Airline miles are some of the most coveted credit-card rewards out there, but they're also among the least understood. And that's simply because they're hard to pin down: the value of your traditional mile is fickle, changing from one booking to the next, even if you swiped your card just as much as your normally would.
Morning Business Memo… Thousands of US auto workers may have to cancel their vacation plans. Growing consumer demand for cars and trucks has the industry changing its usual summer vacation schedule. Ford says the traditional two-week summer break is being cut to a single week....
Actress Drew Barrymore listed her home in the Santa Barbara, Calif. area for $7.5 million just a year after getting married to husband Will Kopelman. Barrymore reportedly bought the 6-bed home in June 2010 for $5.705 million, as first reported by the Real Estalker and Zillow. The secluded home has a separate guest house with two vintage refrigerators, plus citrus and avocado trees outdoors. Barrymore also owns another home in Calif. that she bought in 2002.
Even for those who don't lose a loved one after a tornado, the process to rebuild is "long" and "emotional," according to Tammy Cady, 59, who survived the tornado that hit Joplin, Mo. on May 22, 2011.
Airline miles are some of the most coveted credit-card rewards out there, but they're also among the least understood. And that's simply because they're hard to pin down: the value of your traditional mile is fickle, changing from one booking to the next, even if you swiped your card just as much as your normally would.
The Bible says Jacob's brother sold his birthright for a mess of stew. Today, warn financial watchdogs, America's pensioners are in danger of accepting what can sometimes be a comparably smelly deal: "Sell us your pension benefits," say advertisement, "and we'll give you one big lump sum now, up front."For somebody who's facing doctor bills or has missed a mortgage payment, a lump sum can be tempting. Partly for that reason, pensioners in growing numbers are accepting such offers, say financial...