WalletPop

When I was a kid, my favorite Wizard of Oz character was the Tin Man. The Lion was furry, but obnoxious, and the Scarecrow was nice, but a little too spastic. Toto was a yappy little dog and Dorothy was a girl and everyone else was just too damn weird looking. The Tin Man, though, was warm and caring, could blow steam out of his head, and made all kinds of fun sounds. He was just too damn cool.

I thought about the Tin Man recently because of some problems that Stryker Orthopaedics has been having with some of its replacement hips. Apparently, the company has a line of ceramic-lined hips that are guaranteed to last far longer than conventional plastic hips.

On the bright side, the hips have, thus far, lived up to their promise: in most cases, they are showing far less wear-and-tear than their plastic competitors. On the down side, 1-7% of these implants have developed an obnoxious squeak. Unlike the Tin Man, however, Stryker's customers can't get rid of their squeaks with a precise application of oil; they need to get their hips replaced again, a costly and intense surgical procedure with tons of potential complications.

The recent upward surge in commodities prices has left no corner of the globe untouched. That includes the bastions of the beer drinkers.

Changes in global climate, a decline in hops growers and a recent fire in a hops storage facility have worked in concert to reduce the world supply of that most important of beer brewing ingredients. According to a story published by Wired, these events have breweries both large and small adjusting their beer making processes and ingredients in an effort to curb rising brewing costs. The Wired story quotes brew master Donald Gortemiller as saying, "When hops were $2 a pound, compared to $20 or $30 a pound now, it didn't matter. We'd throw them into the boil at various times. That was an inaccurate way of doing things. We're modifying recipes and using about 20 percent less hops."

Walletpop blogger extraordinaire, Bruce Watson recently brought to light the mounting concern over hops deficiencies in the brewisphere. He wrote: "I imagine that the hot nights of a post-global warming future will be particularly unbearable without the benefit of a nice cold one." Bruce has vowed to do everything he can to "Save the Ales." For my part, I have chosen an alternate strategy to Bruce's proactive beer saving efforts. I have surrendered my boarding pass to what was for me; "The one way aluminum train to Stupidville."

Believe me when I say that my self imposed abstinence from beer will leave plenty of the cold foamy beverages for the rest of you to share and enjoy. Let's just hope that the remaining hops growers are the people who are benefiting from these unfortunate beer ingredient price increases.

Recently we discussed the LifeLock identity theft protection services, and whether or not the services offered are nothing more than a scam. Our readers have varying opinions, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that what LifeLock sells is not worth the money. There's very little actual protection, and the company's "guarantee" doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's printed on.

Now Lifelock has announced two new service offerings. The company says it is approaching one million "members" and these services "... will further secure LifeLock's position as the industry leader in identity theft protection." The new "eRecon" service is billed as a technology solution that monitors over 10,000 websites, bulletin boards and chat rooms used by criminals to sell and trade identities. If your information is found, the company say it will call and tell you. The "TrueAddress" service is billed as a technology solution that monitors address databases and notifies you if your address is changed in one of them.

Sounds like a lot of hype and little substance. What do you think the chances are that they're going to find valuable information about you with either of these tools? Would you really pay for the miniscule chance that they might find someone in a chat room talking about your identity? The effectiveness of these services has to be sketchy. I don't know how much they're going to charge for them, but I sure wouldn't buy them.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

This is the part of a new series of columns called "The Naked Truth," by retirement expert Dan Solin. Please bring him your questions, in the comments box, and he will answer as many as he can.

Question: What is better. Traditional or Roth IRA? I have my Roth IRA invested in the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGSTX)? I am 38 years old.

Answer: While this subject is not free of doubt, I prefer the Roth IRA. Both the Roth and traditional IRA's are tax-deferred accounts. But, unlike a traditional IRA, Roth IRA contributions are made with already-taxed income.

My youngest sister was born with a debilitating liver condition. After a few operations and a brief period in which my mother collected her bile and kept it in the fridge (bile, by the way, looks an awful lot like limeade), Ella was put back together. Now, 24 years later, she is still going strong.

In the process of taking care of Ella, my mother ended up learning about all the resources that were available to parents of children with liver disease. She began working for liver groups, and ultimately formed a nonprofit group of her own. This meant that much of my childhood and adolescence was spent staffing health fairs, attending nonprofit events, passing out organ donor cards, going door-to-door, and selling things to raise money. In fact, my sisters and I even collected and traded organ donor cards from different organizations. Along with my "Spastic Colon" t-shirt, organ donor cards were the best part of the gastroenterology conventions that we had to hang out at.

