%, the highest increase in almost nine years, and existing home sales are up 3.6%. positive signs suggesting that the worst may, just may be behind us. folks across the country continue to complain that the obama administration's affordable loan modification plan is not gaining enough traction. the treasury department talked to mortgage firls sayims saying time to pick up the pace. here to disc

i'm poppy harlow in today for gerri willis. congress may be in recess, but the health care debate rages on. >>> then, the credit card holders' bill of rights. find out what rules go into effect this thursday, plus how to rent anything from electronics to sporting equipment, to tools and appliances. we'll tell you when not to buy. "your bottom line" starts right now. >>> well, august is make-or-break month for health care in america. town halls are causing public uproar, confusion running rampant. our chief business correspondent ali velshi touring the country on -- what else? the cnn express. joining us now from the missouri state fair. talk about getting the pulse of america, ali, what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah. this is a fantastic place to do that. we've been driving from atlanta to des moines, and we passed through georgia, kentucky, tennessee, illinois, missouri heading into kansas and iowa, and we're talking to people usually in places smaller than would normally get media coverage about health care. in the beginn

earl stewart, gerri willis, thanks so much to both of you. appreciate that. >> thank you. >>> and perhaps you still have some questions about cars for clunkers or maybe even health care or the economy overall. we're going to the white house for answers later on this hour, send us your questions at mailtothechief@cnn.com or sweet us at kyracnn. >>> the vice president's chief economic adviser, jared bernstein, will be here later on this hour to answer a lot of your questions. >>> grassroots gripes over health care and what washington may or may not do to fix it. it's a make-or-break month. some people like to pretend... a flood could never happen to them... and that their homeowners insurance... protects them. it doesn't. stop pretending. it can happen to you. protect your home with flood insurance. call the number on your screen... for your free brochure. are more than words here. it's personal. i have diabetes. rodney's kid too. so we're so proud to manufacture... the accu-chek® aviva meters and test strips... here in the u.s.a. plus, we've p

. >> gerry: demetrius williams and willis mcgahee in the backfield. under pressure, he tried to get down, but he can't do it without taking a significant hit. he had to get in between the 1 and the 13-yard line. he ran into willis mcgahee as he was trying to get to kind of a safe spot now where the officials spot the ball will determine whether or not the drive lives or we see steven hauschka for the first time. >> stan: it's too bad he didn't see todd heap in the back of the end zone. he was wide open. >> gerry: i'm a little surprised they're not going bring in the field goal kicker here since you're looking for a new kicker. >> stan: something's wrong with the communication system here. he had to run over, cam cameron had to run. here comes john harbaugh running down to call a time- out. >> gerry: ravens facing a fourth and inches.

cnn's gerri willis with your business getting rid of the gas guzzlers. >> doubled the money, $2 billion of the cash for clunkers plan. that's a doubling of the numbers. but 500,000 clunkers will be taken off of the road. there's some 40 million. it won't cover everybody. here's what you need to know if you're thinking about taking the advantage. first of all, can you afford this car? is this a deal for you? most cars' average price $26,000. you're looking at a monthly bill of $500. can you work that in to your monthly budget. do some thinking before you buy the car. don't delay though. the last round of money which was only $1 billion went in a week. this round will go one week, two weeks. move quickly to take add van tanl -- advantage of the program. if you said, hey, the tarp money went to the banks, where's my part of the equation? this is it, line up here. you're getting a great deal, money off, maybe as much as $4500. some dealers are doubling that number. but don't forget to negotiate because you can still even do better than that $4500 off. go to edmond's.com, a great website, co

personal finance editor gerri willis with how you can save money by fighting back against big fees. the sound of this, gerri, you call and tell them i'm not paying? >> it's where you get the loans. we talk about the perils of payday loans, they carry interest rates of 400% to 5,000%. yeah, right. now there's a new payday-like loan being offered by credit unions and we want you to know about this. according to the law center, these alternatives offer effective interest rates, if you roll in the fees of 455%. keep in mind, by law, they can't charge you more than 18% on one, our advice here if you're really strapped for cash and need money immediately, negotiate a payment plan with your lender, stay away from these short-term loans that just keeps you in debt. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. well, you say there are fees for unemployment benefits too, right? >> that's right. instead of getting checks, paper checks for your unemployment benefits, prepaid cards are getting distributed in about 30 states and fees on these cards for just accessing your money range from 40 cents to a high of $3 per tra

