Do you scoff when people tell you that you need at least eight hours of sleep a night to maintain your health?  Maybe it’s time to put your scorn to bed – recent studies have shown that people who get more (and restful) sleep may have opportunities to make more money.

At a recent conference of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine held in Minneapolis, five thousand researchers convened to discuss the power of a good night’s sleep.  One of the studies addressed the connection between sleep loss and weight gain, and then linked weight loss to people who make more money.

According to this study, when people are deprived of sleep the function in their brain that stops them from eating unhealthy food starts to shut down.  Also, researchers concluded, people who stay awake longer have more opportunities to eat, which may lead to unhealthy snacking.  And recent studies have shown that, while overweight men make more money, overweight women make less.  So if sleep deprivation causes you to gain weight, depending on your gender, it can lead you to make less money.

Healthier people are also more likely to have increased energy, vigor, and show an increase in exuberance in their personalities, which all contribute to help someone who gets enough sleep work harder, faster, or allow them to get jobs which will pay more.

Other reasons to consider how sleep will help you make money:  enough sleep allows the brain to maintain and consolidate memory, which means that people who sleep well perform better on tests and tasks; people who don’t sleep enough are prone to making more mistakes at work and may be more likely to be in an accident; sleep improves the mood, which makes people with enough sleep more pleasant to be around; and finally, people who get enough sleep are less prone to weakened immunity systems.  All these factors help create a healthy person who has more chances to make money than someone who is sleep-deprived.

The sleep of many people is affected negatively by infestations of nighttime creepy crawlies; therefore, knowing how to get rid of bed bugs can help improve sleep and lead to a healthier (and wealthier) lifestyle.  Bed bugs can be identified by their wingless reddish-brown bodies that are flat and are about one-fifth of an inch long.  They are commonly thought to thrive around the human bed, but the bloodsucking critters can be found anywhere else in your home, in places such as furniture or in clothing piles on the floor.  Bed bugs can be clingy, so if you are attempting to vacuum the infested area, scrape the surface with the vacuum’s end.  They are also averse to temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit or above, so you can use a steamer to flush them out.  You can also wash and dry your bedding on high heat, which will kill them as well as their eggs.

Improve your health and your wealth through proper sleeping habits … and remember, don’t let the bed bugs bite!

Most people dream about what they’d do if they came into a lot of money via lottery, inheritance, or some other fame-and-fortune kind of scenario.  And while quitting a job and jet-setting around the world is at the top of the list for many, owning rare and expensive automobiles come in at a close second.  In fact, there are plenty of wealthy celebrities that seem to have a fascination with owning more cars than they can ever hope to drive.  Here are just a few celebs that have a decided love affair with automobiles.

