Friday Linkfest

• What's your magic number for retirement? - Tips on saving for retirement.
  
• Fixing Walmart - Some good points, but they missed the boat. My suggestion for Walmart? Slash 90% of your workforce, increase salaries by 10% across the board, rehire back to full staff with people that can actually smile, say hello, and bother to know where things are in the store, then hire cleaning crews and restockers 24/7 to keep your stores from looking like garbage dumps.
  
• Get 50mpg in your own car - Yeah right, but they do have good tips for conserving gas as you drive.
  
• Flying Solo - Save money by vacationing alone. Great idea if you need alone time at a spa, but what's the point of going away if you can't share the experience with someone?
  
• Credit Cards not a game - The game LIFE recently added charge cards to the game and changed the rules a bit. The distinction is between debit cards and credit cards, and the author argues kids don't know the difference. Well, I say its a good opportunity to teach them, then. A debit card is just about the same as a checkbook (and most checks are cashed electronically now anyway), or at least it is used the same. What's interesting is that the new LIFE, to win, you need to earn the most 'life points' a combination of wealth and experience. Saving money isn't as important in LIFE anymore.
  
• Don't get risky with late retirement saving - You need to save early, but a lot of babyboomers have little to no retirement money stashed away. Fortunately most of them can dip a bit into social security, but the young generations won't have that option. Start saving now.