Issue Date: February 3, 2008
Find the right financial adviser
Finding the right expert to help map your financial present and future is an important decision. Take these steps:
Gather recommendations. Check the Financial Planning Association (fpanet.org), National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (napfa.org), Garrett Planning Network (garrettplanningnetwork.com) or WiserAdvisor (wiseradvisor.com).
Dig deeper than websites or brochures. Ask about education and certifications, like CFP (Certified Financial Planner) or ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), which require continuing education. An investment adviser or firm that has a legal obligation to clients should be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC.gov) and/or the state securities regulator. Request the firm's full Form ADV, which details its business and disciplinary history, services, fees and investment strategies. If the adviser sells securities, check him out using FINRA BrokerCheck (finra.org).
Meet in person. Interview more than one adviser; initial consultations should be free. After that, the adviser may be paid by the hour, a flat or asset-based fee, a commission or a combination. Finally, ask questions to determine whether you have rapport and trust.
CNBC correspondent Sharon Epperson is the author of "The Big Payoff" (Collins, $22.95).
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Milk can boost your muscle mass
Recent research shows that milk really does do a body good -- especially right after a hard workout.
In a study that appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, young men who drank fat-free milk after exercising gained nearly 40% more muscle mass than those who drank a soy beverage and gained more than 60% more muscle mass than those who consumed a sweetened sports drink.
Plus, the milk drinkers lost more body fat in a 12-week period -- nearly four times more than the soy-drinking group and 60% more than those who had sports drinks.
"This simultaneous gain in muscle and loss of fat is a pretty powerful combination," says Stuart M. Phillips, a professor at McMaster University in Ontario and the lead author of the study.
"Milk contains two types of proteins, whey and casein, that are the highest-quality proteins known," Phillips says. "They contain all of the essential amino acids, the necessary building blocks of proteins in our bodies. Whey contains one called leucine, which may be a key trigger for the synthesis of new muscle proteins."
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Sustainable love in the time of chocolate
If you want to give your sweetie "green" chocolate (chocolate farmed and produced using fair-trade practices and sold in eco-friendly packaging, for example), you have more choices than ever. Among the best online purveyors:
DagobaChocolate.com Full-circle sustainability is the key principle here: delicious, yet with community and ecology in mind.
ChocolateBar.com This fair-trade chocolate company works to raise awareness of and support endangered species; 10% of net profits go to this end.
BresChocolates.com You'll find organic and vegan chocolate truffles, which are dairy-free (made instead with soy milk).
VosgesChocolate.com Packaging is made with recycled materials, and items are shipped in Earth-friendly air-filled bags with no Styrofoam peanuts. The chocolate is produced using 100% renewable energy.
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Green tea for the brain
A chemical in green tea may bring dying brain cells back to life, say Israeli investigators. They showed that EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), green tea's main antioxidant, revived animal neurons resembling those killed by Parkinson's disease. Adding small amounts of EGCG to dying brain cells made them bounce back; they became healthier and grew new dendrites (nerve appendages that carry messages from cell to cell).
Some studies show EGCG to be safe in high doses, but the Israeli researchers advise drinking no more than five or six cups of green tea daily. More may not be better, they say.
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No-cost control of your kid's Web access
There are plenty of options in which you pay to shut down your kids' access to unsafe Web content, but great no-cost solutions are available, too.
The Website Rating and Advisory Council (WRAAC.org) has a free, downloadable ParentalControl Bar that installs in your Web browser, letting you painlessly manage access to content.
You also can consider changing your Domain Name System, or DNS, from the one given to you by your Internet service provider. DNS is basically the phone book of the Internet, translating website names to numerical IP addresses, enabling you to make a connection.
Simply changing yours to the one provided completely free by OpenDNS.com (easy-to-follow instructions are available at the company's site) can help protect you and your family from identity theft scams and block sites with adult content.
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