Although students have only been back in school for a few weeks, the tutoring business is already in full gear, the New York Times suggests.

In the U.S., the number of tutors being certified has jumped approximately 18 per cent in each of the last five years. And, judging by the number of flyers in the mail this week, Canada doesn't lag far behind.

But, with these increasing numbers, comes a changing landscape.

For people of a certain generation, the defining ATM burglary moment was when Will took a bullet for Carlton on that watershed episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Okay, there are probably a few more serious examples than that, but the fact remains we’re all exposed when we withdraw cash in a public space.

So we want security at an ATM – and, to a certain degree, we have it. Keypad covers to disguise your PIN; mirrors to see if anyone is lurking behind; dings on bank vestibule doors so you can hear if someone else enters. But is that enough?

Are you the first one into work on Monday morning? Well, perhaps you should be.

Recent research by Christoph Randler, a professor at the University of Education in Heidelberg, suggests that those who prefer mornings are better positioned for career success.

Randler quizzed university students, a notoriously sleepy bunch, asking them when they were most energetic and willing to change a situation. It was the morning people who were more likely to agree with statements such as “I feel in charge of making things happen” and “I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself.”

You get the sense that, with each new innovation, marketers aren’t nearly done with their billboard experiments.

Consider: that sign in Charlotte earlier this year that spewed the smell of peppercorn steak with a fan and some air cartridges. Like the scented ads in magazines, only fifty feet high in the air, right?

Well, it appears advertisers aren’t finished with their billboard tinkering, after all. Last week, in South Dakota, drivers met the world’s first smoking billboard.

When someone looks like they may be coming up short in reaching their retirement goal, the easiest fix – aside from boosting the expected returns or severely cutting the desired retirement income – is delaying the retirement date.

Work a couple of years longer and you should be alright, you’ll hear.

After all, what’s the big deal? We’re all living longer, you’re a knowledge worker, and you’ll miss all your friends at the office anyway.

But many workers with more physically demanding jobs simply won’t be able to work longer than they currently do.

It’s one of the greatest debates in the consumer’s calendar: when booking airfare, is it cheaper to get your tickets last-minute or way in advance?

Certainly, there is no definitive answer here. In my own travels, even, I’ve seen it both ways. Sometimes you see seat sales days before a flight takes off, other times a fare that costs X dollars to book two months in advance shows up as X dollars + $200 should you wait to buy.

This holiday season, though, maybe there’s no debate. By most every industry expert’s take, buy early this year, and don’t even think twice.

Unpaid child and spousal support now tops $2.7 billion across the country, according to recent Statistics Canada data. 

As of March 31, 2010, there were roughly 408,000 cases, most involving children, registered in various provincial maintenance enforcement programs, which process cases and ensure support.

The province with the highest compliance rate was Quebec, at 80 per cent whereas Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta had compliance rates of 62, 63 and 64 per cent, respectively.

In the world of high fashion modelling, the rewards afforded the best-of-the-best are well documented.

Kate Moss. Gisele Bündchen. Heidi Klum. All these women, based on their looks, personalities and marketability, rake in somewhere north of $10 million ($25 mil if you’re Gisele) each year.

But maybe that’s where the glamour stops. According to one new report, in-demand models have no problem stuffing their pockets with cash, but for the rest of the ubiquitous, often homophonic industry, talent likely has trouble making ends meet.

Oktoberfest, of course, is big business. Even in September.

Indeed, while its name may mislead you as to when the thing actually starts, the world’s largest annual fair means a lot to the people of Munich – and not just when it comes to beer and schnitzel.

With six million attendees each year, there’s big cash to be made at Oktoberfest, sure, but never before has the fair’s revenues meant so much to the German economy. This year, it’s Oktoberfest vs. deflation.

Do men and women view retirement differently? It would seem so.

Fidelity Investments has found that while married couples generally agree on the types of retirement products they've earmarked for retirement, they frequently disagree on their plans and expectations for their later years.

The study also found that while couples may not be giving each other the silent treatment, they aren’t having many conversations about serious financial matters either.

That’s too bad, since women are more likely than men to spend part of their retirement alone, making it even more important for them to participate in retirement discussions.