UPDATE

For a $10,000 minimum, you could also open a foreign certificate of deposit and earn interest rates that are higher than those paid by US banks. A three-month CD held in New Zealand dollars pays 5.46 percent, or 7.45 percent for one in Mexican pesos. By comparison, EverBank offers a three-month CD for 2.95 percent in US dollars. EverBank ( http://www.everbank.com) is an online bank based in Jacksonville, FL.

Pain at the pump Skyrocketing gas prices are driving one out of two Americans to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle, or to at least consider one, says the Results for America project ( http://www.resultsforamerica.org). To see how much you'd save with a fuel-efficient car, use the calculator at http://www.40mpg.org. For instance, a driver who travels 25,000 miles a year in a car that gets 17 miles to the gallon, would save almost $1,700 a year at the pump if he switched to a car that gets 40 miles per gallon. (Estimates are based on a price per gallon of $2.)