How to be Rich, Happy and Free from Scams

(MONEY Magazine) -- Why do I need my savings to last to age 100 if my average life span is much shorter? -- Mike Johnson, Fairfield, Ohio  In "The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty," Stanford management-science professor Sam Savage illustrates the folly of planning using averages by recounting the tale of the statistician who drowns crossing a river with an average depth of three feet. The rub, of course, is that while the stream is shallow near the shore, it's 12 feet deep in the middle.  The idea of using your average life span for estimating how long your savings will have to last in retirement is similarly all wet -- and could leave you in the unpleasant position of having no savings but a whole lotta living to go. Life expectancy isn't an estimate of how long you are likely to stay alive. It represents the average number of years a person of a given age is expected to live. These days, the life expectancy of ...

Can’t stop worrying? Try out our seven ways to beat the bother and boost your happiness. Whilst worrying is necessary for spurring us on to achieve our goals, chronic worrying can disrupt the balance in our nervous system and be detrimental to our health. Here are seven ways to wash away your worries: How to stop worrying, tip 1: Forget the things you can’t change If you’re worrying about something that’s happened in the past, you need to stop. The power of your mind isn’t strong enough to solve problems through panic, so it’s important to beat your worries by thinking logically and tackling them head-on. Bad memories from the past are toxic to our health and highly counterproductive so you must bury the burdens of your past and move on. How to stop worrying, tip 2: Write a worry list Write down everything you’re worried about; the bills, your job, the car MOT – everything. Then rate them on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the things that are concerning you most. You can then turn ...

LONDON - A new test devised by psychologists could now determine once and for all whether you are officially addicted to work. In a world of long hours, instant access to emails and fierce competition in the office, there is a fine line between being a keen employee and a workaholic. But research, by scientists at the Nottingham Trent University and the University of Bergen, has now tested 12,000 workers to find out the key elements of "workaholism". The study, the first of its kind in the world, also found that work addiction was getting "worse" and blamed the blurring of boundaries between the home and office making it harder to "switch off". The Daily Telegraph reported that the questions come in the form of statements which participants must answer on a sliding scale of 1, to represent "never", 2 meaning "rarely", 3 meaning "sometimes, 4 for "often" and 5, representing "always". They include "You think ...

LONDON - A new test devised by psychologists could now determine once and for all whether you are officially addicted to work. In a world of long hours, instant access to emails and fierce competition in the office, there is a fine line between being a keen employee and a workaholic. But research, by scientists at the Nottingham Trent University and the University of Bergen, has now tested 12,000 workers to find out the key elements of "workaholism". The study, the first of its kind in the world, also found that work addiction was getting "worse" and blamed the blurring of boundaries between the home and office making it harder to "switch off". The Daily Telegraph reported that the questions come in the form of statements which participants must answer on a sliding scale of 1, to represent "never", 2 meaning "rarely", 3 meaning "sometimes, 4 for "often" and 5, representing "always". They include "You think ...

By Farnoosh Torabi Slaving over your resume to land a new job? You may be focusing too much on the wrong thing. Recent trends are pointing to changes in the job market – and if you can meet some of these new hiring standards, experts say, you’ll be high in demand. Niche Expertise First, if you think it’s better to be good at 10 things instead of amazing at just one, think again. According to researchers at MBO Partners, employers will be more focused on hiring experts and highly skilled workers in 2012. In other words, niche will be necessary. “I think it’s going to be a lot harder to get a great job if you’re too much of a generalist,” says certified career coach and job interview specialist, Pamela Skillings. “Employers are really looking for someone to be that go-to expert, that authority on the job.” Mature Workers According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 43 percent of employers say they plan to hire workers age 50 and above this year, up from 41 percent in 2011. What’s more, three...

By KEVIN ROOSE I HAVE a major problem: I just glanced at my $45,000 Chopard watch, and it's telling me that my Rolls-Royce may not make it to the airport in time for my private jet flight. Yes, I know my predicament doesn't register high on the urgency scale. It's not exactly up there with malaria outbreaks in the Congo or street riots in Athens. But it's a serious issue, because my assignment today revolves around that plane ride. "Step on it, Mike," I instruct my chauffeur, who nods and guides the $350,000 car into the left lane of the West Side Highway. Let me back up a bit. As a reporter who writes about Wall Street, I spend a fair amount of time around extreme wealth. But my face is often pressed up against the gilded window. I've never eaten at Per Se, or gone boating on the French Riviera. I live in a pint-size Brooklyn apartment, rarely take cabs and feel like sending Time Warner to The Hague every time my cable bill arrives. But for the next 24 ho...