A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 their harried single mother ( Sissy Spacek ) for a model of their own choice . 

WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN ( R ) . Meg Ryan and Andry Garcia star as a modern coup

le , as much in trouble as they are in love , coping with the effects of her pro

blem drinking . Though both actors work hard and do affecting jobs , the film 's

 overall artificiality , the way it piles on woe upon woe , detracts from the ho

nesty of their performances . WHITE FANG 2 : MYTH OF THE WHITE WOLF ( PG ) . Tha

t half-wolf , half-dog supercanine is back with a new master ( Scott Bairstow ) 

in a less-than-riveting , stultifyingly politically correct adventure involving 

a starving Native American tribe . WIDOW 'S PEAK ( PG ) . Lovely piffle set in I

reland in the early '20s and starring Natasha Richardson , Joan Plowright and Mi

a Farrow , all in fine form . Scripted by Hugh Leonard and directed by John Irvi

n , it 's a whodunit trussed up as a domestic comedy . WITH HONORS ( PG-13 ) . B

rendan Fraser plays a Harvard student who reluctantly befriends a homeless man p

layed by Joe Pesci . Too many drippy life lessons , but Fraser and Pesci have so

me rapport and the college scenes are at least more believable than the ones in 

`` Threesome . '' YOU SO CRAZY ( NC-17 ) . Comic Martin Lawrence may be in-your-

face raunchy and scatological , an enthusiastic detailer of all kinds of sexual 

situations , but this fluid and funny performance film shows he is also a sure c

omic presence , an adept social commentator and a promoter of values that can on

ly be called mainstream .

 WASHINGTON For a vision of Yuppie Hell , consider some retirement figures that 

arrived in the mail the other day . They show what happens to a nest egg of $ 50

0,000 after 11 years : It disappears . In other words , if you retire at age 62 

, this rather sizable nest egg runs out eight years before the actuarial die . T

his predicament reminded me of a terrifying short story by Somerset Maugham call

ed `` The Lotus Eater . '' I 'll get back to the figures and what you can do abo

ut them shortly , but first the plot of the story : Thomas Wilson is a London ba

nk manager , a widower who has worked hard since he was 17 . He saves his money 

and decides in 1898 , at the age of 35 , that he will retire to the idyllic Ital

ian island of Capri . But he has only enough funds to purchase a 25-year annuity

 an investment contract that guarantees him an income for a fixed period and the

n runs out . At that point , Wilson would be 60 . What then ? Considering the pr

ospect , Wilson tells the narrator : `` Don't you think after 25 years of perfec

t happiness one ought to be satisfied to call it a day ? '' In other words , if 

he 's not dead at 60 , Wilson plans to kill himself . But when the time comes , 

his will fails . `` It was difficult to know what to do with him . He had no mon

ey and no means of getting any . '' So he survives in wretched poverty , living 

in a woodshed , wandering the hills , bumming food . He dies at 66 . This is a p

retty nasty little story , and certainly a modern-day Thomas Wilson would have w

elfare or Social Security to fall back on . But the truth is that to retire comf

ortably takes a much larger chunk of money than most people realize . Back to th

e retirement figures . The Smith Barney Shearson Consulting Group , which compil

ed them , made these assumptions : A couple wants to have $ 80,000 a year in inc

ome money not just for necessities , but for travel and for funding the grandchi

ldren 's college education . Retiring at 62 , the husband , the main earner , dr

aws a fixed $ 20,000-a-year company pension . The couple also receives about $ 1

0,000 in Social Security benefits , adjusted annually for inflation . The Consul

ting Group assumes that inflation runs at 4 percent a year , so the couple needs

 $ 82,400 in the second year to have $ 80,000 in purchasing power . The final as

sumption is that the nest egg 's investments will earn 7 percent a year after ta

xes . Now , you can argue with some of these assumptions . Perhaps you don't nee

d $ 80,000 . Perhaps you can earn more than 7 percent a year . But then again , 

perhaps you don't have $ 20,000 coming in from a pension or other sources . What

 makes the numbers especially daunting for baby boomers is this : The nest egg c

omprises $ 500,000 in today 's dollars . If you 're 44 years old and plan to ret

ire at 62-and if inflation runs at 4 percent for the next 18 years-then what you

 will need when you 're ready to retire in 2012 is not $ 500,000 , but $ 1 milli

on ! In 2012 , it will take one million bucks to buy you those measly 11 years o

f Lotus Land at an annual purchasing power ( in today 's dollars ) of $ 80,000 .

