One billion dollars is no longer enough to gain entry to Russia’s rich list.

Ten billionaires failed to make Forbes magazine’s annual list of the 100 richest Russians that is led by those who built their fortunes on the country’s metals resources. Russia’s richest 100 people had a combined fortune of $522 billion - 3.8 times more than the total when Forbes first published a Russian list in 2004.

Another reason for the increase in dollar billionaires was the fall in the value of the U.S. currency. Boo!

Older Americans Are The Happiest

Americans grow happier as they grow older. The study also found that baby boomers are not as content as other generations, African Americans are less happy than whites, men are less happy than women, happiness can rise and fall between eras, and that, with age the differences narrow. The happiness measure is a guide to how well society is meeting people’s needs.

Charted happiness across age and racial groups, Yang Yang, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, found that among 18-year-olds, white women are the happiest, with a 33% probability of being very happy, followed by white men (28%), black women (18%) and black men (15%).

Differences vanish over time, however, as happiness increases. With age comes positive psychosocial traits, such as self-integration and self-esteem; these signs of maturity could contribute to a better sense of overall well-being. Second, group differences in happiness decrease with age due to the equalization of resources that contribute to happiness, such as access to health care, Medicare and Medicaid, and the loss of social support due to the deaths of spouses and friends.

Looking over the study’s 33-year period, she noticed definite upticks when the nation flourished economically. For example, she found that 1995 was a very good year on the happiness scale.

The Right Pressures or Incentive Will Cause Anybody To Lie

Here are some stats and tips on how to tell if someone is lying to your face:

• Skilled liars don’t break a sweat, but the rest of us get a little fidgety. Four possible giveaways: shifty eyes, higher vocal pitch, perspiration and heavier breathing. Of course, not everyone who doesn’t meet your gaze is a liar. Certain behavioral traits, like averting eye contact, could be cultural and not indicative of a liar

• Another clue: imprecise pronouns. To psychologically distance themselves from a lie, people often pepper their tales with second- and third-person pronouns like “you,” “we” and “they.” So when we lie, we pause longer and speak slower than normal and often experience speech disturbances that serve as gap fillers, such as “um,” “er” and “ah.”

• Upward inflections: We upwardly inflect our words when asking a question. You may have noticed that some salespeople will upwardly inflect certain statements of fact. This is a red flag that should alert you to potential deception.

• Liars are also more likely to ask that questions be repeated and begin responses with phrases like, “to tell you the truth,” and “to be perfectly honest.“

• Touching the nose: We have erectile tissues in our noses, which engorge with blood when we lie. This causes a tingling or itching sensation that requires a nose touch to satisfy.

• Neck rub: We rub our necks because of the stress we experience when we feel that an obstacle may be insurmountable.

• Eye rub: An eye rub is an indicator of disbelief.

• Women are more likely to lie to make other people feel good, while men tend to lie to make themselves look better.

Study Shows Average Age of Management Positions Now 25 Years Old

Generation Y people born after 1981 tend to climb to managerial posts in companies at a relatively much younger age than their older counterparts. Employees born after 1980 tend to first become managers at an average age of 25.3, compared to 31.8 for their counterparts who were born in the 50s. The Y-generation people seem to climb the career ladder faster as they tend to have stronger ability to learn and a stronger work ethic, according to the poll.

Most of the business executives said they do not particularly consider employees’ ages when they are choosing new leaders within their corporations. They choose according to negotiation and coordination ability. The ability to solve problems and professional abilities are more important factors when they are considering promotions.

Interestingly enough, the Y-generation people do not necessarily perform well in management terms. According to company executives, managers aged 39-48 were the best performers.

Are people having four or five children just because they can? Because they feel that it shows their wealth and status?

Raising kids today costs a fortune. Last month, the Department of Agriculture estimated that each American child costs an average of $204,060 to house, clothe, educate and entertain until the age of 18. What’s worse, the desire to have another child opens one up to charges of elitism and status consciousness. In many major U.S. cities and their suburbs having three or more children has now come to seem like an ostentatious display of good fortune. The family of five has become “deluxe.”

