Assessing the wealth of a cartoon character is something of a difficult task, considering that their wealth, like everything else about them, is completely fictional. Some organizations have made the attempt over the years, however, and what follows represents the opinions of those experts in the field of cartoon wealth. Some of the most well-heeled cartoons will be quite predictable and others may come as a genuine surprise. (more…)

Counterfeiting. It can range from everything from jokingly placing a dollar bill in a Xerox machine, to a real threat to our national security.  Think that’s an exaggeration?  Most consider counterfeit currency as merely an illegal means to accumulate wealth.  On the contrary, some of the most large-scale counterfeiting scams in history have been when one government floods a rival government with fake currency in order to weaken that rival government’s economy.  The British did it to the Americans during the Revolutionary War, and the Union did it to the Confederacy during the American Civil War.  This is why counterfeiting is often punishable by death.  It is equated with treason.  Fortunately today, a vast number of security measures are in place to protect much of the world’s currency.  But the problem still goes on. (more…)

They’re not just artists, they’re impresarios. Hip hop’s highest earners own record labels, restaurants and million dollar clothing lines. And when they’re not topping the charts, they’re hawking everything from booze to books. Here’s a look.

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A recent Yahoo Finance report looked at a big bunch of research studies that examined various reasons why some people earn a higher salary than others. Some of the results were very surprising, and if the statistics are true, some of us just can’t help but earn less than others - and vice versa. Of course, statistics can often be manipulated to make the survey results more interesting, but perhaps there’s some truth in the matter? Have a look at this list to see whether or not you have a chance of earning more in the future.

• Taller people earn more than shorter people.
• Left handed people get paid more than right handed people - and college graduates who use their left hand earn around twenty per cent more than right handed college graduates
• People who drink alcohol have a higher salary than those who don’t.
• If you’re a man, and married, you make more money than a single man.
• Gay women who live together earn 10% more than woman living in a heterosexual marriage.
• Women tend to choose majors at college that end up paying them a lower salary - at least this is one point that we can actually change!

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Scouring the internet is a great way to acquire knowledge, but there are few things better than a comprehensive book, written by an expert. That’s why, if you’re trying to build your personal finance library, it’s best to start with the basics. The following books pour are like a personable, accessible course in Personal Finance 101, giving you a solid base on which to grow your knowledge. (more…)

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It seems like a huge, unattainable goal, but a joint study between Merrill Lynch & Co. and the Capgemini Group reports that the world now houses more than 10 million millionaires. Indeed, their total net worth, not including real estate holdings, amounts to an astounding $41 trillion, an increase of 9 percent from the previous year. (more…)

Originally used as a term to describe wealthy individuals who funded theater productions in great Britain, angel investors have become the go-to people when your start-up needs seed money, but not enough warrant a full fledged venture capitalist firm. Acquiring an angel investors can involve everything from full on formal proposals to an individual visiting your dorm room and writing a check. What follows are some of those individuals.

Ron Conway – Arguably the most famous angel investor of them all, Ron Conway is a founding general partner in the investment fund, “Angel Investors LP.” Ron’s fame (infamy?) in the angel investment world has earned him the unofficial title of, “Godfather of Silicon Valley”. Ron was one of the first investors in Ask Jeeves, Google, and Paypal. Currently he also works as an advisor for Facebook.

Andy Bechtolsheim – Co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Andy made one of the most famous angel investments when he gave $100,000 to two boys in their dorm room after they showed him their search engine software. The boys’ names were Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Their software was Google. Andy also founded Granite Systems and Kealia, which which were later bought by Cisco, and Sun respectively. Currently, he is the chief architect at Sun.

Chris Sacca – One of the more recent employees of Google to move into angel investing, Chris Sacca began in 2006 with his investment in Photobucket. Up until recently, Chris was Head of Speical Initiatives at Google Inc., where he headed Google’s efforts to install a WiFi network in San Francisco. He also headed a similar project in Mountain View.

Loic Le Meur – A well known French blogger and entrepreneur, Loic Le Meur had his start when he founded his first company, an interactive agency, B2L. At the same time, Loic also founded RapidSite France, which grew to be the number one web-hosting company for small business’s in France. Loic would go on to sell both B2L and Rapidsite. Since then, Loic has founded and sold Tekora, an application service provider, as well purchased Ublog, which he merged with Six Apart where he was named Executive Vice President. Loic has served as an angel investor in a number of tech startups and currently serves on the RSS advisory board who are in charge of creating the RSS 2.0 specification.

