European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 stars and stripes saturday March 24 2007 your Money a million Bucks aint All it used to be Milestone not quite so unattainable but still a pretty Good nest e by Eileen Alt Powell the associated press new York Renee Weese has reached an enviable goal Shes become a millionaire but like Many others whose net Worth has risen in recent years to seven figures she Doest feel particularly wealthy not that Long ago the word millionaire conjured up visions of chauffeured limousines and extravagant shopping trips and ele Gant yachts these Days a million Aire is More Likely to be the Guy or Gal next door who saved carefully and perhaps benefited from the Sharp sunup in housing prices but still worries about covering the exploding costs of childrens educations caring for aging parents and funding their own retire ments Weese 51 of Atlanta credits her Good financial Fortune to goo paying jobs and windfalls when her Startup insurance com Pany went Public and later when it was taken Over by a bigger insurer still Weese worries about How far the Money will go As she puts it i know i have More Money than a lot of people do but i dont feel i can sit Back on my heels i have lots of years ahead of me and elderly parents i help financially a bit and kids and Gran kids to people living paycheck to paycheck or who Haven saved much which is the bulk of the us population a million Dol Lars seems very far out of reach but a growing number of Ameri cans Are accumulating that amount and More according to re search from Merrill Lynch co and the consulting firm Cangemi in some 29 million people in the United states and Canada have net Worth of million the new Yor based companies count All of an individuals financial assets except a primary residence Atlanta financial adviser Micah Porter who has worked with Weese estimated that about 70 percent of the wealthy clients his Minerva planning group sees have earned their Money by build ing successful businesses or Sav ing from their salaries the others inherited All or part of their wealth but having that much Money Doest necessarily mean their financial concerns Are Over he said a big worry is How Long the Money will last because Treyve become used to a certain Standard of living that May be difficult to support when they Stop working and the fact is million Doest go As far these Days As it used to for one thing its vulnerable to inflation someone who bought million Worth of goods in 1957 would need million to buy the same goods today Accord ing to Federal Reserve figures its also vulnerable to longevity americans Are living much longer Mark Atlanta resident Renee Weese is a millionaire at 51 thanks to her insurance business but that Doest Stop her from worrying about How far that Money will go than they used to and that Means they need larger nest eggs to get them through retirement interestingly it is workers focus on saving for their retire ment that leads Dan Sontag an executive in the global private client division of Merrill Lynch to pre dict that a growing number of americans will achieve the Mil lion Dollar Milestone making a million business ownership or the Sale of a business is the primary source of wealth for the worlds millionaires sources of wealth for people Worth million or More business Sale of business inheritance investment performance restricted Stock options other source world wealth report by Merrill Lynch co and Cap gemini a he notes that Many baby Boomers those born Between 1946 and 1964 have been contributing to company sponsored 401 k retirement plans and Simi Lar employer backed programs for 25 years and those account balances have mushroomed in addition Many of these peo ple also own Homes that appreciated greatly in the Boom Market of recent years i think if Boomers look at the numbers Between your 401 k and your Home equity you May be a millionaire or pretty close he said but Sontag also understands that those who accumulate that kind of Money May not feel As if Treyve arrived on easy Street your father and my father had a guaranteed income Stream from pensions he said but today retirees Arent guaranteed the in come flow they guaranteed a Block of assets that they have to create the income against that leads to uncertainty he says but David Bach author of the automatic millionaire and other financial advice books Points out that 99 percent of americans dont have a million dollars and to them a million dollars is a for tune to the millions around the world who live on a Day or less its unfathomable his concern is that setting peo ple up to think they cant have a Good life or a comfortable