• The Wise Donor - It's great to be charitable, and BestMoneyinfo.com encourages people to donate to charities. However, just as "the wise consumer is the informed consumer" when buying products or services, the "wise donor is the informed donor" when giving to charities. Accordingly, before making your charitable donations, check out the following two websites: "Charity Navigator, Tips & Resources" and GuideStar.org to get information on (from the websites):
  • Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors
  • Questions To Ask Charities Before Donating
  • What To Do When A Charity Calls
  • Protecting Yourself From Online Scams
  • Guide To Donating Non Cash Items
  • Verify[ing] A Charity's Legitimac
    
• Is Entrepreneurship For You? – Tips On Gauging Whether Starting Your Own Business Is Right For You.
  
  Starting a business is a very risky endeavor, and should only be undertaken after careful and detailed research and analysis, which should include the input of and advice from professionals (i.e. lawyer, accountant, etc.).  (Indeed, less than half of all start-up businesses succeed, and, of those that do, most take at least 18-24 months to begin showing any profit.)
  
  However, for those interested in exploring the possibility of starting a business, the U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION provides a website with initial information on how to decide whether starting a business is a good idea for you, and, if you decide to do so, how to plan, start, and manage a business.  That website can be accessed at:
  www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/areyouready.html

• Working at Home "Opportunities": What To Watch Out For!
  
  If you watch TV or listen to radio, you’ve seen scores of ads for jobs that allow you to make hundreds or even thousands of dollars working from the comfort of your home.  And, while there are legitimate jobs that allow you to make money from home, you should be exetremely careful before answering – and most certainly sending money – in response to one of these ads.
  
  Many of these make money at home ‘offers’ are, at best, a waste of any money you send.  One of the most common ‘offers’ is the envelope-stuffing job. One reporter, investigating their legitmacy, purchased 12 such envelope stuffiing kits (all claiming potential earnings of  $1,500 per week with little effort).   Each kit, costing between $20 and $50 apiece, basically directed the purchaser of the kit to recruit others to stuff envelopes for them. Ultimately, the reporter was unable to make any money from any the 12 starter kits purchased.
  
  As noted, there are legitimate jobs that allow you to make money from home.  However, acccording to research conducted by Christine Durst, author of "The Rat Race Rebellion,", the ratio of apparently worthless ‘offers’ to legitimate opportunities in the home job arena is 42:1.
  
  Nevertheless, if you are serious and motivated in your desire to find a legitmate work at home business, here are some helpful hints that will at least increase your posssilbity of success:
  
  
  • Before you make any payment (via giving your credit card number or mailing a check) be certain you actually speak to a live person over the phone (rather than just reading a brochure) who answers all the questions you have.
  • Be sure to include in your questions potential problems and dificulties you’ll face with the ‘program’ they’re selling.
  • Ask, and try and be referred to people who have worked for (and been succesful with) the work at home system you’re thinking of purchasing.  And, if you can get such referrals, contact and talk to these people.
  • Ask about refund policies (for any cost you expend) and what specifics you’d have to go through to get a refund.  (This is especially true if you’re buying a "starter kit" or  "information packet" online.)
  • Try to see if any specific complaints have been lodged against the company and/or specific home sales product you’re thinking of buying.  Start with your local Better Business Bureau.
  • Don’t reveal ANY information (other than your credit card or bank accout number, if and when you decide to purchase the product/program).  Towards that end, you’re better off making payments with a credit card (which will offer you greater protection if the product/program isn’t legit and/or you decide to seek a refund than if you pay via check).
  • DO NOT give any addedd credence to the legitmacy of the product/program being advertised because of where its being advertised.  (i.e. Just because the advertisement is on a website you respect, don’t assume this adds any credence to its legitmacy.  As always, do your homework, be very cautious; as the saying goes: caveat emptor).
    
