Quotes of the Day

There are several places where you can go to get a purchase and sale (P&S) agreement: local title company, online, office supply store or other investors. No matter how you obtain your P&S form, I recommend that you have a local attorney take a glance at it. You want to be sure you are covering all the necessary bases, and a lawyer can help you do that. You can also simply get a P&S agreement from an attorney, though this might be the most expensive option. [2015] - Brandon Turner

The living standards index: Housing costs should be no more than 28 to 33 percent of yearly, pre-tax household income. "Housing costs" includes mortgage payment, utility costs, maintenance fees, and taxes. Typically, banks will not lend mortgage money if the consumer's income is too low to meet this measure. A down payment of 25 percent (or in the case of condominiums, even 35 percent) is required to qualify for a mortgage. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic

The Galleri test looks at methylation patterns of the cell-free DNA, which are basically chemical changes to the DNA molecules that suggest the presence of cancer. In a study, the Galleri test proved to have a very high specificity, about 99.5%, meaning only 0.5% of tests yielded a false positive. If the test says you have cancer, somewhere in your body, then it's likely that you do. The trade-off is that the resulting sensitivity can be low, depending on the stage. (That is, even if the test says you don't have cancer, you're not necessarily in the clear.) Keep in mind this test still has much higher resolution than radiographic tests such as MRI or mammogram. Those imaging-based tests require "seeing" the tumor, which can happen only when the tumor reaches a certain size. With Galleri, the test is looking at cell-free DNA, which can come from any size tumor-even ones that remain invisible to imaging tests. [2023] - Peter Attia

Look for a probiotic that supplies a minimum of 5 billion CFUs (colony-forming units--this is how probiotics are measured) and at least 5 different probiotic stains (spanning both Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families), because each strain produces different benefits. Additionally, there are two types of probiotics, spore-forming (soil-based) and non-spore-forming (from fermented food). We recommend taking a probiotic that contains both, with at least 1 billion spore-forming CFUs. Spore-forming probiotics will be those listed as Bacillus on the supplement facts. [2019] - Mira Calton

When in doubt, choose black. Black is a popular color for clothing because it's background--you get noticed before your clothing. For most people, it's flattering. It makes heavy people look thin and thin folks look elegant. Men: try a black turtleneck sweater with a jacket. This lacks the formality of wearing a tie, yet has a finished look. [2005] - Sharon Romm