We not only wonder, we marvel, we get jealous, we gawk. “Having three kids in the city is a way of showing off, absolutely,” says Elisabeth Egan, who, like many families she knows, moved out of New York to the suburbs of Montclair, N.J., to manage the feat. “A third child in the city is definitely a luxury good.”

A February analysis of Current Population Survey data by the Council on Contemporary Families found that in the past 10 years, the top-earning 1.3% of the population has seen an uptick in families with three or more children. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 12% of upper-income women had three children or more in 2002, compared with only 3% in 1995.

For a couple’s every conceivable wish or worry, the parenting industry knows the precise formula of guilt, fear, hope, love and desire that will empty the parental wallet. Rather than fret about spending too much money, most parents these days are consumed by the anxiety of underspending on their children.

So parents quickly adjust to the demanding realities of the child-rearing industry. Today’s American children, by contrast, get an average of 70 new toys a year.  Baby showers have replaced bridal showers as the blowout du jour; American women today have an average of three. The accompanying baby registries have mushroomed into a $240 million business. In upscale urban areas and tony suburban enclaves, where luxury families are flourishing, that can translate to $800 a week for child care alone. So-called high-end nannies (those who hail from licensed agencies and come equipped with working papers and even driver’s licenses) can cost more than $50,000 a year on the books.

Most families simply can’t afford all this. And surely it can’t all be necessary.

As our economy worsens, middle-aged Americans move in with their parents.

Taking shelter with parents isn’t uncommon for young people in their 20s, especially when the job market is poor. But now the slumping economy and the credit crunch are forcing some children to do so later in life — even in middle age. Financial planners report receiving many calls from parents seeking advice about taking in their grown children after divorces and layoffs.

Parents “jeopardize their financial freedom by continuing to subsidize their children,” says one financial planner. “We have a hard time saying no as a culture to our children, and they keep asking for more.” Plenty of well-meaning parents must delay retirement or scale back their dreams because they have to help their children.

A new survey by retiree-advocacy group American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found that one-fourth of Generation Xers, those 28 to 39 years old, receive financial help from family and friends.

You just know in your gut whether or not you can work with your spouse.

For many, the notion of working with a spouse sounds, at best, dangerous, and, at worst, like a direct path to marital collapse. But for a growing number of American couples, running a business together offers the best of both worlds: pursuing a professional dream with someone you love and respect, while getting a chance to spend more time with them. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, there were approximately 1.2 million husband- and wife-owned small businesses nationwide in 2003, the most recent year for which the group has data. Anecdotally, family-business experts say that number has only continued to climb.

The increase in the number of women choosing an entrepreneurial path is playing a role in the growth of husband-wife teams. In the past, men tended to open a business and often a wife is helping, but he doesn’t always see her as his partner. Now, women are more entrepreneurial and recognizing that more in themselves than they used to.

It’s nearly impossible for couples to completely separate their work and personal lives. Other couples say that a key to maintaining both a strong business partnership and healthy marriage is to establish distinct responsibilities that do not overlap. Still, it’s not for every couple. When personalities and business acumen mesh in a couple’s professional life, these married entrepreneurial teams say the personal relationship often follows suit.

Those with net worth of $1 million to $10 million reshape U.S. culture

• Middle-class millionaires now account for 10% of the U.S. population.

• 7.6% of American households, or 8.4 million households are middle-class millionaires

• The average middle-class millionaire works 70 hours per week

• Middle-class millionaires are five times more likely than the average worker to say they are always available for work

• 89% believes that anyone can attain wealth through hard work

• 62% believes that networking, or knowing many people, is the key to financial success

• 9 out of 10 middle-class millionaires say they made a bad career or business move, but almost three-fourths say that was crucial to their business success

• They are five times more likely than the average middle-class person to continue on in the same business course in spite an earlier failure

• 65% of middle-class millionaires characterize their approach to negotiating as “doing whatever you need to do to win“

• They say they need a net worth of $24 million to feel wealthy, and $13.4 million to be considered rich.