 After that , it 's the Thomas Wilson routine . Actually , $ 1 million is a good

 number to shoot for . If you can cut your needs down to $ 40,000 instead of $ 8

0,000 , then you 'll avoid the fate of Maugham 's hero and eke out a retirement 

until you reach your actuarial reckoning . But how to get to a million ? The bes

t answer is to start early . Say you want to retire at 62 . If you can manage to

 sock away $ 5,000 a year in a tax-deferred account that produces a 10 percent r

eturn , you 'll have your million dollars-as long as you start when you 're 31 .

 But if you wait until you 're 41 to begin , you 'll have only $ 300,000 . And i

f you start at age 51 , you 'll have less than $ 100,000 . Also , if you begin e

arly , you will be able to devote a higher proportion of your portfolio to stock

s , which produce a better return than bonds and money market funds but which ca

rry more risk . While time is the greatest engine of investment growth , tax-def

erral runs a close second . Critics of our current system believe that one reaso

n the United States has such a low savings rate less than 5 percent , compared w

ith 15 percent for Japan and 13 percent for Germany is that we penalize savers w

ith taxes . It 's true that the nation would be well served if we brought back t

he tax-deductibility of contributions to individual retirement accounts . But , 

even in their current form , IRAs provide a great way to shield your money from 

taxes as it accumulates . For example , T. Rowe Price Associates calculates that

 if you invest $ 2,000 a year in a taxable account that earns 9 percent a year ,

 you 'll have $ 183,000 after 30 years . But in a tax-deferred account , you 'll

 accumulate $ 297,000 before taxes and $ 231,000 after taxes . ( Both scenarios 

assume a 28 percent tax bite . ) Even more interesting is how the IRA helps you 

while you 're distributing the proceeds during your retirement . Using the above

 example and assuming you live to be 90 , the IRA will provide you with $ 19,200

 in after-tax income a year for 25 years while the taxable account will provide 

you with just $ 13,250 annually . That 's the good news . The bad news is that $

 19,200 willn't be a whole lot of money 60 years from now . And there 's more ba

d news . A survey by Merrill Lynch & Co. last year found baby boomers saving at 

about one-third the rate required for a secure retirement . And then there are t

hese sage words , written by Laurence Kotlikoff , a Boston University economics 

professor and an expert on savings : `` Compared with their parents , baby boome

rs can expect to . . rely less on inheritances , receive less help from children

 , experience slower real wage growth , face higher taxes and replace a smaller 

fraction of their pre-retirement earnings with Social Security retirement benefi

ts . `` Unless baby boomers change their saving habits and change them quickly ,

 they may experience much higher rates of poverty in their old age than those cu

rrently observed among U.S. elderly . '' You don't want to end up like Thomas Wi

lson , do you ? So start saving .

 The rankings for hard-cover books sold in Southern California , as reported by 

selected book stores : FICTION 1 . THE CELESTINE PROPHESY , by James Redfield . 