• Massachusetts Attorney General’s Complaint and Information Line:    617-727-8400; Mass. Attorney General’s Office website: www.ago.state.ma.us
  
• Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys:  617-566-5640
  
• Cellphone Telemarketing Block # : 1-888-382-1888
  
• Massachusetts Division of Banks:  617-956-1500;
  www.state.ma.us/dob
  
• Massachusetts Treasurer’s Office, Abandoned Property Division:
  http://abpweb.tre.state.ma.us/abp/abp.htm
  
• Federal Trade Commission: Consumer Information Website – http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm 
  
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) (a non profit organization of U.S. insurance regulators) link to insurance departments and department complaint databases – Consumers can find whether specific companies are licensed to sell insurance in a given state, and whether there is any history of complaints against said insurance company: www.naic.org/cis/index.do 
  
• National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) – an organization that helps, advocates for, and offers info to consumers regarding consumer issues and consumer rights.  NCLC can be accessed at: www.consumerlaw.org/about/index.shtml ; NCLC also offers a lengthy list of links to other consumer related websites, at:
  www.consumerlaw.org/links/
  
• Treasury Notes and Bills – General information about Treasury Bills and Notes, and U.S. Savings Bonds can be found at The U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Public Debt’s website – www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
  
• U.S. Savings Bonds – For consumers who possess old U.S. Savings Bonds, but don’t know what they’re worth and/or if they’re still paying interest, and what’s the bond’s date of final maturity, The U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Public Debt offers a specific Savings Bond Calculator at – www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/savprice.htm.
  
• GetHuman.com – A website who’s goal is to “[I]mprove the quality of customer service and phone support in the US.” (From the website.)  The website includes tips on how to get free “411” phone number information, how to bypass customer service line computers to reach a live operator of customer service representative,  and a lengthy list of company and government toll free numbers –  www.gethuman.com
  
• Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
  The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is a non-profit organization that seeks to help both educators and parents to improve the personal financial literacy of young adults.  In addition to offering financial educational tools and literature and guest speaker programs, Jumpstart "...[M]aintains an online database of national Training Programs to assist educators, parents, students and others in gaining personal finance knowledge and skills."  For more information, Jumpstart can be reached at (202) 466-8610, or accessed online at www.jumpstart.org .

Every Saturday on The Money Show, we feature a Histrivia (historical trivia) question.  What does this have to do with money?  Almost always, nothing.  But it's fun, and informative.

Precious Metals

All metals are naturally either gray or white (they can be artificially colored, but they are naturally gray or white), except for two. What are those two?

Copper and Gold.

(By the way:  Most copper ore comes from the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, which is the largest manmade excavation on earth. It's approximately 2 miles across, and 1½ miles deep. And it's one of the few manmade objects on earth visible from space.)

Bonus Question: Since we're talking about metals, other than the fact that little kids tend to like to taste everything (except, perhaps, the food their parents want to feed them), why do kids eat lead paint?

Because lead, and thus, lead paint, tastes sweet.

Coach Belichick and the U.S. Supreme Court

What's the connection between coach Bill Belichick (or, more specifically, Coach Belichick's family) and the Supreme Court of the U.S.?

Coach Belichick's late father, Steve Belichick (an excellent football coach in his own right) was a teammate of and played football with future Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White on the Detroit Lions in 1941.

Bonus Question: Who is Dave Stachelski?

In the 2000 NFL draft, the Patriots picked Tom Brady with their sixth round pick (the 199th overall pick in the draft). Stachelski was the Patriots' fifth round pick that year (number 141 overall in the draft). Scott Pioli keeps a picture of Brady and a picture of Stachelski on his desk, to remind him that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and not to get too big for your britches. "If I was so smart," Pioli is quoted as saying, "I wouldn't have risked an entire round of the draft in picking Brady."

From David Halberstam's "The Education of a Coach", an excellent read.

Carl C. Magee

Carl C. Magee of Oklahoma City invented a device in the 1930's, and it's been fairly much despised ever since. What was it that he invented?

The Parking Meter.

Wilderness

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness is 28%. What percentage of North America is wilderness?

38%

Horseless Carriage

The first "horseless carriage" (automobile) that Henry Ford built - what did he call it?

A Quadricycle.

Hijinks and Fiji

What are the only two words in the English language that have three lower case letters in a row with a " ." over them?

Hijinks and Fiji.

Fort Knox

Where were the British Crown Jewels hidden during WWII?

Fort Knox. (So too were the British Magna Carta, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.)

