perks

For investors who open a brokerage account and buy stocks, there's more to be had than just the promise of better investment returns. Some of America's best-known firms also offer perks to their shareholders -- and not just big-money shareholders, either.

It seems like a trick question when the job interviewer asks: "How much are you looking to make?" In today's tough job market, your instinct might be to answer, "I'll take anything." But the smarter move is to do some research so you can walk into salary talks with a sense for your market value.

To retain and attract top employees, U.S. companies are turning to perks such as subsidized training and flexible work conditions rather than raises. These incentives are finding a welcome among employees, too, especially educational benefits.

Thanks to public outcry and the prodding of the SEC, public companies don't throw crazy perks at their CEOs the way they once did. But execs still routinely get lavish benefits that increase their pay by millions. See our list of this year's most outrageous CEO perks.

Can you imagine a job that comes with a free ocean-view house? Or one where they provide you with free on-site child care, a gym and free gourmet pick-me-up snacks delivered to your desk every day at 3 p.m.? While some 14 million unemployed Americans are busy simply imagining a job -- any job --...

I am a loyal customer of Stumptown Coffee, the Portland, Ore. boutique roaster which is famous for its passionate owner, Duane Sorenson, and his commitment to coffee (he once set a record for paying a lot for coffee beans, $47.06 per pound for the Nicaraguan Los Golondrinas beans). It's also famous...