This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.
Way back when, the movie-rental wars were fought between the neighborhood video stores (which had limited availability) and the superchain Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) (which had limited availability except for the Die Hard series). Then, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) came along with an amazing business model. Set up an account online, build a mammoth list of movies (from tens of thousands available), receive a few in the mail and send them back when you're done -- no late fees, but you only got new movies when you sent old ones back.
At the time, Blockbuster -- and many consumers -- didn't think it would work. First of all, you had to wait a day or two to get new movies; and second of all, who was going to want to deal with sending movies back in the mail? I mean, gosh. Well, eventually, Blockbuster caved and started the same kind of service. When you compare the two, however, which one takes the cake?
What Netlix Offers: For $16.99, you receive three DVDs in the mail. These movies come from the top of the personliazed list you create on the Netflix site. Delivery times vary, but local distribution centers can usually get them to you in two days. You can keep these DVDs as long as you want; but, if you never return them you never get anything new. Which is a real bummer when I Am Legend is gathering dust on your TV set. After you've watched one, or more, send it back in the provided postage-paid envelope. Within a few days, your next movie arrives in the mail. As of now, Netflix offers a total of nine (9) membership plans, from one-at-a-time to eignt-at-a-time. You can also purchase DVDs through the site, in addition to watching certain movies for free.
This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.
Going by ad campaigns alone, you would think that every person -- or, at least every cool person -- had abandoned their Windows PCs and hoisted themselves onto the Macintosh bandwagon. Not so. The truth is that PCs far outnumber Macs in the market. The big-business worlds of finance, law, medicine use predominantly PC, while the areas of video production, web design and art use Mac. These computers do most of the same things (play games and DVDs, word-process, create web pages, store and play music) but they are completely different operating systems. Even though Apple computers now include the Intel processor that makes it possible to use Windows-only applications, it can still be hard to compare products.
But what about the companies themselves? What does the Apple brand signify that the Dell brand does not? And vice versa.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): Providing innovative products and a user-friendly interface, Apple has turned the whole computer thing into a fashion accessory. For someone who used Dell products for years and then switched to Mac, the difference is like night and day. A Mac is so easy to use. With a clean interface, a near-universal compatibility with external products and tools, these computers are a beautiful breeze. And now that Macs include Intel processors, one can switch back and forth between a Windows interface and a Mac interface, making previous incompatibilities (software, games, etc.) now perfectly compatible. And when it comes to customer service (see below) Apple really socks the house.
With all the insurance plans available (including insurance policies for insurance policies), you might want to take a moment to really think: Do I need "Inconvenience Insurance?"
If you have a fear of being inconvenienced, maybe. But, for most people, it's probably a lot more helpful to know which plans just don't make fiscal sense.
AOL Money & Finance has a new feature that clears the air (and dishes the dirt) on the insurance policies you must absolutely avoid. Or, at least think over carefully before acquiring. For example:
Identity Theft Insurance: Don't bother, says Consumer Reports. Just check your credit report regularly.
Extended Warranties: If you total your car, it won't make a lick of difference, since insurance companies will only give you the Blue Book value.
Inconvenience Insurance: Yep, you heard it right. If it rains on your vacation or you lose your iPod, you could strike it rich. Or, something like that. Avoid it.
On the subject of insurance, however, you might take some advice from WalletPop's Tracy Coenen, who says liability insurance is worth it, especially for consultants (legal, technical, etc.). Why? Because everybody makes mistakes.
B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
On August 28 of this year, a white Maltese named Trouble inherited a trust fund worth $12 million dollars. Who would leave such a staggering amount to a dog? Why, Leona Helmsley, of course. The hotel and real estate mogul, who was convicted of tax evasion in 1988, left millions to her brother, children and grandchildren, though none of her human relations made out as well as her canine companion.
While Trouble is a certifiable Money Winner of 2007, life as a whole has not been peaches and cream for the little dog, who has received death threats and been the target of a lawsuit by an ex-housekeeper who claims the little pup "bit her repeatedly" while she tried to clean Ms. Helmsey's lavish apartment in the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel.
However, while awaiting the results of the trial, Trouble will continue to live a pampered life in Florida, enjoying meals prepared by a gourmet chef, scheduled grooming and constant protection by security guards, all at the cost of $300,000 a year.
English soccer star David Beckham came to America earlier this year, joining the Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy with a base salary of $5.5 million and guaranteed compensation of $6,5 million, making him by far the highest paid soccer player in the United States. Throw in some marketing opportunities and profit-sharing options offered by team investor Anschutz Entertainment Group, and he's in a league of his own: Nearly 30 percent of MLS players are paid either $17,700 or $12,900.
