The 10 Most Intriguing Money Stories of the Year
If 2015 had a clip-show episode, it would feature lots of Star Wars, Donald Trump, interest rate news, Mad Men, and a new Triple Crown winner. And while such episodes are very rarely good, they serve a purpose: to give writers a break and remind viewers of great moments from previous seasons they may have forgotten.
So think of this as Money.com's version of a clip show. By cross-referencing the posts you clicked on most with the ones you spent the most time reading, we came up with a ranking of the 10 stories that really captured your attention in 2015.
We noticed a few themes across the 10. You're interested in ranking the best things. You're interested in knowing more about the world's richest people (real or fake). In fact, readers collectively spent more than 3 million minutes—that's more than seven years!—reading about the 10 Richest People of All Time. You're also looking for ways to save money and cut costs, now and in retirement.
So ICYMI, these were the most engaging Money, and money, stories of 2015.
10
The 10 Richest People of All Time
When Forbes lists the world's 500 richest people, it not only has to sift through mountains of data, but also determine what qualifies as wealth. When comparing wealth across history, however, we ran into even more challenges. This article is a rigorous but highly debatable attempt to rank the wealthiest historical figures in order of their economic influence. Read the story here.
9
How to Watch All the TV You Want Without Paying a Cable Bill
The notion of getting all the video entertainment you want without paying a massive cable bill has gone from a tech-world fantasy to a viable mainstream option. The reason? The recent emergence of new streaming services has coincided with Amazon and Netflix coming into their own as producers of serious television. The result is that virtually every class of TV watcher can find most of what they need without paying a cable bill.
This hugely popular article helps readers understand these new and unfamiliar services—and figure out which combination of them best fits their needs and budget. Read the story here.
8
The Best Cellphone Plans of 2015
Getting hit with data overage charges? Is your family’s cellphone bill busting your budget? Now you can land a better, cheaper smartphone plan. After studying more than 70 plans from 10 different wireless carriers, we picked the best plans for every kind of user.
Read the story here.
7
If You Want to Retire in 10 Years, Do These 5 Things Now
After 30-plus years of working and socking away savings, you can finally see retirement on the horizon. But it’s not time to coast just yet.
The actions you take in the final decade before you quit working are crucial to getting the next phase off to a smooth start. Here's how to make sure you're on the right path.
Read the story here.
6
A Month-by-Month Guide to the Best Places to Travel in 2015
This 12-month calendar helped readers find the best getaways—and the best deals–in 2015. While the year might be over, you can still look through it and remember the places you traveled in 2015. Or, if you didn't make it to these destinations this year, plan ahead for next year.
Read the story here.
5
The World’s 10 Most Expensive Houses—and Who Owns Them
The owners of the world’s most luxurious houses can be a mysterious bunch. We all know who owns Buckingham Palace, but does anyone recognize the name Tim Blixseth? Or the Indian billionaire who built a 27-story apartment building just for himself? We’re guessing not.
Well, the mystery ends here. Using information provided by CompareCamp.com, Money put together a rundown of the world’s 10 most expensive houses—modern castles, really—and the people lucky enough, and rich enough, to own them.
Read the story here.
4
These Are the 5 Richest Superheroes
As if it weren’t enough to have awesome powers, spiffy outfits, cool names, and dashing good looks, many of the men and women who headline blockbuster action movies also possess ample fortunes to fund their crime-fighting adventures. Money staffer Jake Davidson researched how much the wealthiest caped crusaders are worth and which champion is the most (economically) powerful. Spoiler alter: The wealthiest is worth over $90 trillion—and is not Batman or Ironman.
Read the story here.
3
The Veterans’ Guide to Financial Success (Plus Freebies for Vets)
Readers loved our wide-ranging package veterans transitioning to civilian life, which included advice on succeeding in the civilian job market, reducing the cost of a post-military education, controlling healthcare costs after leaving the service, managing post-military personal finances, and reaching a comfortable retirement.
But what pulled the most eyeballs was another piece of the package: An article listing all the places that, in order to thank members of the military past and present for their service, offered veterans free food, drink, services, and admissions on Veterans Day.
Read the story here.
2
The 5 Best Big Cities
For some people there’s nothing more all-American than a small town. But plenty of folks want something different. So this year, in addition to Money's Best Places to Live list, we crunched the numbers on urban centers with more than 300,000 residents. As with our Best Places list, our city rankings put a premium on a robust job market, affordable housing, strong public schools, and factors such as accessibility to health care, culture, and open space. We selected the top city in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West.
Read the story here.
1
5 High-Paying Jobs That Will Make You Miserable
If you think that a fat salary is all you need to be happy, think again. Many highly-paid professions are also high-stress—and highly likely to lead to misery. Physicians, for example. Sandeep Jauhur, author of Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician described his line of work as "a charade." Forty percent of doctors say they'd choose a different career if they could start again. Even more say they'd try to talk their kids out of a career in medicine.
Read the full story here.