Work & Finance

Am I a Perfectionist?

Find out what type of perfectionist you are by taking our quiz

The Best Life Guide to Choosing a Financial Advisor

The market’s mood swings are getting worse, your expenses keep going up, and your retirement plan is DIY. Where can you find advice you can trust? Here’s how to pluck an expert from a crowd of empty suits.

You sweat blood to get your account statement to six figures, and your family is counting on you to continue to build that wealth. To find a planner who can help, start by getting names from friends and colleagues and checking lists such as Barron’s Top 100 independent financial advisors. Once you have a list, here are the criteria you should use to narrow it down.

Be a Much Better Leader

You didn’t get where you are in life today without learning a few things, but one of the things you’ve learned is never to stop learning—especially from the masters. That’s why you need to...

Inflation Beaters

Six funds that should offer protection if the buck doesn't stop falling here

The Road to Eureka

You're only five steps from generating the best ideas of your life and turning your team into a creative wellspring

The year 1953 was a big one for the United States. Watson and Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. Playboy magazine debuted on newsstands. And ad man Alex Osborn popularized the term brainstorming, forever etching a flawed psychological tenet into modern corporate culture: the belief that two (or more) heads are better than one. "They're not. At least not always," says Sam Harrison, author of Zing! Five Steps and 101 Tips for Creativity on Command. In fact, people tend to generate twice as many ideas alone as they do in a group, according to researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington. Their research, however, outlines a key principle of effective brainstorming: Don't meet to harvest fresh ideas, meet to build on existing ones. So come prepared and then follow these tips to get the creative juices flowing.