Blacksmiths

Why are blacksmiths called blacksmiths (as opposed to green, red, blue, white, orange or other color smiths)?

Because blacksmiths work with the metal iron, which is the color black.

Friday the 13th

All months that begin on a Sunday will have a what in them?

Friday the 13th.

Veterans Day

What's the original name of Veterans Day, and why is it celebrated on November 11th?

Armistice Day.

Armistice Day originated as a day set aside by the United States, Great Britain, and France to commemorate the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, that brought an end to World War I. In fact, the armistice, or cease fire of World War I, was at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of that year, 1918.

In 1938, the day was made a federal holiday in the United States. After World War II, it became a day for tribute to those who lost their lives in that conflict as well. In 1954, after the Korean War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an act of Congress to change the name of the holiday to Veterans Day "to honor veterans on the eleventh day of November of each year … a day dedicated to world peace."

Accordingly, Veterans Day now honors all U.S. veterans of all wars. From 1971 to 1977, the holiday was celebrated on the fourth Monday in October. In 1978, however, the traditional date of the holiday was restored to November 11.

Bonus Question - Where did the name "Jeep" come from?

Short for "GP", which is an abbreviation of "general-purpose vehicle."

Candy Bar

What was the first filled candy bar (as opposed to a solid candy bar, such as the Hershey bar)?

The "Milky Way" bar.

Bonus Question #1: What was the "Milky Way" bar designed after?

A malted milk shake.

Bonus Question #2: How did the "Snickers" bar get its name?

It was named after the Mars family's favorite horse, Snickers.

Bonus Question #3: Which country has the greatest per capita consumption of candy in the world?

Denmark.

The Color of Snow

What color is snow?

Snow has no color. It's frozen water, so it's clear. It appears white, because the edges of the frozen snow crystals reflect light, which makes it appear white.

Drink Popularity

What is the second most popular drink in the world?

Tea. (It's the sixth most popular drink in the U.S.A., although approximately 80% of tea consumed in the U.S. is iced tea.) For you "caffeine addicts," regular, or traditional "black" tea, has half the caffeine of regular coffee. And, along with caffeine, which is a fairly good asthma medication in a pinch, tea also has another drug, theophylline, which, is a very good asthma medication. Coffee contains it too, but at lower levels.)

Bonus Question: What's the number one most popular drink in the world?

Water.

JFK

What famous athlete's future wife was present at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza in Dallas?

Roger Clemens' wife Debbie. As an infant, her mother brought her to Dealey Plaza that day, and she was there with her mother when, tragically, President Kennedy was assassinated.

Alexander Graham Bell

Where was Alexander Graham Bell born?

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Bonus Question #1: His interest in communications can likely be traced to where?

His father was what would today be called a speech pathologist. (In fact, A. G. Bell taught the same in his younger years.)

Bonus Question #2: What's A.G. Bell's connection to Boston?

He moved to Boston when he was a young man, taught there, married a woman from there (Cambridge, MA), and invented the phone while living/ teaching/working there.

Moving Parts

Which racing vehicle has the most moving parts?

Monster trucks.

“Star Spangled Banner”

When and where was the “Star Spangled Banner” first played at a sporting event?

In the 7th inning of the first game of the 1918 World Series, between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox, in Chicago, Ill.  (By the way: At that time, the “Star Spangled Banner” was not yet the official national anthem of the U.S.)

Pizza

Pizzeria Uno was what the inventors of Chicago deep dish pizza called their first pizzeria restaurant.  What did they call their second pizzeria restaurant?

Pizzeria Due.

 Johnny Pesky

The right field foul pole in Fenway Park is known as “Pesky’s Pole.”  Who gave it that name?

Red Sox pitcher Mel Parnell, after Pesky hit a home run just past that pole to win a game for Parnell.

Bonus questions – In his major league career, how many home runs did Johnny Pesky hit in Fenway Park? 

 6

How many home runs did he hit in his major league career? 

17

Boston “Red Sox”

Who named the Boston“Red Sox” the “Red Sox”? 