personal finance editor gerri willis answers your e-mails. against acid attack. only crest pro-health tootastes protect all these areas dentists check most. new crest pro-health enamel shield. u) combines two powerful medicines for fast relief of your diarrhea symptoms, so you can get back out there. imodium. get back out there. >>> i'm cnn meteorologist bonnie schneider tracking tropical storm danny and intensity stayed the same with winds at 40 and notice ths track has shifted slightly, just slightly to the west and now it looks like the storm will come pretty close to cape cod and the islands including nantict and martha's vineyard on saturday night. we are tracking a tropical storm warning or watch, rather. that continues from the carolina coastline. we're also tracking fire danger across a good portion of california and you'll find that we are looking for very strong hot temperatures across a good portion of california at this time. the temperatures are very, very warm all the way up to about 85 degrees in some areas. we have the red flag warnings in place f

>> smart people out there, including you, gerri willis.s listening to what you have to say. >> good to he see you, fred. >>> imagine having a 32 story condominium building all to yourself. peace and tranquillity is one thing. for this couple, their retirement oasis proved only a marchag marchage. here is john zarrella. >> reporter: resort living. at pool, there is always a chair. your own private gym with state-of-the-art equipment. you can work out all by yourself. nobody here to bother you. look at this parking garage. you never have to hunt for a space. when you get on the elevator, you never have to worry about anybody getting off first. sounds great, right? well, maybe you should talk to victor. this was going to be victor and his family's vacation and retirement home in the oasis, a 32-story condominium building in ft. meyers, florida. the new jersey fireman closed in november, paid $420,000. >> i tell people at home and they say, it's your own building. sounds great. it can be eery at night. why? because the rest of the building is

>> that's right. >> thank you, gerri willis. >> my pleasure. >>> all right. signs of economic recovery are really starting to emerge, at least that's what some say. does that mean the recession is ending? if so, does president barack obama get the credit? that is a topic of discussion for chief business correspondent ali velshi is on his radio show right now, today, there he is. ali joins us now from new york. >> don, we never get to talk any more. good to see you, my friend. >> you don't bring me flowers any more. >> too many calls. >> people want to say, who gets the credit, but, really, are we out of the recession is this really a turn around? >> right. before you start giving credit, let's figure out where we are. i asked two questions today to my viewers. are we out of this recession or is this recession ending? if it is ending, if you believe it is ending, who gets credit for it? we're still confused about the first one. people are saying maybe, maybe not. maybe we're coming out of it. somebody said. >> come to las vegas and see for yourself, it's not e

. >> on to your bottom line, gerri willis has tips on dealing with that guy in the corner office. >>dvice on charming the boss and possibly taking that career a step further. >> good morning. one big complaint here is bosses. people like to complain about the person in the corner office. but most of these consfliktss are due to a lack of communication. take the initiative, schedule regular update meetings with your boss. don't go in and complain. have solutions. contributing to the boss's goals as well as your own. and while it's true that some people spend more time worrying over the possibility of losing their job than doing their work, you can reduce that anxiety. the key here is to double down at work, volunteer for new projects and make sure your boss is really noticing your effort. you can't stop there. you also have to get yourself prepared for a possible job search. prep the resume if you're convinced layoffs are imminent and nurture your networks. taking these steps will help you reduce your anxiety and stay tuned to your bottom line. we'll talk about surviving that bad job