Beckham's former team, Real Madrid, had paid him nearly $32 million annually. So, why the move for less money? Beckham is not just an athlete, but a fairly successful pitchman. His biggest endorsement, Gillette, pays him an estimated $9 million for three years, and he also lends his image to Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) products, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Adidas and -- yep -- Brylcream. Playing around the United States will give him a higher profile in the only market he hasn't conquered yet: ours.
B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
Googie -- an architectural movement popular in the 1950s -- epitomized an era during which people really believed that, by 2001, we'd live on Lunar Colonies, as opposed to Thomas Kinkade colonies. But no regrets, especially considering the Googie relics that have survived the cruel seventies, eighties and nineties now stand proud among our own generation's roadside architectural achievements, such as Costco.
Also called Space Age, Coffee House Modern, Doo-Wop, and (for some reason) Populuxe, Googie architecture was just one of many oddball roadside styles to emerge 60 years ago, along with Tiki (in which coconut-shell cocktails with straws were obligatory) and Mimetic Architecture, in which the buildings were shaped like the products they sold. Googie, named after a Los Angeles coffee shop that pioneered the design, and characterized by its bright rectangular signs, industrial effects and arching rooflines, was intended -- like all Roadside Architecture -- to capture the attention of motorists cruising along at 20mph sipping Moscow Mules in their Ford Fairlanes. Which was good times.
It's the biggest debt you'll assume in your lifetime -- unless you marry Heather Mills without a prenup -- and there are many different choices: There's the 30-year fixed rate, the 15-year ARM, the one-year ARM, the no-documentation loan (for the self-employed), the interest-only mortgage (for the lavishly self-employed) and many others.
If you have absolutely no idea which mortgage would work best for you, Bankrate.com provides a blow-by-blow Mortgage Match to help you decide. Like, if you're only going to carry the loan for five years, you might consider a 5/25 hybrid loan; and then, if you decide to stick around, just refinance. Who says life is never easy?
Before you answer, take a look at where mortgage interest rates are headed this year.
If you want a kosher Dunkin Donut, you got it. If you want to spend $15 for a Bed Head, you can. And if you want to lay on a hammock in your neighbor's yard naked, last time I checked, it's still a free country.
If only the IRS would loosen up a little. In fact, some folks are so wary of this pitiless branch of government, they won't even claim their refunds: According to a new AOL Money & Finance feature, unclaimed refunds exceeding $2.2 billion are sitting in the IRS coffers.
And which cities are the most afraid to file? Based on Intuit reports, the ultimate Tax Procrastinating States list has been released. If you're from Houston, you win!
But wait. Maybe the IRS has loosened up a little. As Kiplinger Editorial Director Kevin McCormally tells it, "this year the IRS is taking a cue from Burger King and letting you have your refund your way." What he means is, in the past you could either get your refund as a single check or as a single electronic deposit. Now you can get it direct-deposited into three different accounts. Want to see how?
This year, the first of the baby boomers -- those born during the high birth-rate years after World War II -- turned 60, and they continue to do so at a rate of 8,000 per day. Aside from the obvious boost to the Elastic Waistband industry, what does this news really signify? Answer: A large swath of the population will soon be lounging around Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) all day reading Dean Koontz novels.
But not so fast, people. Mary Beth Franklin, a senior editor at Kiplinger's, says you have to get real if you want a comfortable retirement. Take Social Security checks, for example. While not going away, she says, "they're not going to look like today's checks." They might only be exchangeable for dollar coins.
Furthermore, as pensions continue to freeze -- leaving up-to-date savings intact, but preventing further additions -- it's a good time to apply some common sense, ingenuity and discipline to your retirement planning.
In the following video feature, Ms. Franklin details what you need to be saving and how to save it:
B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
In Guy de Maupassant's story 'The Necklace,' the main character -- a woman of modest means -- is invited to a fancy ball and, for the occasion, borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy friend. Somehow she loses the necklace. Embarrassed, she purchases a similar string of diamonds and returns it to the wealthy friend without mentioning the loss of the original. For the rest of her life she works like a dog to pay for the necklace. Years later she runs into the wealthy friend, who says, yo, those diamonds were fake. And they all have a big laugh about it.
The story reveals two undeniable truths: (1) Some people just have no business going to a fancy ball and (2) Rich people can actually be kind of cheap. And some rich people -- like Mary-Kate Olsen (pictured) -- go to great lengths to look cheap.
