Mitt Romney is very rich.That Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is wealthy comes as no surprise. But the Republican presidential candidate offered up some details last week, with the release of two years’ worth of tax returns. The Romneys -- like many taxpayers -- received a tax refund for their 2010 filing. But at $1.6 million, their refund was slightly higher than the IRS-reported average of $3,003.In 2010, Romney and his wife totaled $21.6 million in income and paid slightly more than $3 million in federal income taxes. That's good for an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent, acco... view article details

It has long been understood that, for men with thinning hair, the comb-over is rarely a wise choice. In fact, thanks to recent research by Wharton School lecturer Albert Mannes, there is now evidence that men who embrace baldness by shaving their heads can seem more dominant, confident, and masculine than those who let hair loss run its natural course.  Mannes' research was inspired by his own experience after he shaved his head in his mid-30s and noticed that people reacted to him differently. 'They were more standoffish and, on a few occasions, even deferential,' he said in an e-mail. Becaus... view article details

Women earn less than men. Estimates vary, but a recent report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research put women's earnings at about 82 percent of what their male counterparts make. Many theories have been proposed to explain this discrepancy: Women take time off to raise families and thus don't increase earnings as quickly as men. Women tend to choose jobs in lower-paying fields. Sexism leads employers to offer women less money. Women are less aggressive negotiators than men. Now, a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass. suggests the last factor may be... view article details

Historically, there tends to be increased interest in returning to school during an economic downturn. Many laid off workers may choose to complete a degree program, pursue a new course of study, or perhaps attain an advanced degree. Current students may choose to remain in school to further their studies while they wait out the current economic storm. Choosing to return to school, regardless of the reason, is a big decision for adult learners and a practical way for some to help survive a recession. Continuing personal development is always a smart choice regardless of the economic environmen... view article details

Last year, a Boston-area high-tech company saw its stock plunge from a record high of $58.75 on January 20, to a low of $1.13 exactly 11 months later in November. One employee, who chose to remain anonymous for this article, exercised 1,000 options at $10 a share when the stock reached its peak. With April 16 nipping at her heels, she still owns the shares. Imagine her terror upon learning that the spread of $48.75 multiplied by the 1,000 shares - a total of $48,750 - is subject to a parallel tax system called the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, at a rate of up to 28 percent. Even though her ... view article details

Have you noticed your international friends are always traveling and on the go, while your state-side buddies complain they’ve barely been able to make it to the beach at all this summer? The reason for this may be a lack of paid time off (PTO) for American employees. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), the U.S. is the only advanced economy (and member of the OECD) that doesn’t guarantee workers even a single day of PTO. The CEPR's report also confirmed 25 percent of America's workers in the private sector don’t get any time off at all. The statutory minimum paid l... view article details

Summer is on its way out. School is starting and fall is looming. But at least you got a nice relaxing vacation before your life kicks back into high gear.Wait, what's that you say? You didn't get a vacation? Too much work to be done? You're not alone.Depending on how you look at the numbers, Americans are some of the world's most industrious and dedicated workers, or we are profoundly overworked, our stress-fried brains in desperate need of some time away from the cubicle. Or maybe it's both.There's no doubt that American workers put in their hours: 1,741 per year, on average, according to th... view article details

A federal program designed to help jobless veterans find work is proving very popular with its target audience, according to numbers released this week by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.The VOW to Hire Heroes Act, signed into law in November 2011, calls for the creation of a program that pays for unemployed veterans to receive training in fields where skilled workers are in high demand, as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor. The resulting Veteran Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP, began accepting applications on May 15.In the six weeks since VRAP launched, the program has... view article details

The annual salary review season is upon us and employers are struggling to manage salary increases against a backdrop of continuous economic turmoil. We decided to take a look at what employees can expect for merit increases in 2009 as ever worsening economic developments come to light and threats of layoffs continue to be reported. According to a survey of online readers conducted by Business & Legal Reports (BLR) in late October, an increasing number of employers are considering making changes to their current pay budget plans for 2009. Approximately 39.9% of organizations responding to the... view article details

Two of the country's premier academic institutions -- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University -- have joined forces to launch an online education initiative that might just 'reinvent education,' according to Anant Agarwal, president of the new program.Dubbed edX, the program is based on MITx, a similar initiative launched by the science and technology school earlier this year. EdX will act as a sort of umbrella organization, allowing participating institutions to offer free, online courses from their curricula. Harvard and MIT are the initial partners in the program, b... view article details