It's been more than four years since the financial crisis first knocked you back on your heels. You've probably been on the defensive ever since, doing your best to deflect whatever punches the economy has thrown your way. Of course, the trick to any good rope-a-dope strategy is to sit back and let your opponent tire out before you unleash your own flurry of blows. 

At age 60, Kathy Frederick routinely put in 50 hours a week as a hospital administrator for Scripps Health Systems in San Diego. She managed a 15-person staff, and regularly took work home on week-ends -- until one day five years ago she decided enough was enough. "I wasn't ready to retire," says Frederick, "but after 18 years at that pace, I wanted a different challenge and more time for myself." 

Lots of Americans these days want something more from a vacation than vegging out on a beach, a mojito close at hand. Some 30% of respondents to a Travel-Ticker.com survey put adventure travel on their 2012 wish list, and spending in the category has been growing 17% a year, even as economic woes slowed leisure travel overall. 

If you have a child headed off to college this fall, you've got an important item on your to-do list: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which you can submit as early as Jan. 1.