A recent feature from Smartmoney.com -- Top Five Cheap Ways to Live Like the Rich -- gives a few pointers on how to land the high-end look without spending a lot. Like, for instance, instead of buying a new Marc Jacobs bag ... rent one! I know, not the same -- but, seriously, is this how the rich really live? Does someone who makes $100,000 a week -- like Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis -- not shudder even a little while ringing up a $3,295 Donna Karan halter dress with some $675 Valentino platforms?
Celebrities go the (borrowed) Oscar de la Renta route for awards shows, but the rest of the time they look like they might scalp bus transfers. In that sense, spending lots of money to look rich is a contradiction in terms. For those saving up for Jimmy Choo stilettos no rich person would be caught dead wearing, there has got to be a more strategic way to spend money. Because, think about it: for the $9,000 you could spend waiting in line for the spinning tea-cups ride during a week at Disney World you could rent -- for two months -- Tuscany's Villa Calcinaia: a nine-bedroom palazzo with an infinity pool and an unlimited supply of wine. Where did we go so wrong?
On that note, here are five ways to spend gobs of money with extremely cheap results:
Years ago, in a self-help book, I read about a Chicago-area man who unknowingly bought a house on an O'Hare flight path. Though miles from the airport, planes droned right above his roof. Of course, this upset him very much. Every time he heard the screaming engines it compounded his humiliation, discomfort and anxiety. One day, however, he decided to seize the day: He got a bucket of white paint, a ladder, climbed onto his roof and wrote in big letters "Welcome to Cleveland!"
The moral of the story, I'm guessing, is that if someone parks his boat in front of your house, if your neighbor's car alarm goes off repeatedly at 2 a.m., or if a local teen occasionally micturates upon your lawn, realize that the frustration is, you know, all in your head.
Just don't say that on the AOL message boards: In their cantankerous Neighbors From Hell forum, folks are hashing out all kinds of issues. From the mundane ("my neighbor has a hedge that extends into my yard a good foot or more that she does not trim") to the worrisome ("my neighbor secretly listens to my phone calls") to the downright frightening ("my neighbor lays on a hammock in my front yard ... nude!").
For those who need the visual, they've put together a sildeshow of favorites, including the neighbor who runs a cabinet-making business from his garage.
When Forbes.com staff writer, Matt Woolsey, embarked on his exposé of billionaire homes, he noticed an interesting pattern: most billionaires, though they have the means to live anywhere, choose to live at home. Or, at least close to home. And some -- like Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen -- choose to live with their mothers.
But let's start with Bill Gates, ranked No. 1 on Forbes Billionaires' List and valued at $56 billion. His 66,000-square foot Medina, Wash., hillside compound features a "1,000-square foot dining room, domed roof library ... 60-foot pool and five acres of space." Not only that, according to Woolsey, Gates' home has secret passageways and antechambers, hidden bookshelves and a framed Harry Potter Junior Wizards official membership certificate.
Paul Allen, meanwhile, lives with his mom. To be clear, his Mercer Island, Wash., compound -- which includes his own 10,000-square foot mansion -- has a separate home for his mother. Apparently, she held him to his "one-day-when-I'm-a-billionaire" promise.
Now that we know Bill Gates limits his kids' computer use -- including interactive gardening games (whatever those are exactly) -- it's certain our country's 8-year-olds are at a crossroads: How will they spend their one hour-a-day on-line? If you said E*Trade, you win.
Fielding e-mails recently, MarketWatch's Paul B. Farrell heard from a reader interested in strategies for the 'super small' investor; you know, "specific funds and allocations" for someone with only about $10,000 to work with. So Mr. Ferrell referred to an investor who, it just so happens, is a second-grader.
Kevin Roth, the 8-year-old son of a Colorado Springs financial planner, recently got "a gift" from his grandmother (who apparently sent one of those super-sized money-holding Hallmark cards), along with some advice from his father, and bought shares in three Vanguard funds -- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), Vanguard Total International Stock Index (VGTSX), and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX) -- which is more practical than a Nintendo Wii, but come on.
Kevin exemplifies Mr. Farrell's 'Lazy Investing' strategy, which favors a safe, patient approach: "Unless you're working full-time in the financial world, you don't have the skills, tools, information, time or interest in playing the market," he says. "And even if you do play the market, the odds are you'll lose because the more you trade the less you earn; transaction costs and taxes kill returns. So... being a lazy investor is the best defensive strategy."
Kevin's strategy, says Mr. Farrell, "not only beat the S&P 500 by two percentage points last year... it actually beat all five of our lazy portfolios in 2006."
