Ford's Fusion Hybrid: a car of the future.

General Motors, whose CEO was in Washington begging for a $25 billion bailout, decided that it would not, after all, introduce its new Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac CTS Coupe at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show. GM is burning through $2 billion in cash a month, and could run out of money early next year. Its sales declined 45 percent in October.

Chrysler, also burning through billions, declined to showcase any new models in Los Angeles or hold the usual gala press conferences.

Ford, with sales down 18 percent this year, could afford to debut new models because it just earned $540 million selling the lion's share of its stake in Mazda. The 2010 Mustang may get the headlines, but probably more important to the future of the company are a pair of hybrid sedans, the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.

The Fusion looks like quite a credible entry. It can reach 47 mph on its nickel-metal-hydride battery pack alone, after which a 2.5-liter, 155-horsepower four (coupled with a CVT transmission) kicks in. It has a 700-mile range, and an estimated overall 38 mpg.

Making a keynote address in Los Angeles, Nissan/Renault boss Carlos Ghosn made it clear that, to save itself, the auto industry needs to go electric. "The one thing that is certain is that people will continue to drive cars," he said. "But what kind of cars?"

Nissan is answering that question with a still somewhat mysterious battery car that is scheduled to be on the U.S. and Japanese markets by 2010. Ghosn predicted there would be 10 million EVs in the world by 2016, and the U.S. will have five million of them.

Ghosn said the planet's health depends on zero-emission EVs. China, he said, has 50 cars for every 1,000 people, compared to 800 per thousand in the U.S. "We will need another planet if China catches up to the U.S.," Ghosn said. "If the rest of the world then catches up to China and the U.S. we're going to need 11 planets."

More and more couples are deciding that having a family is not for them (others yet waiting longer to take the plunge), many citing their finances and a higher cost of living as a reason. While I believe that those who really want kids will always find a way to afford it, there may be some truth to this premise. Don’t "kid" yourself: children are expensive and can financially ruin those who aren’t prepared for all the expenses – both obvious and otherwise.

Here are some financial considerations to plan and account for prior to sprouting your own little guys.

Taking Initial Time Off Work

Although I know of some parents who managed to take little more than a long weekend to pop out their progeny before returning to work, the norm (and preference, thank goodness) still is to take some time off to acclimatize baby to their new world, and adjust to the parenthood lifestyle.

But these days mum isn’t the only one with the option of taking time off; many workplaces respect paternity leave. So between the two of you, who will take time off from work, or how will you divide your respective absences? Whose income is higher or occupation requires more attention? Do you have the option of paid leave, or must you take an unpaid leave of absence? How good is your job security and ability to return to work after your leave?

For those who are self-employed, you will be relegated to an unpaid leave and possible loss of business…or else going back to work right away. Don’t fool yourself: you will not be able to bounce your baby on one knee and office work on the other; new parents are always amazed at how completely occupying their baby can be.

Financial Planning Points for Taking Initial Time Off Work

• Determine who is taking time off, and for how long
• Save for an unpaid leave of absence, if necessary
• If you have a reduced paid absence, save up the extra funds required
• Save for any absence (and prepare your business) if self-employed

Budgeting for Baby – And Beyond

In addition to all the wonderful baby expenses like food, diapers, toys, clothing, and so on, you may have to consider paying for all this – and your regular expenses – on one income. Many mums (or dads) choose to stay home with the baby for longer than the prescribed leave calls for, often until the kids start school. And if you plan to have more than one child, this can amount to a lot of years.

Financial Planning Points for Budgeting for Baby – and Beyond

• Save into a contingency fund in case you want to take more time off to be with baby (and yes – this means you!)
• Budget for the monthly and ongoing expenses of having a new member in the household (once you have an idea of what the budget will be, save the extra money you will be spending on baby stuff, or use it to pay down the mortgage – see below)
• Ideally take care of all debts before having children so no obligations hang over your head and eat into your budget
• Ensure your mortgage is manageable even if the interest rates increase at renewal. Consider making extra payments before the baby arrives

Retirement Planning

Planning for retirement tends to take a back seat during initial parenting years, and often doesn’t reappear on the radar until much later – and often too late. Initially you stop saving thinking that just the initial maternity/paternity period will be the toughest, but then childcare costs absorb everything you thought you would save, which is then replaced with schooling expenses, and so on. All of a sudden you have adult children and are standing on retirement’s doorstep without enough funds to stop working.

Especially important to consider are retirement funds for the parent taking time off. Ideally you want to have equal amounts of money in your respective retirement accounts at retirement, so you can draw two taxable incomes and pay less tax overall than if the majority of the retirement funds came from one income. To that end, the parent taking leave can consider maximizing contributions in their last year of work prior to childbirth to make the most of tax deductions and long term growth. Then keep it going with spousal contributions, utilizing the working spouse’s tax deductibility and equally contributing to both retirement plans.