Bosses who never need to work any more, but go to the office anyway

While many billionaires do enjoy a blessedly unhurried existence, some embrace a very different approach: They hit the office every day. The most prominent working rich? The world’s wealthiest chief executives. These are people who don’t have to work another day in their lives. And yet they choose to devote untold amounts of time and energy to the arduous task of running a company and answering to shareholders.

Who are they? By perusing the ranks of the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans from September and our annual billionaires’ list from last March, Forbes found the 10 richest CEOs around, some of whom founded their own companies, others who benefited from large inheritances and still others who built their fortunes through other means.

1. Warren Buffett Net worth: $52 billion

   Chairman and chief executive, Berkshire Hathaway

2. Lakshmi Mittal Net worth: $32 billion

   Chairman and chief executive, ArcelorMittal

3. Sheldon Adelson Net worth: $28 billion

   Chairman and chief executive, Las Vegas Sands

4. Bernard Arnault Net worth: $26 billion

   Chairman and chief executive of LVMH Group

5. Lawrence Ellison Net worth: $26 billion

   Chief executive of Oracle

6. Mukesh Ambani Net worth: $20.1 billion

   Chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries

7. Anil Ambani Net worth: $18.2 billion

   Chairman of Reliance ADA

8. Michael Dell Net worth: $17.2 billion

   Chairman and chief executive, Dell

9. Azim Premji Net worth: $17.1 billion

   Chairman, Wipro

10. Charles Koch Net worth: $17 billion

    Chairman and chief executive, Koch Industries

Once a buyer falls in love with a property, they actively collude in the whole fairy-tale process, swallowing whatever the seller says without thinking to question it.  

1. “My neighbors are wonderful!”  Really? Why not check it out for yourself? Knock on the wonderful neighbor’s door. Tell them you are thinking of buying the house next door and ask them what they think of the neighborhood.
2. “The roof leaked once, but we fixed it.”  The seller may not even think they are lying here, but if the repairs have been done in some half-baked way, you need to know. Get a professional home inspection. 
3. “I’ve only seen one termite on the deck.”  If there’s any hint that there might be problems with pests, you should get an insect inspection. These creatures are not wandering hobos dropping in on a house for a look around then moving on their merry way. They come in groups.
4. “There’s no radon — ever.”  Nearly one out of every 15 homes in the U.S. is estimated to have elevated radon levels. To find out about radon gas levels in your area, contact your local Environmental Protection Agency office.

5. “I didn’t know I should have told you about the foreclosure.” Get title insurance. Judgments, tax and mechanical liens are covered by title insurance.

6. “The planes from the airport don’t fly over this house.” You can find this out for sure by contacting the FAA.

7. “There’s never been any flooding.” Most older homes do have some flooding in the basement when there is excessive rain, so it is quite possible a seller could lie to you about this.

8. “Our schools are great!” For an objective view, get a free school report from HomeFair.com or GreatSchools.net.

9. “They can’t build on that lot across the street.” Why can’t they? If the lot is too small, they might get a variance. Talk to the planning board to find out.

A List Of Important Things You Should Do:

• Get a professional home inspection. Qualified home inspectors routinely uncover problems with houses that you can’t see. The most common problems involve plumbing, cooling and heating systems, leaky roofs, kitchen appliances and cracked foundations.

• Spring for extra inspections. These include insects, radon, leaky underground tanks and bad well-water.

• Visit the property during rush hour and on Friday or Saturday night. It’s the only way to see what the next-door kids are like, how traffic is on the weekends, and how noisy it really gets around the neighbor’s pool.

• Get a signed disclosure form from the seller or the broker representing the seller.  If they don’t disclose the defect, they’re subject to suit.

When people are feeling negative, they want to cheer themselves up by shopping. People have no idea this is going on.