But I know what you're thinking: What about the stock picking monkey? The Chicago Sun-Times' in-house stock expert -- a 35-year-old cinnamon-ring tail cebus monkey from Brazil -- has for the past four years not only beat the S&P 500, not only beat any 'Lazy Investor' strategy, but he's totally housebroken and loves football. He only roots for the Bears, though. B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
According to Denver's CBS affiliate, the city has come up with a clever idea to (a) help the homeless and (b) recycle old parking meters.
Placed in strategic spots downtown -- including "blighted" Skyline Park (a member of the Project for Public Spaces' Hall of Shame) -- newly refurbished parking meters are encouraging people to deposit money they would otherwise have given to panhandlers. Proceeds will go to "organizations that provide meals, job training, substance abuse counseling and housing to the homeless."
And just in time: The Colorado Division of Housing claims an estimated total of 16,203 homeless people, one-third being children and teenagers. In addition, a summer survey revealed, "up to 5,200 children and teenagers were homeless the night of Aug. 28, 2006, according to new finalized figures."
Mayor John Hickenlooper -- Chairman of the National Association of Mayors With Memorable Names -- said in a statement, "Denver's 10-year plan to end homelessness, what we call Denver's road home, has really become a national model. I think we've had the greatest success in getting the whole community to buy in, to believe this is something we can tackle as a community."
This week, 36 of the so-called homeless meters were unveiled. B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
Not long after his interview with a burglar on the best place to hide money in your home, the editor of PF Advice ran into this very same thief at, of all places, a cocktail party. Who invited the burglar, I don't know. But eager for a follow-up to this very popular feature -- which brought out the Dirty Harry in some of our BloggingStocks readers -- and holding tight onto his wallet, the editor convinced the man to divulge further secrets of the Fraternal Order of Burglars.
Specifically he wondered, since we already know the best place to hide money (answer: a Mr. Potato Head), what's the worst place? "Ninety-nine percent of the burglars on the street aren't like the ones you see in the movies where stealing is their chosen profession," says the burglar. "They are motivated by more sinister reasons. They are part of organized crime, they are part of a gang or, as in my case at the time, they are drug addicts."
Now I feel better. But his point, of course, is that these chemically dependent prowlers have a very different sense of the term "valuables," and that you should "think like a burglar" before hiding your money in a spot where he's most likely to look for drugs. "All burglars have habits," he continues, "and there were certain places I always checked for a specific reason -- I was a drug addict. I'm sure that other burglars have their particular search areas beyond the obvious drawers and closets, but I bet that most search these areas, too."
So that you never have your money mistaken for a bag of hash, here are the burglar's top five places not to hide your valuables:
This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts. 
This post is part of our 
With all the insurance plans available (including insurance policies for insurance policies), you might want to take a moment to really think: Do I need "Inconvenience Insurance?"
On August 28 of this year, a white Maltese named Trouble inherited a trust fund worth $12 million dollars. Who would leave such a staggering amount to a dog? Why, Leona Helmsley, of course. The hotel and real estate mogul, who was convicted of tax evasion in 1988, left millions to her brother, children and grandchildren, though none of her human relations made out as well as her canine companion.
English soccer star 
Googie -- an architectural movement popular in the 1950s -- epitomized an era during which people really believed that, by 2001, we'd live on Lunar Colonies, as opposed to 
In Guy de Maupassant's story 'The Necklace,' the main character -- a woman of modest means -- is invited to a fancy ball and, for the occasion, borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy friend. Somehow she loses the necklace. Embarrassed, she purchases a similar string of diamonds and returns it to the wealthy friend without mentioning the loss of the original. For the rest of her life she works like a dog to pay for the necklace. Years later she runs into the wealthy friend, who says, yo, those diamonds were fake. And they all have a big laugh about it.
Years ago, in a self-help book, I read about a Chicago-area man who unknowingly bought a house on an O'Hare flight path. Though miles from the airport, planes droned right above his roof. Of course, this upset him very much. Every time he heard the screaming engines it compounded his humiliation, discomfort and anxiety. One day, however, he decided to seize the day: He got a bucket of white paint, a ladder, climbed onto his roof and wrote in big letters "Welcome to Cleveland!"
Now that we know Bill Gates limits his kids' computer use -- including 
According to 
Not long after his interview with a burglar on 
Closing bell: Modest gains for stocks; FRE, FNM rally, UAUA, NWA drop
The best housing stance for buyers, sellers? Staying put
Dillard's, Talbots rise despite wider Q2 losses