John I. Taylor, then owner of the Boston “Pilgrims”, changed the name of the team to the “Red Sox” in 1907.  (He also gave “Fenway” Park its name – in 1912.  Since the newly built park was built in the “Fens” section of Boston, he decided it should be called Fenway Park.)

Anchorman

Who was dubbed the first TV “anchorman”, and who coined the ‘phrase’ or designation?

Walter Cronkite, by Don Hewitt, in 1952, prior to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, where Cronkite was to serve as the “anchor”, or point person for a number of CBS reporters at the conventions.  (Hewitt compared it to the anchor man/woman in a relay race.)

The Flintstones

Who was the first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV?

Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Who invented the chocolate chip cookie?

Mrs. Ruth GraveWakefield, co-owner of the “Toll House” Inn/Restaurant, in Whitman, MA, where they were originally made/served in 1937 (hence the name Toll House cookies for chocolate chip cookies).  She later cut a deal with Nestles: she’d get a lifetime supply of chocolate chips; in return, Nestles could print the recipe for Toll House cookies on the back of  package of Nestles chocolate chips.  Mrs. Whitman died in 1977; the Toll House Inn burned down on New Year’s Eve, 1984, but the recipe for Toll House cookies is still printed on the back of the packages of Nestles chocolate chips.

Baskin and Robbins

Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream – Why did/do they have 31 flavors?

One for each day of the month.

Bonus Question: Mr. Baskin and Mr. Robbins – how were they related?

Brothers-in-law.

“The Sting”

In the movie “The Sting”, the character played by Robert Shaw (Doyle Lonnegan, who is the object of the “sting”) has a limp.  Why?

In preparation for the movie, Robert Shaw sprained his ankle.  So, they wrote into the script that his character had a limp.

U.S. Marshall Service

Who established the U.S. Marshall Service?

George Washington.

Baseball Hall of Fame

What state has the largest number of native sons – i.e. people born there – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  (Includes players, umpires, managers, executives, etc.)

New York (26) (Pennsylvania is 2nd with 20, Ill. and California tied for 3rd with 19, and Ohio is 5th with 16.)

Bonus Questions – How many states have no native sons elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

12 (Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado and Maine.)

Annie Oakley

Who adopted, (figuratively, not legally, but, adopted, nonetheless), Annie Oakley as his “daughter”?

Sitting Bull – who, along with Annie Oakley, was touring with Buffalo
Bill’s wild west show.

(This is the same Sitting Bull whose Sioux Indians defeated
General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876). Sitting Bull was a
Sioux, also know as Lacota, Medicine Man.  He did not personally take
place in that battle, but it was a dream of his in which the Sioux defeated
Custer’s troops that led the Sioux chiefs to go forward with that battle. 
Indeed, he was later “blamed” by the U.S. for that battle, and was forced
to lead the remaining Sioux to exile in Canada, where they lived until 1881,
when he and the remaining Sioux went back to Fort Buford (in what is now
the Dakotas) and surrendered.  He was later granted amnesty by the U.S.
government.)

Sitting Bull gave Oakley the nickname “Watanya Cicilla”, which translates to “Little Sure Shot” (Annie Oakley stood only 5 feet tall.  Annie Oakley, also, was not her real name.  Her real name was Phoebe Ann Mosey. Oakley was her paternal grandparent’s name.)

Robert Duvall

Actor Robert Duvall is the descendant of what famous military officer?

General Robert E. Lee.

Bonus Questions: What famous movie did Duvall have a fairly integral, virtually non-speaking role in? What movie made Robert Duvall into a movie star?

“To Kill A Mockingbird”; “The Godfather, Part I”

Designated Hitter Rule

When was the DH rule in baseball first proposed? 

In December, 1929.

Bonus question – by whom?

Thanksgiving

How did Thanksgiving come to be celebrated on the 4^th Thursday of November?

After the Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln, in an effort to try and take the country’s mind a little off the horror’s of war, and unify the country, decreed Thanksgiving to be a national holiday, and that, from that point forward, Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the 4^th Thursday of each November.  Prior to that, Thanksgiving had been a state holiday, and it had been up to each state to decide when it was celebrated (which varied, from state to state, anywhere from late November, into December), or whether to celebrate it at all.  In fact, many southern states felt it to be a “Damn Yankee” holiday and had refused to celebrate Thanksgiving.

