The best real estate investment in the past decade was found at the opposite end from trophy resorts and office towers, in 5-foot-by-5-foot lockers.

Self-storage companies, which rent units to small businesses and consumers under names such as “Uncle Bob’s Self Storage (SSS),” produced the best risk-adjusted return among 10 U.S. real estate investment trust indexes in the past decade, according to the BLOOMBERG RISKLESS RETURN RANKING. They had the highest total return and the third-lowest volatility, for a risk-adjusted gain of 10.6 percent. Owners of offices, hotels and warehouses fared among the worst, hurt by price swings.

MORE AT…http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-02/best-u-s-real-estate-with-self-storage-riskless-return.html

The votes are in! Thousands voted for their favorites, now check out the winners for best restaurants in San Diego from the Readers’ Choice Best Restaurants 2012 ballot from Ranch & Coast! http://ranchandcoast.com/INDULGE/23/DINING/3732/SAN-DIEGOS-BEST-RESTAURANTS-2012/

By MICHELLE HIGGINS NY Times

HIGHER hotel prices, airline capacity cuts and rising travel demand mean travelers will have to work harder to find a good deal in 2012. But there are plenty of online tools to help keep your vacation expenses in check. Here are 19 go-to Web sites to help you save money this year.

Looking for sales on a specific route, or just want to go somewhere cheap? AirfareWatchdog.com hunts down deals computers tend to miss, like promo codes airlines include in e-mail newsletters. It also finds sales from Allegiant and Southwest, which typically aren’t listed on major airfare search engines. You can sign up for specific fare alerts or a list of all the cheap round-trip fares from your local airport.
Where can you go for $500 or less? Kayak.com/explore will show you where you can vacation for a particular price and display the results on a map. You can narrow your search by month, region, flight length, weather or activity. Clicking on a price reveals dates the fare is available.
If you already know where you want to go, use Itasoftware.com to find the cheapest dates to fly. Click on “airfare search” in the middle of the home page, then enter your departure date and destination and select “see calendar of lowest fares.” To purchase, you must go to the airline’s Web site or online agencies like Travelocity.
more at…
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/travel/19-web-sites-for-travel-savings-in-2012.html?src=me&ref=general

By David Coursey | Forbes

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/25-worst-passwords-2011-revealed-202955980.html
If you see your password below, STOP!
Do not finish reading this post and immediately go change your password — before you forget. You will probably make changes in several places since passwords tend to be reused for multiple accounts.
Here are two lists, the first compiled by SplashData:
1. password
2. 123456
3.12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passwOrd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies

http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012/full-list

Worried about a tax audit? Don’t be a prime target. Here’s what the IRS looks for and tips to help you avoid getting singled out.

#1: You have a sketchy tax preparer
Sometimes your tax preparer is to blame for an audit. If a preparer promises unusually high refunds without asking to see proper documentation for deductions and credits, don’t be fooled, said Vincenzo Villamena, CPA and managing partner at accounting firm Online Taxman. You’re legally responsible for the information on your return no matter what a preparer tells you, so make sure to look over your return before it’s sent to the IRS.
MORE AT…http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/pf/taxes/1203/gallery.audit-red-flags/?iid=SF_PF_Lead