Money doesn't actually talk. We do.

Weekwrap: Turkeys, Vultures and… oh yeah, FICA

Hope you had a filling Thanksgiving.

Good post on MyMoneyBlog this week: What to do about payroll-withholding taxes if you have more than one job and, as a result, may be overpaying the government. From my own personal experience, I’m always amazed at how imprecise the whole withholding thing is–you fill out this weird-ass form, put down “2″ or “4″ or something at the bottom, and cross your fingers that this is the right amount for the year.

Earlier this week, Bob Herbert wrote his New York Times’ column about Rosa Dailey, an ailing 65-year-old woman in Chicago who has basically not a penny to her name. Somehow, however, she wound up with exorbinant mortgage fees and payments that are quickly drowning her in debt, and may even result in Ms Dailey losing her home.

Actually, Ms Dailey didn’t “somehow” wind up this way, Herbert reports–she was targeted by lenders who saw an easy opportunity and took it. (And these weren’t fly-by-night operations, in case you were wondering. We’re talking about large companies that most people have heard of).

We’ve all heard something or another about this subprime-lending crisis, but Herbert’s column does an excellent (if depressing) job of putting a human face to it all.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average got shellacked this week. And the S&P and the Nasdaq didn’t fare much better. But if you’re at all curious about what these particular measures of market performance are and how they came to be, check out Blueprint for Financial Prosperity’s quick-and-dirty guide to the history of stock indices.

Think how cool you’ll be when, after someone makes some comment about the Dow, you come back with a “Yes, Gerald, but did you see the Wilshire 5000 this morning? I think that’s a better indication of where things are heading.”

Ok, that won’t make you cool at all, but whatever–it’s an informative, entertaining read.

Enjoy your turkey sandwiches.

– Sam Grobart