2 . INCA GOLD , by Clive Cussler . 3 . THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW , by Allan Folsom 

. 4 . THE ALIENIST , by Caleb Carr . 5 . `` K '' IS FOR KILLER , by Sue Grafton 

. 6 . REMEMBER ME , by Mary Higgins Clark . 7 . ACCIDENT , by Danielle Steel . 8

 . LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE , by Laura Esquivel . 9 . FIST OF GOD , by Frederick

 Forsyth . 10 . THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY , by Robert James Waller . NONFICT

ION : 1 . EMBRACED , BY THE LIGHT , by Betty J. Eadie . 2 . MEN ARE FROM MARS : 

Women Are From Venus , by John Gray , Ph.D. . 3 . IN THE KITCHEN WITH ROSIE , by

 Rosie Daley . 4 . STANDING FIRM , by Dan Quayle . 5 . BEYOND PEACE , by Richard

 Nixon . 6 . MAGIC EYE II , by N.E. . Thing Enterprises . 7 . MAGIC EYE I , by N

.E. . Thing Enterprises . 8 . BOOK OF VIRTUES : A Treasury of the World 's Great

 Moral Stories , by William J. Bennett . 9 . REBA : My Story , by Reba McEntire 

with Tom Carter . 10 . COMPROMISED : Clinton , Bush & the CIA , by Terry Reed .

 NEW YORK The Clinton administration and financial regulators are unsure how bes

t to rein in the risky Wall Street trading instruments called financial derivati

ves , according to high-level sources familiar with discussions on the subject .

 As a result , regulators are likely to tinker with a few small fixes without ma

king sweeping reforms . What consensus has emerged is largely to jury-rig the ex

isting structure . The modest list includes better risk monitoring , more public

 disclosure and more complete examination of dealers . `` I am afraid we need a 

financial crisis before Washington moves on this , '' said one source . `` There

 is enormous opposition from Wall Street . '' Some White House officials worry t

hat the $ 12 trillion market in derivatives poses a threat to the financial syst

em and the U.S. economy and want comprehensive controls placed on their trading 

. Other senior policy makers are less sure of the risks and more concerned that 

tighter regulation would push the booming business in derivatives offshore witho

ut significantly reducing the threats to U.S. markets . Given the split , major 

regulation , such as requiring big players to pony up more money if they want to

 be active derivatives traders , are longer-term options , the sources said . At

 present , securities firms and insurance companies that have set up businesses 

to deal in derivatives get no regulatory scrutiny ; banks that trade derivatives

 are more closely watched , primarily by the Federal Reserve and the Office of t

he Comptroller of the Currency ( OCC ) . Congress ' appetite for a legislative s

olution is not yet widely shared within the administration or the regulatory wor

ld , sources say , largely because they fear that Congress will go too far . `` 

Our primary hesitation , '' said Darcy Bradbury , deputy assistant Treasury secr

etary for federal finance , `` is that we have not yet exhausted our current reg

ulatory authority . We may need legislation down the road , but it is a bit prem

ature . '' Financial derivatives , so named because their values derive from suc

h underlying securities as stocks , bonds , foreign exchange and commodities , h

ave become central to the global financial markets . They are increasingly used 

by Wall Street and large U.S. corporations seeking to make big , highly leverage

d bets or to hedge unwanted risks . U.S. banks and securities firms are the indu

stry leaders and derive huge profits from the business . But some U.S. banks , b

rokerages , speculators , mutual funds and industrial companies have taken deriv

ative-related losses as interest rates changed direction in recent months . The 

General Accounting Office , Congress ' investigative arm , issued a report on de

rivatives last week that spotted `` regulatory gaps '' and called for aggressive

 reforms , some of which would require legislation . This week , the House subco

mmittee on Energy and Commerce chaired by Rep. Edward J. Markey , D-Mass. , hear

s from Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan , comptroller of the currency Eugene Ludwig a