1. Jay Leno.  He is arguably the most famous celebrity car collector, and considering that his collection is said to rival that of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, it’s not hard to see why.  With nearly 200 cars and motorcycles sequestered at a huge warehouse in Burbank, you might have trouble thinking of a collectible automobile that isn’t represented.  But some of the most interesting cars in his showcase include a Stanley Steamer (yup, it runs on steam), a 1909 Baker electric car, and a motorcycle that is powered by a turbo jet.  It’s simply impossible to enumerate the many appealing cars in his eclectic collection, but luckily he has a website (jaylenosgarage.com) to show them off.
2. Ralph Lauren.  This fashion mogul may best known for his style on the runway, but his haute couture collections pale in comparison to the lineup of rare and desirable automobiles he keeps in his garage (or, you know, the gallery he designed to display them).  Because he has only a few dozen cars to his name, you might be tempted to ask how he rates an entry on this list.  But when you realize that each and every automobile is akin to the Hope Diamond, his collection of cars starts to look like the crown jewels.  Most notably, he has the keys to a 1930 Mercedes Benz SSK (Count Trossi) Roadster, a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (in fact, he has a room devoted to Ferraris), a 2006 Bugatti Veyron, and a 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe (one of only two left in existence).
3. Jerry Seinfeld.  Anyone familiar with gossip surrounding this NYC comedian has probably heard rumors about the $1.5 million parking structure he built in Manhattan to house a portion of his car collection.  In fact, this is true.  The guy who wrote a show about nothing has plenty to show for it, and the money coming in has allowed the car nut to build up an extensive collection, which leans heavily in favor of Porsche.  Amongst his gems are a 959 (one of only 300+ made), a 917 Le Mans racecar, and a 1955 550 Spyder (not “the” James Dean car, but the same model).  In fact, it is said that his Porsche collection, with a value of about $10 million, is second only to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
4. Billy Gibbons.  This ZZ Top guitarist may be a bit rough around the edges, with his beard-wearing, guitar-flinging, rock-and-roll lifestyle, but he is just as attached to the culture of classic cars as he is to his famous Rip Van Winkle beard.  He tends to go for hot rods, and he is probably most associated with the 1933 Ford Coupe “Eliminator”, which has made frequent appearances in his music videos.  He also has a number of custom street rods, amongst them a Boyd Coddington creation that started out as a 1958 Cadillac.  He claims to have so many cars in his collection that he can no longer keep track.
5. Nicholas Cage.  Known for his flamboyant spending habits, this member of the Coppola clan is no stranger to throwing down some hard cash for a collectible automobile.  He has a hankering for Lamborghinis, and he infamously purchased a Miura SVJ that was confiscated from the Shah of Iran in 1979 (he apparently paid half a million for the car, although it was only reported to be worth about $300,000).

Emma Martin is a contributing writer for UsedVolkswagenEngines.com  where Volkswagen engines are shipped nationwide every day.

A lot of people gripe about the wealthiest 1%, assuming that people with that much money don’t have a care in the world.  But the truth is that everyone has problems and concerns in life, even if they don’t center on trying to make ends meet and get the bills paid each month.  And the problem with having wealth is that there’s always someone looking for a handout or even actively trying to take what you’ve got.  In short, money makes people into targets.  So the wealthy of the world are always looking for ways to protect themselves against those who would take them for everything they’ve got.  And here are just a few of the major security concerns that they face.

1. Loss of investment.  A big part of security for the wealthy is ensuring that their coffers remain intact and that the inheritance they leave their children continues to grow long after they’re gone.  This means protecting not only capital, but investments, as well.  So in an economic climate like a recession, for example, the rich amongst us are finding ways to preserve their wealth (probably with safer investments).
2. Identity theft/hackers.  While identity theft is a minor annoyance for most people (who may have to pay a small fee in order to recover funds from their bank or credit card company, and then wait for a replacement card), it can be a real nightmare if a wealthy person’s bank accounts are hacked, simply because only so much money can be federally insured.
3. Kidnapping.  Plenty of high-profile people have been kidnapped for ransom simply because their families are known to have wealth.  Just look at the 1932 kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., the “Lindbergh Baby” (in which a ransom of $50,000 was demanded by note), the 1975 abduction of Patricia Hearst (whose captors had a political agenda and demanded that her wealthy parents distribute free food to the tune of $6 million), or the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (whose grandfather was the richest man in the world at the time, and was asked to pay $3 million in ransom).  The wealthy must be ever vigilant about watching their vulnerable children, it seems.
4. Mugging.  When you walk around in haute couture clothing, wear a Rolex, and drive a Ferrari, you might start to get a bit worried about highway robbery, as well.  For this reason, many wealthy people forego these hallmarks of high-end living in favor of more modest apparel and transportation, especially while vacationing in foreign countries.
5. Home invasion.  Despite the fact that cyber criminals run rampant, attacking high-profile persons and businesses alike, the security concerns that most rich people harbor are of the garden variety (i.e. home break-ins).  Luckily, there are all kinds of protections to be had, including gated communities, ADT, Brinks, or Vivint security systems, surveillance cameras, and even bodyguards, and the wealthy can afford them all.  The rich of the world may have different worries than the rest of us, but they can certainly pay to assuage them.