The problem with transplantation is that there simply aren't enough organs out there. Around the world, people are waiting on transplant lists for the hearts, lungs, livers, and other vitals that they desperately need. Unfortunately, most people are still uncomfortable with the idea of giving up their organs, often out of a belief that their organ donor status will be used as a consideration when it comes to giving them medical care. This, of course, hasn't been helped by urban legends about organ thieves, movies about cloning for organ harvesting, and pretty much the entire literary career of Robin Cook, who seems unhealthily fixated on the idea of taking organs out of unwilling patients. Even Monty Python got into the act with a live organ donation segment in their film The Meaning of Life!

In my business, I use very strategic advertising to market my business, along with many unpaid forms of marketing like blogging and participating in online communities. Whenever I receive an inquiry about my services, one of the first questions I ask is: "How did you find me?"

This has been one of the best moves I could have ever made regarding my marketing and advertising. No longer do I wonder if a particular piece of expensive advertising is helping my cause. I know exactly which publication or search engine sent a potential client my way.

Last week, fellow WalletPop blogger Julie Tilsner clued everyone in to this little known delay in receiving your economic stimulus money: "If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 refund, or you received a rapid refund, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit."

Now word is out that a second group of taxpayers will be disappointed: those with spouses who do not have Social Security numbers will not receive any rebate money. The economic stimulus package was set up with this provision to prevent illegal immigrants from getting rebates. And I can't say I disagree much with this detail. While illegal immigrants probably would have put the money into the U.S. economy, it just wouldn't make any sense to give this money to someone who's not in the country legally.

But what about those foreigners who are here legally, and just don't have Social Security numbers? Unfortunately, they aren't eligible for this little perk received by those who do. Even the spouses of those without Social Security numbers won't receive a rebate check if they've filed their taxes jointly.

There are probably about 1 million legal residents of the U.S. who have green cards, but are waiting for paperwork for their spouses. It's hard to know how many others will be affected by this detail. Lawmakers have to continuously balance interests of many people when making their decision. This detail was an unintended consequence, and I think it's a small price to pay in order to make sure those in the country illegally don't benefit.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

How much cash do you carry? How often do you hit the ATM? Are your habits the most efficient? If you carry less than $500, the answer is no.

You may be surprised to learn that this question has generated a great deal of debate among economists. One way of approaching the question was by applying the Baumol-Tobin model of cash management, which takes into account several variables.

Professor Greg Mankiw ran the model for a person who spends $10 a day of cash, earns $60 an hour, takes 10 minutes per ATM visit, and makes 5% annual interest on his bank account. For this person, the model shows that this person should take out $1,200 three times a year, carrying an average balance in his wallet of $600. Much of this surprisingly high number is a function of the value of this person's time.

In 1995, Mankiw calculated that even the average American would be better off carrying an average of $551.05, when in fact the average citizen carried around $75.

The circle of outsourcing appears to be coming complete. Ashes to ashes dust to dust, high wages to high real estate values! Several Chinese firms are outsourcing to the U.S. to save money on...wait for it...manufacturing jobs!

Liu Keli, a Chinese businessman from the Shanxi province in China is investing 10 million dollars in South Carolina to open a plate printing factory. The factory will employ approximately 120 American workers who will be paid $12-13 per hour. Liu's reasoning for opening in South Carolina is simple, it is cheaper for his company to operate in the U.S. than it is to operate in China.

One of the areas in which Liu will save the most is in real estate here in the states. The plate making company saved 75% on the cost of land by building in North Carolina. Additionally utility prices in the U.S. are much cheaper than in China and also more reliable in South Carolina than in China. Even though labor costs are higher in the U.S. Liu is taking advantage of a tax credit from South Carolina to make up for some of the increase in labor expenses.

This whole arrangement is interesting to me because it seems to represent the way trade and global business can work out. When there aren't regulations to stop a business from opening a location anywhere on the globe, smart companies will find the areas which make the most business sense to operate in. I'm not a complete optimist when it comes to globalization but stories like these do a lot to re-enforce my opinion that the market can sort out complex issues on its own!

The Real Estate Adviser on Bankrate.com has answered an important question from a reader: Does a registered sex offender living in your neighborhood affect your home's value? The unfortunate answer is "yes."