nd Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr. . Markey wants 

legislation to bring securities firms and insurance companies that deal in deriv

atives under the same , albeit spotty , regulatory scrutiny that U.S. banks get 

. Their derivatives affiliates are now unregulated . Frank Newman , undersecreta

ry for domestic finance , said the administration 's interagency working group o

n financial markets is assessing the extent of the risks tied to derivatives . `

` We are not waiting around , but we are still in the process of determining how

 much risk to the financial system there is , '' he said . `` Our concern is tha

t something might go wrong and turn a moderate problem into a bigger problem thr

ough the global interconnection of modern financial instruments like derivatives

 . We need to know more about that systemic risk , '' a process he expects to ta

ke months . In the meantime , a consensus has emerged on the reforms likely to t

ake place : Buyers and sellers of derivatives will be forced to account for thes

e instruments in ways that accurately reflect the risks they entail . Levitt has

 made it clear to the Financial Accounting Standards Board , a private group tha

t is charged with determining acceptable accounting procedures , that it soon mu

st set new standards for accounting for derivatives in financial reports . FASB 

has been studying the issue for more than five years . Public disclosure must ge

t a lot better . Companies and Wall Street firms that buy or sell derivatives di

sclose next to nothing about the guts of their derivatives activities , the risk

s they represent or how they manage the positions . Both the Fed and the OCC rec

ently have given out stricter guidelines for examiners and banks that require th

e reporting of the terms and conditions of derivative positions . The SEC also h

as begun to query many publicly traded companies on their stakes in this high-st

akes game . Levitt has said , `` Disclosure and accounting are my highest priori

ties . '' Major dealers and users of derivatives will be required to monitor and

 limit their risks more . That means more money spent on independent audits and 

computer systems and more attention paid by top executives and directors . Banki

ng regulators already have pushed commercial banks to do this . The SEC has yet 

to ask securities firms to make the same commitment , but sources say it will . 

In addition , the interagency working group is considering a proposal to `` subj

ect dealers to more stringent stress tests , '' according to one source . In a s

tress test , a derivatives dealer uses computer models to see how much money he 

could lose if the financial markets fall , interest rates rise or if other deale

rs and customers renege on their obligations to pay . Dealers will be examined c

arefully to make sure that they do not sell risky derivatives to unsophisticated

 customers . And mutual funds that use derivatives to evade fund investment rest

rictions will be examined by regulators to see whether they are fulfilling their

 fiduciary duties to shareholders . Off the agenda for now are new rules requiri

ng that they keep more money in reserve to cushion losses in the event of a stee

p drop in the financial markets . The SEC is in the early stages of reviewing ou

t-of-date rules on how much cash securities firms active in derivatives must hav

e to ensure their survival in a crisis . `` Capital standards must relate to a f

irm 's ability to withstand market volatility , shocks , '' said a senior govern

ment official . Higher capital standards for banks have been the subject of inte

rnational regulatory discussion for years , but no decisions have been made . U.

S. banking regulators are unlikely to act alone . `` The question is , do we wan

t to encourage the taking of derivative positions with very little money down ? 

'' said a source . `` What does that mean for people 's staying power in a panic

 ? ''

