visa - in blankEllis Island, which opened as an immigration processing post on January 1st 122 years ago, symbolizes for many Americans of immigrant descent the place where would-be entrants to the U.S. learned whether they would be admitted to the country.  Perhaps the most famous and wrenching location within this hallowed landmark are the “stairs of

Savings.jpgFrugality, something second nature to our colonial forebears, is a trait we Americans seem to have forgotten.  We are profligate in our material acquisitions and in their disposition. (Witness the growing mountains of toxic electronic waste that are almost as hard to be rid of as spent nuclear fuel.)   Saving for a rainy day