P.S. Do you have a strong opinion about this column, or a comment about how you protect your kids from the burden of the deflated national economy? Visit Mary's blog, "Money Rules, Debt Stinks" at moneyrulesdebtstinks.com. There, you can share your own two cents on the topic and have your comment widely viewed by Mary's other readers (and Mary herself, of course).

Check out Mary's recently released revised and expanded edition of The Financially Confident Woman (DPL Press, 2008).

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