A new study shows people’s spending judgment goes out the window when they’re down, especially if they’re a bit self-absorbed. Study participants who watched a sadness-inducing video clip offered to pay nearly four times as much money to buy a water bottle than a group that watched an emotionally neutral clip.

The new study released Friday by researchers from four universities goes further, trying to answer whether temporary sadness alone can trigger spendthrift tendencies. The study found a willingness to spend freely by sad people occurs mainly when their sadness triggers greater “self-focus.”

The researchers concluded sadness can trigger a chain of emotions leading to extravagant tendencies. Sadness leads people to become more focused on themselves, causing the person to feel that they and their possessions are worth little. That feeling increases willingness to pay more — presumably to feel better about themselves.

The government’s efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy by doling out checks to workers could backfire, according to two surveys asking consumers what they will do with their checks.

Nearly three-quarters of those asked on both surveys said they will either pay down debt or save any money sent to them as part of an economic stimulus package. The remaining quarter indicated they would spend the money, which is the goal of the program. So that’s $25 billion, not $100 billion, and it’s not clear how quickly it will be spent. What’s more, money that is directed toward lenders, be it to pay off mortgages or credit-card bills, is money that’s already been spent. In other words, it’s already done its job in helping the economy.

International Council of Shopping Centers  found that 46% of respondents said they would mostly pay off debt with the checks while another 28% said they would save the money. Both surveys found that the results didn’t differ across income levels.

The rationale behind the stimulus, which is primarily aimed at lower- and middle-income taxpayers, is that those with less income are more likely to spend the money on things they might not have been able to afford otherwise, such as big-screen TVs or new clothes. That in turn would boost economic activity and help the U.S. avoid a recession.

This is madness. As our infrastructure crumbles and our nation devolves into an uneducated, uncivilized social wasteland, we continue to amass trillions of dollars in debt creating bomb craters in the sands of Iraq.  If this continues, we will follow in the footsteps of all previous corrupt, immoral empires.

The Importance of First Impressions

The first impression a CEO gives, even based solely on certain facial characteristics, could predict how successful his company will be, a new study suggests. First impressions (what others think of a person at a glance) can tell us a lot about another person, and several psychological studies have shown that they can predict success in areas such as running for elected office or teaching. But how well a teacher teaches and how much a candidate appeals to voters are both subjective ideas.

Psychologists Nicholas Rule and Nalini Ambady of Tufts University set out to study whether first impressions could predict performance in a more objective evaluation: how successful a CEO’s company was. In their experiment, the researchers had college students rate the faces of the CEOs of the highest and lowest ranking Fortune 1000 companies according to their perceived leadership abilities. Certain personality traits associated with leadership, including competence, dominance, likeability, facial maturity and trustworthiness, can be judged from a person’s face, previous studies have shown.

The researchers grouped these traits into two factors influencing leadership. Competence, dominance and facial maturity were combined to represent “power,” while likeability and trustworthiness represented “warmth.” The CEOs who were rated as more powerful by the students turned out to be running more successful companies.

Doctors and Lawyers, Make Way For The Hedge Funds and Private Equity Firms

As of 2006, nearly 60% of doctors polled by the American College of Physician Executives said they had considered getting out of medicine because of low morale, and nearly 70% knew someone who already had. Make no mistake, law and medicine (the most elite of the traditional professions) have always been demanding. But they were also unquestionably prestigious. Sure, bankers made big money and professors held impressive degrees. But in the days when a successful career was built on a number of tacitly recognized pillars (outsize pay, long-term security, impressive schooling and authority over grave matters) doctors and lawyers were perched atop them all. Now, those pillars have started to wobble.

“The older professions are great, they’re wonderful,” says author Richard Florida.  “But they’ve lost their allure, their status. And it isn’t about money.” The pay is still good and the in-laws aren’t exactly complaining. Still, something is missing, say many doctors, lawyers and career experts: the old sense of purpose, of respect, of living at the center of American society and embodying its definition of “success.”