Aydin Senkut – Founder and President of of Felicis Ventures, Aydin was originally a Senior Manager at Google in charge of strategic partner development and account management in Asia Pacific. Since moving into angel investing Aydin’s investments have rivaled even Ron Conway’s. Companies in his portfolio have included RapLeaf and webs.com. He also funds Lead2, a conservative organization focused on public policies regarding entrepreneurship and technological innovation.

Marc Andreessen – Marc will forever be cemented in the internet’s history as one of the two creators of the very first popular web browser Mosaic, which Marc programmed while he was a student at the University of Illinois. When Mosaic was brought into the commercial world it was given a new name, Netscape. When AOL bought Netscape for $4.2 billion, Marc became AOL’s CTO. Since then he has served as founder and chair of Loudcloud (later known as Opsware before being purchased by Hewlett-Packard), and is now co-founder of Ning. Marc has invested in such companies as Digg, Plazes, and Twitter.

Peter Thiel – Co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, Peter is now President of Clarium Capital Management LLC and a managing partner of The Founders Fund. Earning a degree in 20^th Century Philosophy, as well as a Juris Doctorate from Stanford, Peter practiced law for a short period before forming Thiel Capital Management. Co-Founding PayPal, he would take it public and sell it to eBay for $1.5 billion. His personal stake has been valued at roughly $55 million. After the sale he reformed Thiel Capital Management under the new name Carium Capital Management. Peter has made investments in companies such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Friendster.

Josh Kopelman – Founder of Half.com, an online store that connected sellers of used books, music, and movies to prospective buyers, Josh successfully sold Half.com in 2000 to Ebay for $350 million. In 2001, Josh and his wife created the Kopelman Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on angel investing. Currently, Josh is Managing Director of First Round Capital. He has invested in a number of tech companies including StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, and Wikia.

Dr. Ian Sobieski – Managing director and founder of the “Band of Angels Fund L.P.”, Dr. Sobieski oversees a fund amounting to roughly $50 million. His Ph.D. is in Aeronautics from Stanford University. Beyond that he also has an MS in Aeronautics, a BS in Aerospace Engineering, and a BA in Philosophy. Before managing the “Band of Angels Fund”, Dr. Sobieski was a director and executive at Evite.com. He is also a founding member of the Angel Capital Association and a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Young Venture Capitalists Association.

Joe Kraus – Founder of Excite, JotSpot, and DigitalConsumer.org, Joe had his start when he joined with five engineering friends to found Excite. After leaving Excite a year before it went bankrupt, Josh would co-found Digitalconsumer.org a non-profit group dedicated to fair-use rights in digital media. Josh would also serve as co-founder and CEO of Jotspot, which was bought by Google, where Josh now serves as director of product management. He has also been involved as an angel investor in a number of tech startups including LinkedIn.

Gil Penchina – A graduate of the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Gil gained most of his fame as Vice President and General Manager at eBay. He made news when he left eBay in 2006 to become the CEO of Wikia, Wikipedia’s for profit sister company. Although currently “on hiatus” from angel investing, Gil has invested in such companies as Paypal, Evite, Properazzi, and Qype.

Despite their varying background and training, angel investors to all be ambitious trailblazers with their eyes on the future and the funds to push towards it.

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Owning an electric car is not a dream of the future, but rather a goal you achieve right now. Check out the following five electric cars currently on the market: (more…)

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Your pennies may be feeling pinched, but don’t cross the idea of a vacation off your list just yet. Depending on your lifestyle, there’s a way for you to travel the world and discover hidden locales, and do it all while saying in someone else’s house, for free. It’s called housesitting, and with the right references and tips, you could soon be on your way to an economic and enjoyable vacation. (more…)

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Finding a way to have an additional stream of income, even if it is small, can be a great way to help you save for special occasions or to reduce your debts. If you can get this income stream from something you enjoy doing, then that’s all the better. Yahoo recently published a piece featuring a variety of hobbies that could make you money. From their case studies, we’ve got our own ideas for turning hobbies into dollars: (more…)