retire ment without that kind of Money is counterproductive take a baby Boomer who has less than i savings which is what the average baby Boomer has Tell them they need million you might As Well give them a gun and Tell them to shoot themselves Bach said so while Bach believes Mil lion is an achievable goal especially for save persistently he also believes it  be the Only goal that held out for most people to More in savings would change their lives for the better he said wednesdays Market summary 52 High Low name last net chg Ltd chg chg 1279593 521142 50199 946362 217989 253142 146157 87089 83001 1482876 1068332 413472 38097 770811 180065 201278 121929 71053 66858 1224990 Dow Jones industrials 1244752 Dow Jones transportation 489378 Dow Jones utilities 49677 nose composite 931773 amex Index 216450 Nash a composite 245592 143504 Midcap 85151 Russell 2000 80747 do Wilshire 5000 1453694 13 52wk chg nose amex Nash a most Active or name vol 00 last chg and Geneles Hal Lintn s Motorola forum cd sep inc Pfizer pm cup i Tigre 485335 402687 365014 351546 326891 307951 299170 291359 286108 259980 1360 3548 3069 1874 801 3467 3886 2585 1326 5203 08 name last chg Spur 1481646 ishr2k nya 752921 up incl 334170 up engy 213658 Pru Shoon 190601 Semi her 99421 Djina diam oils vat Goldstro Greywolf 96526 92361 63339 55396 14329 8034 3638 5874 5211 3460 12429 14369 422 664 211 name vol 00 last chg Nash loot Oracle Sun Micro Microsoft Intel Cisco level3 Sirius Yahoo Apple inc 1632906 904160 777189 614754 593654 435885 432688 262401 256976 236996 4442 1817 649 2852 1934 2679 617 337 3129 9387 01 key defense stocks key Mutual Valliant invest Armor invest Boeing computer spartan  Putnam funds a Erlna general dynamics general Century inv Ultra Fidelity invest invest Harris invest Allied investments a const l3 communications Lockheed Martin 140 17 9985 Frnk a Sec Para aim investments a Charta p Dws Scudder cd s 1579 1 advisor t Rockwell advisor t Seq a funds a Globe qty Texas Scudder text Ron advisor t United Abbett a Devota Scudder cd s funds a gig a Exchange rates military rates japanese yen March South korean won March euro costs March Dollar buys March British Pound March commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for Japan South Korea Germany the Netherlands and the United kingdom for no local currency Exchange rates in purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing facility commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying currency All figures Are foreign currencies to one Dollar except for the British Pound which is represented in dollars Pound and the euro which is dollars euro precious metals new York merc close Gold Silver interest rates prime rate825 discount rate625 Federal funds Market rate 523 3month bill504 30year bond472 sources the associated press Bank of America and sensibility Money tip of the Day tax help on the web Market watch new York still Haven done your taxes its getting Down to the wire with less than a month left until the filing dead line maybe youve been putting it off because you planned on doing your taxes yourself but now youre overwhelmed and have questions you dont know How to answer dont worry help is at your fingertips consumer reports rates the Best web Sites out there for getting advice and assistance on your taxes go to the source visit the irs web site Wiwi Rogov for help really Check out the 1040 Central Section that is chock full of tips and resources you can also use its search engine for specific queries try the Sites amt assistant for help on the alternative minimum tax or look at the sales tax calculator to find out which one state and local income tax or sales tax offers the higher deduction for you help for seniors try the Harp tax aide free counselling service at Wawa Arborg youll get answers to individual Feder Al income tax questions in three to five business Days talk to mama tax mama that is visit  to Send questions to Eva Rosen Berg an enrolled agent who rep resents taxpayers before the irs she also writes about taxes for Market watch you can go through her archives As Well chances Are if youre asking about a tax Issue someone else already has corporate assistance there Are a number of companies in the tax prep Biz and Many of them have great web Sites that offer tips online calculators and More try  for its tax tips Tab youll find a num ber of calculators such As one that can help you figure out your Home mortgage tax savings want information on the savers credit or the self employment tax try blocks Page at  and youll find lots of general questions an swered at Jackson Hewitt tax resource Center at we Jackson Hewitt com