First Flying President

Who was the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane?

Theodore Roosevelt.  (He was also the first president to own an automobile.)

“Gadget”

Where did the word “gadget” come from?

The Statute of Liberty, a gift to the U.S. from France, was made by a company, one of the principals of which was named “Gadget”  (Ga-zhay).  The Statute of Liberty was made in pieces, and had to be assembled once it arrived in the U.S.  Ater it was assembled, and became a big hit in the U.S., Gadget came up with the idea of marketing small replicas of the Statute of Liberty as mementoes.  These sold very well, and people in the U.S. started referring to them after the name of the man who introduced them…however, they pronounced Gadget as gad – jet.  Hence, the word gadget.

The Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine – which basically told the rest of the world that the U.S. would not put up with foreign nations trying to expand their holdings or powers in North America – who wrote it?

John Quincy Adams – later the sixth President of the U.S. – but, at the time, Secretary of State to President James Monroe, the fifth President.

“Jumping On The Bandwagon”

Jumping on the Bandwagon.  Where did that saying come from?

Political campaigns in the U.S. used to have brass bands pulled on flatbeds by horses, later by trucks, for political candidates, in parades.  People would literally jump onto the bandwagon to show their support for that candidate.

Iodized Salt

Why is iodine put in salt?                                                          

In the 1920’s, there was an outbreak of goutire (which is caused by a lack of iodine in one’s diet) in the U.S. Mid-West. The reason:  most people’s iodine comes from salt water fish, and the people living in the Mid-West got very little of that in their diet.  So, the federal government told salt companies that, while they didn’t have to add iodine to their salt, the government, henceforth, would only buy iodized salt.  And, since the U.S. government bought a lot of salt, and since iodine and iodizing salt was not that terribly expensive, the salt manufacturers started adding iodine to their salt.

Democrat’s “Donkey”

How did the donkey become the mascot (or symbol) for the Democrat Party?

In 1828, when Andrew Jackson ran for the Presidency as a Democrat, his opponents began referring to him as “Jackass.”  Rather than being insulted, Jackson liked it so much, he adopted it as the symbol of his party, and it stuck.

Presidents and College

Who was the last American President who did not attend college?

Harry S. Truman

“Wall” Street

How did Wall Street get its name?

Originally, there was an actual wall along what was, then, not much more than a dirt path, to protect the settlers of New York from attack.  Later, the wall was taken down, but the name stuck. Later still, of course, the street became one of the centers of the financial world.

Melting Points and Chocolate

What’s the melting point of cocoa butter, and why is that important?

Between 97 and 99 degrees (which is the same as the temperature of the human body), thus, allowing chocolate to ‘melt in your mouth, not in your hand’.

“Son of a Gun”

Son of a Gun – Where does that saying come from?

Son of a Gun refers to a child conceived on the gun deck of a British Man of War warship.  The gun deck is the part of such warships where British sailors socialized and fraternized, including, “fraternizing” with so-called ladies of ill repute, which, sometimes, resulted in sons (and daughters) “of a gun”.

“Three Stooges”

What famous comedienne guest starred in a Three Stooges short (before she was a famous comedienne)?

Lucille Ball.  ("Three Little Pigskins", 1934)

“Guest Stars”

Which television series included each of the following actors and actresses as a guest star at one point or another: Charles Bronson, Carol Burnett, Robert Duvall, Peter Falk, Buster Keaton, Jack Klugman, Lee Marvin, Burgess Meredith, Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Redford, Don Rickles, Mickey Rooney, Telly Savalas and William Shatner . 

"The Twilight Zone".

“Foley Artist”

What’s a “foley artist” and why are they called that?

A movie sound effects person.  Specifically, foley artists create and match live sound effects with the action of the picture.  They mix in the “soft” or background sounds that either aren’t picked up, or aren’t there at all, but should be, in a film (such as a log rolling down hill, or a body being punched, or footsteps, or a horse galloping, or of skiing, or the like).  Named after Jack Foley, who most consider the inventor of the modern art of sound effects.

What’s most interesting is some of the things they use to create certain sound effects.  For example: