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harles Ross is the host 01 tlu,
nationally syndicated radio program
"Your Personal Finance" a:nJ author
01 the The B�SI 01 Your P�r$onaJ
Finance_.
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Uvlng well on I
Ea� well docsl't mean you
, haVe k> speOO a tDrtlR. With �
ave family � anywhtle
from sro " $100 00 food
each fiJJting " Iowa'
)'OlI' food bill can IIIve an irqJIct 00
your b\x!get
Hele8le ��:
- Buy i term in the large
ecoromy sizes, tspedaIIy
like flour, sugar, rice am bda'.
- Avoid buying food
which can add 10 percent k> )'W'
weekly grocery bill.
- Eat vege18rian adeast twice a
week. Not only is it cJaper, but it's
healthier 100.
You might want k> plI'CllB a
gourtmvege18rian cookbook. AS>
oookfoodaladinquamity,perbaps
on � weekmS, tb:n divide wIJlt
you've coOked ink> � por­
tioM.
AB1 finally, your 1\D:h k>
work. This��S5youspem
on a deli samwm You may IJJt
waitt k> do this every day, but �
a 00g ltn:hseveral times a weekean
save es much es $1510 $20 a week.
Dining Out
Uvingona bulgctdocsn'tnan
you can't eat well wben � out.
Forsarers, dip lOOse "two-for�IJ:"
dining ooupons. MarJ¥ �
especially IJ:W ones, offer � din­
oos for� priceofooe. Otmsofftt
$5 orrrore off the cost of your meal.
look in yourSundaypeperforso�
of the best ooupon�.
If coupons are oot available,
many resta� Serve up larIF ap­
petizer portions, which cost half �
price of an entree. So iIJ;tead of or­
dering an entree, select two ap­
petizers am fill up for 1
To lower your bill if you have
children, find out which resta�
have "all-you-can-ear" buffe� or
will allow kids umera certain age k>
eat free. Many resta� havecer­
tain days wren these special ooOOi­
tiers may apply.
ad Checker
Wl1:n was the last � you
balm:ed your clrddx>ok?
The American economy
gerera about 50 billion <ttdcs
each year and � nwnber contin\XS
to grow. But many OOI1S�lS still
have a problem mariaging �ir
checkbooks.
Tbe Fedeml Reserve repoI1S that
about 1 percent of all � wriucn .
bouree. MeIChan are iepl
with a high volume oftwt dl:dcs,
especially inaneoooomicdowntum.
� a result, SO" compani ro
longer accept checks. Since �
problemissoco?unon.arx1 m�
police arx1 other entbrcement agen­
ci have mote serious aimes to
investiga merchan1s get little help
until tre problem'-becorlD severe.
Consumers are oot baJaryjng
their checkbooks regul8rty, and 14
pe�ntQon't� thematall.Not
ba!ardngyourchcckbookcanItSUlt
in bolO%d chedcsan1 �inglabeled
'a bad 'credit risk. �
. 'Collectible
Collecting isn't just for kids
anymore. If you're an inYesiX'l it
may an�ty cormima
favorite' portwithamo -making
pportunity .
I
nb byboome
y e in ir d
cycl for mo or m nd
chai, t 11 rely on
Soci I Security benefi to help
ma ends meet.
But an a in population ill
pI an inc I d m nd on So-
cial urity erv in th future,
a situation th t could become
erio , s id fin nci 1 nd
demo raphic expe .
State Demo rapher Ching-Ii
W ng aid Michigan' population
ge 65 and over climbed 22 percent
from 1980-1990, and tho e age 85
and over gre by 31 percent during
the me period. Meanwhile, the
number of Michig nians ge 18 to
24 fell by 20 percent.
The state mirrored n tional
trends, which project the U.S.
population age 65 and older will
reach 11.5 percent of the total
population by 2020. It now con-
. stiM 12.9 percent, Wang id.
In short, MiChigan i getting
older while the number of people
orking to finance Soci I Security
is shrinking. The ratio of people c­
live in the labor force to those age
65 and older dropped from 6 to 1 in
.... 1970 to 5 to 1 in 1990, Wang ald.
By 2020, he predicts that ratio will
,
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h
By TUREKA tuRK
Mk:hIq n CItIz.n
Clinton said that it was time for
a change and that proclaimation has
definately been heard by the
n lion's biggest marketers. They
ve procl imed that 1993 is the
year racial harmony will sell every­
thing from pimple cream to Big
Macs.
. It all began with the avant-garde
ads of Benetton, depicting unusual
relations between the races. Not far
behind, Espirit de Corp followed
and thus bred a flow fantasy-like
euphorium among the races in ad­
vertising. Even Mercedes Benz is
jumping on the harmonic
bandwagon, writing an "open letter"
ad, harshly Criticizing racial in­
tolerance in any form.
Who are the members of the
bandwagon? Well: Spike Lee's
jungle fever .basketball game takes
place on Nike's court amidst racial
slurs and a happily ever after recon­
ciliation. And McDonald's
staunchly supports Martin Luther
King's Birthday, in case the
television commericals were
missed.
Timberland Shoes, an East Coast
boot maker, will run an ad 'showing
a single boot with the headline:
I�l'SI\ ESS
o 0 C Profes­
menn h, a peel Ii t
in 0 i 1 ecurity, id thi i
declinin "depe de y ratio"
ome rio que tio for policy
m e to consider.
He id when baby boomers
retire "then you've ot a problem".
They ren't Ii ely to tart producing
children Ii e m d, nd cuttin
benefi of hiking taxe . too un­
popular, he id, The only vi ble
option: raising th retirement age.
"Th t m ke ense bec use
people are living 0 much longer
anyway," Hamerme h aid.
Contrary to the often held fear
that Soci I Security re erve are in
danger of drying up in the near fu­
ture, Hamerme h said quite the op­
po ite i true .
. "There i b olutely no danger of
the reserve running out in the next
30 years," he id. "(Reserve ) are
building up at a phenomenal rate."
HE SAID RESERVES will
remain teady in the near future be­
cause the people now retiring were
born in the baby boom years after
World War II.
Hamermesh said the 1983
"This boot performs best when mar­
ching against hatred." The ad is one
of many used in Timberland's "Give
Racism the Boot" campaign.
amendments to the Social Securi ty
Act were passed to offset declining
..... - no color
make money," says Boston Univer-
sity marketing professor, Roberta Is the racial harmony campaign
Clark. "But if we can get companies just a passing fancy among the ad
to even act as if they respect these executives of the world? Only if
id th most we retro-racism is a passing fancy
r-.�� ••• ilaets.
WHY ALL THE fu
racism now?
MasterCard co-sponsored a t n
summit in ew York City that
focused on racism this month.
BKG Youth, Inc., a New York Re­
search firm, conducted a recent sur­
vey for Eastmen Kodak Co: BKG .
found that more than one-third of
responding teens had been victims
of racial discrimination. A mere 15
percent of the teens said that they
would "never" date a person of
another race.
"If it's important to teens, then
it's important to Clearasil," said Jim
SChwartz, a Procter & Gamble
spokesman. If it's important to
teens, it sells, it is the new fad for
the year.
Will advertising end racism?
Probably not but it will guarantee to
. make racism a money-making ad .
strategy for 1993, just like the crys­
tal clear fad of the late 1992 (Crystal
Clear Pepsi, Clearly Candadian,
Mystic, Evian, etc.).
"Sure, you can be cynical and
say marketer are only 5ioing this to
DO YOU R COGNIZE
TH IGN?
mlnation re
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dependency ti and hould prove
e ective in m in inin re TV for •
the time bein . The rev io did
three thin : re- tabilized the
mount one ge t retirement com-
p red to the amount th t pe on
e rned right before retirement,
ned the "repl cement te," in­
ere ed the portion of income taxe
th t fund Soci 1 Security over
four-year period, nd r i ed the
retirement ge be innin the ye r
2000.
The legal ag t which on can
receive full Social Security retire­
ment benefits i 65. of Jan. 1,
2000, that age will ri e two months
each year for ix ye rs, holds te dy
till 2017, then will climb gain by
the me rate for another ix y_e ra­
raising it to 67 by 2023.
"So ething will eventually h ve
to give, but I don't think we have to
worry bout (shrinking re erve )
right now," he said.
Edward Gramlich, profe or of
economics and public policy at the
University of Michigan, agreed that
retiree in the short run have nothing
to fear. In the long run, however, he
said income taxe will have to rise
to meet future incre es in Social
Security demands.
The tax rate deducted from in­
dividual incomes is evaluated each
year by the U.S. House Way and
Means Committee. Social Security
taxes are currently withheld at 7.65
percent, an amount that is matched
by the employer when paid tQ the
International Revenue Service.
Adverti e
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869-0033.
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PDI I M
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