In a culture that prizes risk and outsize reward (where professional heroes are college dropouts with billion-dollar Web sites) some doctors and lawyers feel they have slipped a notch in social status, drifting toward the safe-and-staid realm of dentists and accountants. It’s not just because the professions have changed, but also because the standards of what makes a prestigious career have changed.

This decline is rooted in a broader shift in definitions of success, essentially, a realignment of the pillars. Especially among young people, professional status is now inextricably linked to ideas of flexibility and creativity, concepts alien to seemingly everyone but art students even a generation ago. Indeed, applications to law schools and medical schools have declined from recent highs. Nationally, the number of law school applicants dropped a 6.7% between 2006 and 2005.  44% of lawyers recently surveyed by the American Bar Association said they would not recommend the profession to a young person.)

Unquestionably, many doctors and lawyers still find the higher calling of their profession — helping people — as well as the prestige and money, worth the hard work. And the stars in either field are still that: commanding the handsome compensation and social cachet. But to others, the daily trudge serves as a constant reminder that the entrepreneur’s autonomy simply can’t be found in law or medicine.

Life for attornies is less like “Ally McBeal” and more like “The Practice,” where lawyers work like dogs in a thoroughly unglamorous setting. Doctors face similar pressure. Complaints about managed care crimping doctors’ income and authority over medical decisions are nothing new, but the problems are only getting worse, several doctors said. Increasing workloads and paperwork might be tolerable if the old feeling of authority were still the same, doctors said. But patients who once might have revered them for their knowledge and skill often arrive at the office armed with a sense of personal expertise, gleaned from a few hours on the internet, doctors said, not to mention a disdain for the medical system in general. And then there’s the money issue. Or rather, money envy. Associates at major New York firms often start at $150,000 to $180,000. Partners at the country’s biggest 100 firms took home an average of $1.2 million in 2006. Hardly small sums, but for many senior investment bankers, bonuses and salaries this year will average $2.25 million to $2.75 million. Doctors rarely approach such heights. While income varies widely, a typical physician might earn $150,00 to $300,000. A surgeon might make $250,000 to $400,000; hot-shot surgeons can earn $750,000 a year, and superstars over a million dollars.

Careers in more entrepreneurial industries like hedge funds and private equity firms follow the ’sky is the limit’ model of the entertainment industry, the Web or professional sports. Kevin J. Delaney, a sociology professor who has studied the culture of hedge funds and private equity firms, said executives there “love the idea of being responsible for their own fate.” They’re going to make a million or lose a million based on the trades they make.

This star-system mentality is particularly attractive to college students, many of whom were reared with the ’80s philosophy that every child was a potential superstar. And they want immediate rewards — not exactly the mentality that will fuel a student through years of medical school, a residency and additional training for a specialty.

Stats on Americans and How They Feel About Their Lives

• An extensive survey conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center found that 65% of Americans termed themselves “satisfied” with their lives. That compares with the four economic powerhouses of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, which averaged about 53%.
• Americans’ homes have roughly twice the square footage per occupant as those in the EU, Americans own more appliances, and, on average, they spend about 77% more each year than Europeans.
• By any historical standard, Americans are unbelievably wealthy. U.S. household wealth climbed from $38.8 trillion in 2002 to $58.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2007, an unprecedented 51% surge in just five years. That includes the recent meltdown in home prices.
• Another reason why Americans are happy right now: a million new jobs over the last year, a milestone that is underpinning U.S. economic growth right now.
• According to the Pew folks, there’s a 72% correlation between per capita GDP growth in a country and its citizens’ happiness.
• Teenage drug use, pregnancies, smoking and drinking are all on the decline; welfare reform is working, bringing down child poverty, and the divorce rate is falling. Horray!
• We’re having more babies than at any time since the 1970s.  Our 2.1 babies per adult woman puts us at the top of the developed world’s fertility rankings.  A child is the biggest bet on a happy future that two people can make.