Financial Planning Points for Retirement Planning

• Don’t assume you will be able to take a short break and resume your retirement savings
• Maximize contributions for the leave-taking parent in the year or two prior to having the baby
• Continue making spousal contributions to equalize retirement accounts

Life Insurance

If something happens to either parent, there are deeper consequences once you have kids than there was before. The surviving parent will be saddled with not only grief, but immediately the need to pay for baby’s ongoing care, additional childcare expenses, in addition to the big mortgage and lifestyle you designed for two people to fund. Although you might plan to downsize and adjust your lifestyle accordingly, this won’t be an immediate process, and life insurance can help ease the transition and prevent a total financial meltdown.

Financial Planning Points for Life Insurance

• Review your existing policies and take out additional insurance if necessary to accommodate the expenses of having a child in tow with one income
• Review and update your Wills and Estate Plan accordingly

Costs of Pregnancy

Before getting pregnant, it is prudent to figure out exactly what expenses are covered by your health plan and what additional expenses you could face. If there are complications during the pregnancy or childbirth, you could be financially ruined before you are even out of the starting gate. Most disability insurance plans don’t cover pregnancy-related illnesses, even if you are bedridden for months on end.

Some couples choose to have their baby in a country with high-quality but low-cost care (I personally know of a couple who chose to have their baby in Malaysia for this reason among others. Singapore is also a hotspot for “medical vacations”).

Financial Planning Points for Costs of Pregnancy

• Review your health and disability insurance plans and look for gaps in coverage
• Budget for additional and contingent pregnancy and childbirth medical expenses
• If you choose to have the baby elsewhere, budget for the trip, accommodation, medical, and even communication expenses (phone calls to and from family and friends will add up)

Childcare

Eventually, most parents staying at home with the kids will return to work. However with longer and more varied working hours, this means there will be an additional cost for child care, even if it is just during the hours before and after school.

After discovering the exorbitant cost for full-time childcare (for kids younger than school age), some parents decide that since one entire salary practically goes to childcare, it would be more beneficial for them to simply stay home with the kids until they reach school age. Although this is a sound decision, don’t forget some of the non-salary benefits lost by staying home, such as health care plans, employer-funded retirement contributions, and other government plans and perks funded through taxes (the scope of which vary depending on the country you live in).

Financial Planning Points for Childcare

• Determine how much childcare will cost, and how it will be funded
• Save up for childcare in advance of having the child if you can

Planning for Higher Education

This is hard to contemplate as soon as you and baby are home from the hospital, but the clock is already ticking. With the cost of even local post-secondary education being more than a drop in the bucket, it would be best to get cracking on the savings fund. Not only that, but with time on your side, you may be able to save less money overall by using compound growth to your favor.

Financial Planning Points for Planning for Higher Education

• Prior to having baby, determine how much you need to save to fund your child’s post-secondary education
• Incorporate higher education savings into the baby budget from day one to ease the overall burden

Having a family is a life-changing emotional decision, with emotional rewards and consequences. But planning for parenthood is a process that must be backed with logic and proper planning to avoid nasty surprises. Tread carefully and tactically, and you will enjoy many happy years of parenthood – and beyond.

Permalink | 3 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Personal Finance, Frugal Living

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

After an eight-month investigation, the Humane Society of the United States accused Petland, the national pet store chain, of selling dogs bred under appalling conditions at puppy mills around the country.

While puppy mills aren't illegal, they're also not places where dogs are treated as anything more than merchandise—and the Humane Society says that the 21 Petland stores they investigated mislead buyers on where the dogs actually come from.

From Weaver's article:

"They are buying from puppy mills where these dogs are not treated like pets," Michael Markarian, an executive vice president with the Humane Society, told a news conference. "They're treated like a cash crop, where mother dogs live in wire cages, sometimes stacked on top of each other in filthy, dirty, cramped conditions, where they receive little socialization or human interaction or exercise."

Among the poor conditions cited, investigators found puppies in commercial breeders "living in filthy cages reeking of urine, with inadequate care and socialization," according to the release. The Humane Society says dogs at the mills were found in cages with wire flooring so large that the puppies' paws and even the paws of the mother dogs would fall through.

Petland did not return calls to Weaver about the allegations, but she notes that their website seemingly absolves them from corporate responsibility by stating that each store is independently owned and individually "responsible for choosing healthy pets offered to Petland customers."

While that may be true, there's no reason for Petland to offer such an unrestricted, hands-off policy to its franchisees. By way of example, this week Subway asked one of its franchisees to rescind a corporate-branded donation to California's anti-gay "Yes on 8" campaign, citing that their agreement prohibits using "the Trademark in a manner that degrades, diminishes, or detracts from the goodwill of the business associated with the Trademark."

So, uh, how come you don't protect your brand like that, Petland?