gerri willis is here now with more details on this. what is the deal?ally great news or just another little sliver? >> i think you have to say it is great news but home sales market, a portion of the market, not the entire market. july new home sales jumped 9.6% to 433,000, the sales of brand-new spanking new houses out there, june's level was 395,000. as you know, heidi, this is good news not just for the housing market but also for the economy. and follow-on spending by consumers as they buy furniture and rugs and everything else that makes a new house go. other good news that has come recently about the housing market. existing home sales and sales of homes already in the marketplace have been up for four consecutive months and home prices up 3% in the three months ended in june. so, we're starting to get several pieces of data now pointing to what has to be viewed as a modest recovery in housing and question, of course, can we hang on to it? will the numbers continue to show these improvements and, of course, we'll be watching all of that. >> i real

personal finance editor, gerri willis, joins us now. how concerned should all of us be about this right now? >> this shouldn't be your number one priority. i will tell you why. there are some steps you can take to ensure the safety of your savings. a, number one, the most important thing, your bank has to be an fdic insured bank. if you are not sure, look for the fdic seal. they will have it on their advertisements. you goek to the fdic website and find it there. know how much is insured. that's critical as well. let's take a look at limits of insurance for savings and cds. the insurance goes up to $250,000. for iras, retirement accounts, the same amount, a quarter of a million. mutual funds, stocks and bonds, they are not insured. no insurance there at all. in five years, these insurance levels will revert to the only insurance levels, which are only $100,000. if you have more than these amounts, spread out the wealth, keep in mind that just because there are banks on this watch list, it doesn't necessarily mean they are going to go ou

gerri willis joining us now to talk about this. how exactly do these lay away programs work? >> hi there, heidi, before we get to how they work, i want to say it's not my favorite way to finance things if you can help it. a lot of people are going to feel like they have no other choice than using a lay-a-way plan. well, when you use the policy at a store, what happens is you put down a small fee, $5 in some cases just to get the contract in the first place and then you leave a deposit, usually a percentage of the purchase price and pay over time. in return, the retailer's going to hold that merchandise for you in reserve and once you paid for your stuff, then you can take the merchandise, you don't need a credit card, this is an option to a credit card, and traditionally they were used for bigger ticket items like electronics and tvs, more and more folks are putting back to school supplies and clothing on layaway and that shows you how stretched consumers are right now. heidi? >> what exactly should the consumer be aware of if they're using this plan? >> get the poll in writi

gerri willis talking all day today about the interest with lay away. lay away came about during the great depression. retailers are turning back to that because people are still strapped for cash and they can't get credit like they used to. it's so tough, maybe not as tough and maybe that's the best we can expect when with the worst recession, the longest recession since this second world war. >> susan, welcome back, we missed you. see you next hour. >>> could the agency that guarantees your bank deposits need a bailout? the fdic is running low on cash with 81 bank failures this year, it has just $10 billion in reserve down 20% from the first quarter and it now counts 416 banks as troubled up more than 100 from the first quarter. the fdic can raise money by hiking premiums and charges banks or it can borrow from the treasury. so your deposits remain safe. >>> struggling firms like citi and fannie mae are making waves on wall street. what that means to your 401(k). check out our special report america's money crisis at cnnmoney.com. >>> a private family

our personal finance editor, gerri willis, is joining us with more on this grim forecast.is a pessimistic out today from deutsche bank. the report says half of american homeown homeowners, some 25 million family, will find themselves under water by 2011, and by underwater, we mean they'll owe more than their house is worth. the report also states prices will decline another 14% on top of the 20%, 30%, 40ers price are r down in some markets already. i want to show you a map of the country. the gold areas are area where is the most people will be under water. if you take a close look at this, you'll see california, florida, pars of the midwest, michigan in particular. in those areas, you can expect 90% of home owners to be under water. that is 1 in 9. wolf, i've got to tell you, those are some pretty depressing numbers out there. >> very depressing. if you're a homeowner with a mortgage, what does the report specifically say to you? >> well, look, you shouldn't give up on your mortgage just yet or walk away from your house. not everybody agrees with what's going on in this s

