In times of grief, you can get confused, so it's good to have car titles, house deeds and insurance policies in one place, says Bill Walker of the AARP: "Materials should be available in one file. There's any number of ways to organize it; the most important is to have it together." Copy the most important documents for a binder or accordion folder; stow originals in a safe-deposit box. Families should discuss living wills and end-of-life wishes long before it's time to use them, so this can be a good intro to those discussions.


— Advertiser staff

SAVE THE PLANET

Corporate villain or hero?

Is your favorite brand a corporate villain or hero? Socially and environmentally responsible consumers will want to get Ellis Jones' "The Better World Shopping Guide" (New Society Publishers, $9.95). The University of California, Davis, sociology professor ranks products on a variety of factors, so you can vote your conscience with your pocketbook. For instance, in the energy drink category you'll find out that Bossa Nova plants a tree for every bottle purchased while Full Throttle, made by Coca-Cola, is a target of major human rights boycotts. Check out Jones' Web site, www.betterworldshopper.org.


— Advertiser staff

FINAL WORD

"A laptop. Eyedrops, even though they confiscated them this trip. What kind of alchemy do they think I might work with a quarter-ounce of saline solution?"

Tim Gunn | "Project Runway" den father, on his travel necessities