Have you been thinking about starting your own business, but don't know where to start? Or have you already started your own business, but need some advice on how to take it to the next level?

Accountant and Managing Your Money blogger Jamie Downey, who specializes in the area of small businesses, will be here on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 1 p.m. to take all of your questions about the world of small business.

A friend of mine, who was laid off several months ago and is sill unemployed, has been kicking around the idea of going into business for himself. His business idea is sound, but at this point, it is still just an idea. He wanted some advice on what he needed to do to get the business up and running. Here were my thoughts on areas that will need to be addressed:

Last Thursday Vice President Biden announced that Social Security recipients will soon receive a $250 "recovery payment". As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this one-time payment will go to adults who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (disability payments), Railroad Retirement and Veterans Benefits.

Eligible recipients must have received one of the above-mentioned payments in November 2008, December 2008 or January 2009. You must also be 18 or older, or a child receiving SSI. However those who receive Medicaid in care facilities will not receive the payment.

The payments will be made in May, and recipients do not need to do anything to ensure that they receive their check. The payment will be made separately from the usual monthly Social Security payment, and will be delivered in the same way as your usual benefit check. In other words if you usually have your Social Security check direct-deposited to your bank account, this check will also be delivered in that manner. This check will not count as income or earnings for Social Security purposes.

It's important to know that the payment is automatic - no one from the Social Security Administration will be contacting you in order to process your payment. Do not give out your Social Security number or other personal information to anyone who calls or emails claiming to be a Social Security employee.

For more information and details, go to the Social Security website.

You can keep a watchful eye on the government as it implements the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through a new website, www.recovery.gov. The site, run by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board has, as its mission, the goal of explaining the Act, showing you how and where the money is being spent, and giving the public complete transparency about expenditures. Right now the site contains only estimates of spending, but as states and agencies begin to spend their stimulus money and report back to the Board, that information will be posted for your inspection. There is even a forum for your stories and comments about the Act and how the bill affects you personally.

The recently passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (or, as it is more commonly known,"The Bailout Bill") is a law authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to spend $700B to purchase distressed assets from the nation's banks. The Act certainly has its supporters and opponents. Supporters believe the bill was necessary to save the US economy from another Depression. Opponents believe it only benefits Wall Street financial instutions that acted irresponsibly and out of greed.

However, the Act does contain a number of features that directly benefit the average American taxpayer. Here are some of the highlights:

The extension of a one year patch for the alternative minimum tax: the 2008 exemption is $46,200 for singles, $69,950 for married couples who file jointly and $34,975 for married couples who file separately.

A credit for energy saving home improvements: you can claim a 10% tax credit for installing skylights, new windows and doors, and new high efficiency furnaces, air conditioners and water heaters but you need to wait until 2009 to do this work in order to claim the credit.

An extension on the forgiveness of mortgage debt: through 2012, you can exclude from gross income the forgiveness/discharge of any mortgage debt. The limit is $2M or $1M if married and filing separately.

Teachers, counselors and other educators in K-12 schools can deduct up to $250 of personal expenses made for classroom supplies and materials. This deduction is an "above the line" deduction so you don't have to itemize to claim the deduction.

IRA owners can contribute up to $100,000 directly to a qualified charity without having to count the contribution as income. This benefit is available in both 2008 and 2009 but you must be age 70 1/2 or older to claim it.

Owners of plug-in electric vehicles are entitled to tax credits of $2,500 to $7,500. This credit will phase out once each manufacturer has sold 250,000 vehicles.

According to a recent study by Fidelity Investments, more than a third of the nation's parents have decreased the amount they are saving or have stopped saving entirely for their children's college education. Given the current level of financial anxiety out there and the recent increase in unemployment, this statistic really isn't surprising, but with the market down, now would be an excellent time to be investing new money.

The study also found that 60 percent of parents have at least started saving for college but only 30 percent are investing in a dedicated investment vehicle like a 529 plan. This is interesting because the survey results indicated that most parents can afford to pay just 21 percent of expected college expenses, but parents who save in 529 plans can afford to pay for 40 percent of the expected college expenses.

An even more startling statistic was that 35 percent of the parents surveyed expect that they will have to delay their retirement in order to meet college expenses. These individuals are taking a risk that they will be healthy enough to continue working and that they will have jobs to work at.

If parents are saving less, the remainder has to come from somewhere and the study indicates that 55 percent of parents will be expecting their children to work part time while in college, 44 percent plan to have their children live at home while commuting to college, 37 percent will be encouraging their children to attend a less expensive public school and 23 percent will ask their children to graduate in fewer semesters.

Also, more and more parents will be relying on student loans. In 2007, 52 percent of parents planned to rely on loans to help meet college expenses. In 2008, that figure had risen dramatically to 62 percent.

OK, there's no doubt about it, this has been one heck of a week. People are worried and very nervous. In today's blog entry I am listing some articles that I have read over the past week or so that I think are particularly helpful and insightful. These are really great articles and I won't even attempt to summarize them -- you should read them in their entirety. Hopefully they will make you feel less anxious about all the recent market turmoil.

"Switching to Cash May Feel Safe but Risks Remain" by Ron Lieber of the NY Times

"The Depression of 2008? Don't Count on It" by Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal

"As Dire as the Times May Seem, History Isn't About to Repeat Itself" by Karen Blumenthal of the Wall Street Journal

How many old gift cards are you carrying around in your wallet? And how many are at the back of the drawer in your kitchen? If you are like most people, you probably have a decent number of gift cards hanging around and, while you expect to use them some day, you never seem to get around to it.

But did you know that if a retailer enters bankruptcy proceedings, they probably don't have to honor your gift card even if the store is still open? It might surprise you to know that bankruptcy courts consider gift cards to be loans to the company. If a merchant wants to be able to honor gift cards while it is in bankruptcy proceedings, it has to petition the court to allow such an action. Shoppers can lose the value of the card if the merchant doesn't make the request or if the court denies the request.

Fortunately, these rules might be changing. The Consumers Union filed a petition last week with the Federal Trade Commission to require retailers to honor gift cards as long as the store is still open. For more information on this effort, check out this article in The Baltimore Sun.

The take-away from this story? Get out there and start spending those gift cards. You never know when a company might declare bankruptcy. The Sharper Image and Linens and Things are two high profile retailers who recently declared bankruptcy.

Monday was definitely a nail-biting kind of day. The Dow was down over 500 points and a lot of that loss came in the two hours the market was open. Panic was a word you heard on TV and saw on the Internet, and in all the newspapers. It was certainly hard not to feel anxious about the market, your retirement, your savings, and your future financial security. Many people wondered if it was time to move to all cash.

However, those who hung in there were rewarded in Tuesday's market which saw the Dow up 141 points or 1.3 percent and the S&P up 20.90 points or 1.75 percent. It just goes to show that you can't make important financial decisions based on emotions. You have to be able to tune out the fear-inducing headlines and stick with your long term plan. Remember, newspapers and magazines have to lead with the scare tactics or no one would buy the paper.

If you have a properly diversified portfolio, no action is required when the markets are falling -- except that you might want to buy more. If your portfolio has large and small company stocks, growth and value stocks, international exposure and alternative asset classes, you are all set. Sit back and watch what happens. There will be ups and there will be downs. You don't get the higher long term returns of stocks for free -- you have to be willing to soldier through the down days to capture the historically much higher performance of equities.

We don't know what the market will do today, tomorrow or the next day but we do know that in the long run, stocks are your best bet for beating inflation and earning a rate of return that will enable you to meet your long term financial goals.