"Investigation ties pet chain to puppy mills" [MSNBC]
(Photo: Getty Images)

My hair started turning gray when I was a teenager. At first, it was just a weird little wiry white hair here and there. Then, a few longer strands. But it wasn't until I was 21, living on my own in the big city, that I noticed that I was really, really going gray. It wasn't a big deal - I was young and favored home coloring kits. I went from black to blonde to brown and over to red. It was fun.

As I got older, I started caring a bit more about the kinds of chemicals that I was putting on my hair and skin, so I decided to grow my gray out for a while. With shortly cropped hair, this didn't take long, and before long, I was able to march into the hairdresser and have the remaining colored ends trimmed away, revealing my now natural gray and light brown tresses. What should have been a fairly liberating moment was dampened only by the fact that I suddenly looked, after a few snips of hair had fallen away, about fifteen years older than I actually was.

My face was suddenly washed out. Crow's feet that I had never noticed waved happily from the corners of my eyes. My cheeks, normally rosy and flushed, suddenly looked wan and sallow. Not only was I gray, I was unevenly gray. My dreams of having great streaks of white and gray strands across the top of a chic hairdo were crushed when I realized that I had inherited my father's hair color; white and gray in a big band that stretched from temple to temple along the back of my head, in a definite mimicry of what I would look like with male pattern baldness. To make matters worse, I only some gray (mixed with a pale, mousy brown) on the top. I was no Helen Mirren, that's for damn sure.

I gulped, smiled bravely at my stylist, who was gazing worriedly at me in the mirror, and then ran home to dye my hair back to a flattering shade of chestnut. That was about three years ago.

Recently, I decided to give it a second try. Gray hair is tricky - it does age one's face. Men seem to get away with gray hair more readily than women - Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, and Anderson Cooper are just some examples of men I see in the media who wear gray hair very well. It's harder for women to get away with, partly because the popular media considers us largely past our prime by the time we hit 35, whereas men are still considered foxy and desirable well into their fifties (or... well, however Paul Newman was.... rrrrowr).

But even without cultural indiosyncrasies dancing around in our heads, there are certain indicators of youth that, when removed, are shocking (check out this doctored photo of what Condoleezza Rice would look like with gray hair). Other odd things that make or break one's youthful look? Longer canine teeth and full lips. Who knew, right?

Anyway, this time I am sticking with the gray, both for the sake of saving $75 every three weeks, and also to be free from the tyranny of having to constantly alter so much of my appearance to suit society's needs. I already shave my legs and wear makeup and style my hair and wear deodorant and all other kinds of things to make myself societally acceptable (you're welcome). In a way, I feel like I'm giving myself a break.

I won't say that I'm 100% comfortable with my hair right now. When I wear my tan trench coat, I am convinced that I look like Colombo. Whenever I put on reading glasses, I truly feel like I am channeling my inner, elderly librarian (not that librarians don't rock - they do). At 31, I sometimes feel like I should be wearing bold, daring colors and multiple nose rings, but the truth is, I'm too lazy to maintain an eccentric personal style. I wear black not because I am chic, but because I spill coffee down the front of my shirt every single morning. So allowing my body to do the things that it seems ready to do is a natural choice. And easy choice. A really, really lazy choice.

And I'm happy with lazy.

Below are some beauty tips I've compiled from a variety of other online articles about how to decorate your face once you let your grays grow out. These actually do make a bit of a difference in countering the slightly aging effect of my hair.

• If you have fair skin, you may need to consider a slightly darker foundation. Just a smidge darker, nothing too orangey.
• You will need more blush. Period. Highlight those cheekbones and don't be afraid of those slightly iridescent highlighting creams that are meant to make you look all dewy and youthful.
• Don't fake tan or apply bronzer. Unless you have an olive complexion or very warm tones in your non-grey hair, brown and tan tones look oddly muddy against white or gray hair.
• Some people will tell you that you can no long where bright shades of eye shadow or lipstick. This is certain true for me, but there's no reason why you can't experiment a bit.
• Try colors that never looked good on you. I could never wear blue mascara before I went gray. Now, it actually looks really good, and not at all like a throwback to the 1980s. I used to favor burgundy eye shadows, but now they make me look a bit like a vampire, so I've toned them down to warm mauves and lots of soft pinks, which make me look all glowing and lovely.
• Devote effort to your eyebrows. They now work to frame your face more than ever. Keep them professionally manicured (this, fortunately, doesn't cost more than $15-20).
• Gray hair can be coarse and brittle. Condition it like mad, and rinse it well.

Permalink | 8 comments | Andrea Dickson's blog | Channel: Health and Beauty

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Hive Five nominations take place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: Desktop Customization Tool Goes Here. NEW RULE: Please don't include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. If you don't follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get—"Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's Hive Five Best Video Chat Applications.