. >> well, what a perfect time to bring in our personal finance editor gerri willis here with important bernanke, scammed. >> let's give you details about how this happened. because this could definitely happen to you. anna bernanke, last summer at a starbucks, she puts her purse on the back of her chair who has not done that, right, carol? >> yeah, i've done that. >> i haven't done it. >> that's why i asked carol. >> he puts his man bag on the floor. >> she asked who hasn't done it. >> very good, okay, we've got that straightened out. anyway, so her driver's license is stolen. her credit cards are stolen, her checkbook is stolen, a little bit of cash. days later according to the news week, someone started cashing checks on the bank on their account. this was a sophisticated crime ring that the feds had been following for sometime and, of course, the bernanke case helped to solve all of this and they've been in front of courts and they've been prosecuted. but the moral of the story, doesn't matter how smart you are or sophisticated you could still be a victim. >> all right. so what can

. >>> gerri willis is going to be here giving us tips on how to take advantage of the final hours of cash for clunkers. >>> police are looking into a breakin at actor lindsay lohan's house. she wasn't home at the time. investigators were given surveillance video from the house. a safe was ripped out of the wall. police were also called to the house in may to investigate an attempted break-in. >>> a model and mother was spared six lashes of the cane for now. her crime was drinking beer in public. in violation of strict law, which bans muslims for consuming alcohol. her caning is postponed until the end of the islamic holy month. she pleaded guilty in a religious court. she would be the first woman caned for violating the religious laws. >>> for the first time ever the same country has won back-to-back miss universe titles. miss venezuela gets a new york city apartment for the next year and wins a scholarship to the new york film academy and a vacation in the bahamas. that's where the pageant was held. >>> a group of women broke religious tradition in a big way. the 79 100-year-olds we

. >> gerry: ray rice is dash. willis is flash and le'ron mcclain, quite frankly is smash.o to throw on second and long. he was look for example le'ron mcclain. but the pressure was coming from julius peppers who carries a huge price tag at $16.5 million a year. to get back to the running back, the beauty of these three backs they have distinctly different styles and cam cameron has a comfort level with all three. the carries were equitably. flacco throws on 3rd down. he's got his man. it's derrick mason. the ball was whistle down before it came loose. another 1st down. >> stan: that's where the familiarity. he is in sync with derrick mason. work one-on-one against gamble. gamble couldn't make the recovery. >> gerry: so much focus on the young quarterback. flacco is a gym he's there every day. mason gets the reception on 1st down and side steps chris gamble.

gerri willis is along it answer your questions. as income in your tax returns for next year? >> well, hi, chuck. joe, you don't have to claim the money in the federal tax return, but, guess what, the rules may be different on your state return, so you may have to pay taxes to your state. make sure you ask what the rules are in your state. chuck? >> next question comes from april who writes, i have been teaching children in a low-income school called head start for five years now. i am trying to find out if there is a loan forgiveness program out there for me. please, help me. >> april, good news, you probably qualify for loan forgiveness on some of your college loans and you may be able to get your entire perkins loan forgiven after five years after teaching and you may even be able to get the entire amount of your federal loans forgiven by the public service loan forgiveness program depending on your qualifications. to get this public service loan forgiveness, you'll need to have worked full time for ten consecutive years. for mor

to re-establish himself if he wants to stay on this ravens team past this year. >> gerry: a penalty flag down as willise the 20-yard line. >> referee: illegal shift, number 81 was in motion while the tight end was going down. >> gerry: marcus smith will now catch the wrath of john harbaugh as he commits a negative. >> stan: that wasn't his fault. he is going in motion. the tight end has to be set. he either has to wait for the tight end to be set. that tight end knows once he gets in motion, he can't move around. he was in motion, the tight end decided to change his position. that put two guys in motion at the same time. >> gerry: you know it's preseason when after a penalty john harbaugh is on the sidelines consulting with terrell suggs. you don't see that in september. far sideline, in and out of the hands of marcus smith, he had the ball moment tearing at the -- momentarily at the 10-yard line. >> stan: what a good throw though. he just, he just got that ball in there. that takes an arm to get it in there. look at that ball. i don't know if he got a finger on that or not. but that was a great throw