One study found that a sex offender within one-tenth of a mile of your home makes your house sell for about 17% less than comparable homes without a sex offender in the neighborhood. If a sex offender is within two-tenths or three-tenths of a mile from your home, expect a 9% to 10% lower sales price. A separate study found that homes within one-tenth of a mile of a sex offender only sold for 4% less than comparable homes.

Even though there is a range of numbers presented, it's clear that the presence of a registered sex offender in your neighborhood will have an impact on the sale price of your home. It's no wonder. What parent would buy a house in close proximity to a registered sex offender? For most parents, that's too big a risk to take when you know your child will want to play outside during summer.

This is a good time to remind buyers to check registries to see if a sex offender is living in the neighborhood you're considering. If you can't locate a registry, check with the local police station for guidance on sex offender registration. You want to make an informed choice before you buy a home for your family.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

As the class of 2008 graduates from high school, a good chunk will be heading off to college. There they will be bombarded with free t-shirts and bottle-openers: if only they'll just take a quick moment to fill out this credit card application. The average college student will graduate with $3 thousand in credit card debt -- which might not sound so bad until you think about the fact that many graduate with none, meaning that the average student who uses a credit card in college graduates with considerably more than $3 thousand in credit card debt. And don't even get me started on student loans.

Since the vast majority of kids will get credit cards (It can be helpful for building a credit history), your role as a parent is to educate Junior about the process. Here are some tips for helping your first time credit card user get off to a good (or at least not destructive start):

• Pick a card with no annual fee -- There's just no reason to pay a fee on your first credit card. Few college kids spend enough money for any rewards to justify the fee. Generally this will mean paying a higher interest rate -- tell your kid the interest rate doesn't matter because if he ever carries a balance you will disown him.
  
• De-emphasize the whole rewards thing: remember, credit companies offer rewards because they increase their profits. Getting a $50 savings bond for every $2000 you spend might sound wonderfully financially savvy, but it isn't if the joy of saving induces you into overspending.
• Urge them not to place anything other than necessities on the credit card: textbooks, gas, and other costs that aren't likely to increase due to the convenience of plastic. Clothing and especially restaurant meals should be paid for with debit cards or, better yet, cash.

Rather than wait for some snake oil salesman to sign your child up for a credit card when you're hundreds of miles away, take the opportunity to do it together, now. The CreditCards.com Student Credit Cards page has 9 cards for you to choose from, and you can click the links and fill out an application in just a few minutes.

Last week we posted a video that featured Suze Orman giving sage advice about one of her favorite topics: debt.

This weekend, the funny people at Saturday Night Live lampooned the money maven and the results were hysterical. I like Suze as much as just about anyone, but her tendency to overemphasize unimportant words is just too easy to make fun of. Take a look below.

The toy store for anglers, Bass Pro Shops, is offering a 15% discount on a wide selection of fishing and camping gear in trade for old video games on May 21-26th. This clever campaign, with the obvious message "get outside and play", is limited to one video game trade-in for one discount per family.

On May 17-18, BPS, in conjunction with Stearns, is also offering boaters the chance to trade in their old personal flotation devices (PFDs, better known as a lifejacket) for a new Stearns PFD. This is a great idea for any using an old PFD, which could rupture along the seams just when you need it, or still carrying around a 'one size fits all' PFD that could slip off a child faster than Sunday School clothes.

Bad news for beer drinkers: rising fuel costs and a rise of more than 300% in the cost of hops have led to a year over year increase of more than 4% in the cost of beer at retail.



Check out the video from MSNBC for more color.

Here's a quick tip: if a 4% increase in the cost of beer is enough to impact your financial situation, the rising cost of beer is probably the least of your worries. Please seek help immediately.

When I was about 10 years old, I went to an abandoned property auction at a local self-storage place with my mother. We thought it would be a fun end to a long day of yard-saling. It was anything but. It was cold and rainy, and it was one of the more depressing experiences I've ever had. An old and sickly auctioneer went from unit to unit, auctioning off the contents by the lot, with no time for any kind of inspection. People bid $10 or $15 for a chance to acquire someone's property because they couldn't pay the $50 a month to keep it. Notably, a large collection of Jackson 5/Michael Jackson memorabilia went to auction after the family failed to pay its storage bill.

With foreclosures hitting record rates around the country, many former homeowners are packing their life's accumulations into storage units. But the financial woes that made it impossible for them to keep their homes are making it tough for them to keep their stuff in storage.

According to a self-storage center manager quoted in a New York Times piece, an increasing number of people are also trying to (illegally) live in their storage units.