Spare Change

Money Tip

A roadside- assistance plan is among the few purchases that pays for itself the first time you use it. Plans are offered by motor clubs, as cheap add-ons to your insurance policy, and by some auto manufacturers. Be sure to look at whether there are limits on how many times you can use services in a given period.

Net Nugget

Each year, identity theft ruins the good credit of thousands of consumers. Several Web sites offer good advice on safeguarding private financial information:

www.aba.com/ Consumer+Con nection/CNC_ contips_id theft.htm

American Bankers Association offers protective measures and action to take if you become a victim.

www.bbbonline. org/IDTheft/ protect.asp

The Better Business Bureau covers the ins and outs of identity theft, and how to guard against it.

www.consumer. gov/idtheft

The Federal Trade Commission’s one-stop national resource for all matters related to identity theft.

Market Tip

New market high points inevitably cause investors to fret that the time is already past to make big money in the markets. With the Dow Jones industrials and other major market indexes flirting with historic highs, is this one of those times? A variety of investment professionals and strategists don’t think so; they say the U.S. equity market’s steady, slow climb back from the 2002-03 trough has been driven by bedrock, fundamental strengths in the economy, not speculation.

Fund Fact

Mutual funds that invest in technology stocks have risen in recent months, but despite the surge, investors continue to pull money out of them. In the year ended April 30, technology- focused funds returned nearly 31 percent, according to Lipper Inc., but investors — many still gun-shy after the dot-com bust — pulled out $1.1 billion from the sector.