 NEW YORK Hedge fund partner Christopher Ramon Castroviejo is a man with trading

 in his blood , who doesn't see why Washington bureaucrats should fret so much a

bout derivatives the complex financial instruments that are his livelihood . Cas

troviejo , 44 , the managing partner of the small Parallax Partners firm , uses 

derivatives to bet on the rise and fall in various financial indexes , and that 

kind of trading has begun to draw the attention of government regulators and leg

islators . Traders like Castroviejo often operate on very thin margins-putting u

p very little money with the chance of making huge profits . But in some cases l

ately the losses from such deals have been great , and government officials wond

er if the rules permitting such gambles should be changed . Castroviejo , whose 

grandfather became famous for betting that the stock market was going to fall in

 1929 and 1930 , does not think so . The tale of one of his derivatives deals in

 early February , in which he made $ 188,432.78 , provides an example of what he

 means , and why he thinks derivatives are a splendid and relatively safe way of

 keeping the economy going by injecting money into the markets . It was quite ea

rly the morning of Feb. 2 that he left his cozy East Side Manhattan house and hi

s faithful Norwich terrier , Uptick . When he reached his Park Avenue office , h

e discovered that one of his favorite market indexes was just where he wanted it

 . The Financial Times Stock Exchange index ( FTSE , usually pronounced `` foots

ie '' ) , a measure of 100 British stocks , had been sliding leisurely upward to

 a point where Castroviejo , who specializes in such things , thought it was abo

ut to change direction . What should he do ? The chart of the FTSE 's movement a

nd other data compiled by Castroviejo 's quantitative analyst , a young Venezuel

an mathematics wizard named Luis Sanchez , indicated the index was exhausted and

 unlikely to go much higher . Castroviejo wanted to bet that it would fall , and

 Merrill Lynch & Co. was offering him an option that would allow him to see if h

e was right , and on terms too good to pass up . For just $ 157,487 Castroviejo 

could buy a put option contract valued at $ 7.5 million , essentially putting up

 only 2.1 percent of the total in hopes that the market would turn just enough i

n the desired downward direction that he could sell and make a profit . The fart

her the index sank , the more money he would make . He has been managing his own

 fund for little more than a year and has kept much of the money in money market

 accounts and other secure investments to establish a track record for caution .

 This worked particularly well in the first quarter of this year , when the sudd

enly volatile stock and bond markets forced losses on other managers while Castr

oviejo 's fund stayed in the black , if barely . Investing has been a passion si

nce he was 6 years old and heard his grandfather , Bernard E. Smith , discuss a 

purchase of 10,000 shares . The boy thought the financier had ordered 10,000 cha

irs , and wondered out loud how they would all fit even in that huge house . Smi

th had been born poor in the Hell 's Kitchen section of New York but began to wo

rk in brokerage firms and organize bear pools to bet on stock market declines . 

His nickname was `` Sell ' Em Ben , '' based on his legendary advice to `` Sell 

'em all ! They 're not worth anything ! '' as stocks collapsed in 1929 . Castrov

iejo got only Bs in economics at Harvard . His fondness for the untrammeled mark

etplace seemed to distress professors who admired the Soviet Union and other man

aged economies . But he did well on Wall Street and now finds each day , either 

up or down , a joy . `` It 's astounding to me that supposedly grown men are pai

d to do this , '' Castroviejo said . `` It 's wonderful . '' In the FTSE deal , 

his instincts proved correct . The index began to descend and five days later he

 pulled out with a 119.65 percent return on his cash investment . With mounting 

dismay he then watched as the FTSE continued to go down , and down , and down so

me more . `` If I had just left it alone I hate to think what I would have made 

, '' Castroviejo said . Still , he said , `` I like to sleep at night . '' And h

e cannot see how any federal bureaucrat would think he was doing any harm . Deri

vative contracts , Castroviejo said , do well . In mortgage-backed securities , 

he said , they `` remove the risk from the commercial bank so a homeowner will b

e paying 1 to 1.5 percent less on his mortgage . '' Among derivative traders , `

` there will always be the occasional bozo who screws himself up , '' Castroviej

o said , but overall the instruments draw much more money into the markets . The

 more money is there , he said , betting both sides of the wager , the more like

ly are markets to be healthy and liquid and stable . `` There is plenty of money

 to be made in this game without being a cowboy , '' he said .

 WASHINGTON In the post-Cold War era , there is room for disagreement about what

 America 's foreign policy should be as we chart our way through unexplored wate

rs . But the criticisms gaining popularity among some commentators that Presiden

t Clinton has betrayed his foreign policy commitments not only skew this debate 

but also are flat wrong . As the foreign policy aide with Bill Clinton in Little

 Rock during the campaign and transition , I know what candidate Clinton said an

d what he did not say . It was Bill Clinton who repeatedly pushed me and his oth

er advisers to reject promises he could not keep or that would be inconsistent w

ith sound long-term policies . Let 's examine the record : Bosnia : In July 1992

 , candidate Clinton called for tightening and enforcing the sanctions , taking 

steps to charge the Milosevic regime with crimes against humanity and having the

 United States take the lead in seeking U.N. . Security Council authorization fo

r air strikes against those attacking the relief effort , with the United States