Recession

People are scared. Embarrassed. Ashamed. They don't want to tell anyone. How could it be that everyone else but you seems to be on the right financial track heading into the retirement tunnel known as the post-work years?

The answer: everyone else isn't.

Basic investing strategy implies that one should put money into the stock market when the economy is beginning to show signs of growth and take money out of the stock market when the economy is slowing down or retracting.

But during the past few years, it's been hard for even most expert economists to be able to predict where the economy is headed.

Chris Hodenfield is presently engaged in the toughest blood sport in America—finding a job in a post-recession marketplace overriden with fellow midlifers packing great resumes. Join him in his high adventures and travails....

"Resume inflation" is one of the great diseases of the employment game. If you've ever been in a position to review the resumes of hopeful prospects, then you know how much gilded claptrap moves across the average employer's desk.