One additional note, i was able to get the formula from Graham's reply:

{ IF { MERGEFIELD CoverageLevel } = "" "" { = { ( {MERGEFIELD
CoverageLevel} / 5000) \# "$,0.00" } 0}

to update without getting a Syntax Error, but it Always evaluates to 0
no matter what the CoverageLevel is ( i have that displayed in another
field so i know it's nonzero). I imagine it's because of the 0
appended to the end, but i don't know what that 0 is supposed to
signify.

Thanks in advance,

Daryl