Where do New Jobs REALLY Come From (And Go)?

— Startups account for only 3% of the nation's economy, but 20% of new job creation. Further, although they represent a tiny percentage of the population, immigrants launched 28% of all new companies last year. That's up 50% in the last 15 years.

Also, let us remember that over the last 35 years 15% of all jobs were destroyed every year, in the normal course of events. That's every year friends, and that's the way capitalism works: relentless destruction and creation. Still, we averaged 17% of newly created jobs, a net gain of 2% per year. And contrary to many politicians’ claims, most of the lost jobs weren't outsourced overseas but were eliminated by automation or ineffective management.

— " October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February." - Mark Twain

— Jim Harbaugh, the coach of the San Francisco 49ers, frequently says to his team, "Who has it better than us?!" (Not intending to mean his brother's team, the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens).

He might also be referring to how well even the poorest Americans do compared to the rest of the world. Lest we forget, the poorest 5% of Americans are measurably better off than two-thirds of the world's population, according to Branko Milanovic, the economist who wrote The Haves and the Have-Nots.

— The average Medicare couple pays about $109,000 into the program and averages about $343,000 in benefits out, according to the Urban Institute. No wonder the under-tended program has put us into economic free-fall.

— A very important financial thing to do that most of us neglect is to check our credit report at least annually. Maybe, mentally associating it with your annual tax review would help. What you don't know can absolutely hurt you, especially in this era of hacking and identity theft. Happily, you can get a free annual credit report from all three rating agencies, Experian, Transunion and Equifax, at AnnualCreditReport.com.

— I recently read that about $1.5 billion worth of jewels and precious metals are stolen annually in the U.S., according to the Uniform Crime Report issued by the FBI. What surprised me is that only 4.7% is ever recovered — functionally nothing.

If you check to see what your wedding rings, heirloom silver, old cufflinks, etc., are now worth with the recent run-up in value, your eyebrows might be raised. Your eyebrows will go all the way up when you review your household insurance policy to see how little of such valuables are covered. Specific coverage is complicated, and expensive, so call your insurance agent for an update.

— According to research firm NPD, 300 million of us now own an estimated 425 million personal computers, tablets, smart phones and gaming consoles. If the devices start talking amongst themselves we might be in trouble.

— A recent study showed that men spend about $40 per week on impulse buys, and women $30 (although, they didn't include my wife, and possibly yours). That's a total of $3,640 per year for a couple, which, invested at a 20-year average of 7% yields about $75,000. But those little impulse buys are fun…

— Lastly, economist Daniel Hamermesh has crunched numbers to arrive at the conclusion that the best-looking people earn an average of an extra $250,000 over their careers. Which has to be good news for our readers…