The Child Tax Credit: Save It
About 25 million taxpayers are now receiving checks of up to $400 per kid, thanks to the expanded child credit in President Bush's tax-cut law. The Financial Planning Association, a trade group, says it's smarter to save the cash than to spend it. Some suggestions:
--Pay down debt. High-interest debts, like credit-card balances, eat into your disposable income.
--Save for schooling. Stash money in a tax-advantaged education account.
--Create a rainy-day fund. Advisers recommend having enough money for three to six months stored in an easy-to-access place, such as a money-market fund or savings account.
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RAY KELLY, New York City Police Commissioner, on the arrest of a New Jersey man in one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases, the disappearance more than three decades ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
