America’s 20 Best Health Plans. Unsurprisingly, my plan is not on this list from MSN and US News & World Report. The top award goes to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England in Maine and Massachusetts. I should take advantage of my Aetna plan more by visiting a doctor for a check-up once in a while, particularly since the price of my plan is going up next year.

Aflac CEO Says He’ll Give Up Golden Parachute if Ousted. Aflac, which isn’t seeking bailout money from the government, would owe Dan Amos $13 million if a merger or acquisition results in the elimination of his job. Amos has graciously volunteered to give up this income if he leaves the company in these circumstances. He’s setting an example for other highly-paid CEOs who plan on taking windfall compensation even as their companies fail or ask the public for handouts.

76% Say Obama Can Fix Economy – Poll. No pressure, though. Meanwhile, Bush and 19 other world leaders from developed and developing countries are meeting in Washington to discuss the financial crisis. While expectations are probably too high for the meeting, it will be interesting to see if anything comes from it.

Citigroup to Lay Off Another 10,000 – Report. Even after Citi received $25 billion from the government, we can expect more lay offs and significantly higher interest rates on consumer credit cards.

For the “News and Blogs” features, which I plan to run almost daily as long as I have additional articles to share, I select some of the most interesting posts from my RSS reader and from pfblogs.org. If you don’t believe you blog is included on my RSS reader, please let me know to so I can add it. Thanks!

News and Blogs sponsor: FNBO Direct, currently offering 3.25% APY

I have written an article for PC World Magazine called The Insider’s Guide to Black Friday Bargains. Please read it, and if you are so inclined, give it a “thumbs-up” on the website.

A Hypnotic Answer to Financial Angst. It’s becoming increasingly popular for those who worry about money to treat their anxiety through hypnotherapy. The success of the technique is hard to measure, but those who have pursued this form of treatment seem to be happy with progress. Expensive hypnosis sessions may do more damages to your finances without much real benefit, but if participants feel better and come away with a better approach to dealing with money, it may be worthwhile.

Putting Santa on a Budget. If Santa Claus brings gifts to your house, bear in mind that his investments sank since last year, just like yours, and he’s dealing with the global economy as best as he can. He’s cutting back on some expenses, and I’d imagine these include reindeer fuel. He might have had to lay off a percentage of his elf workforce. And of course, he’s spending less on gifts for families across the world. If you explain this to children, they might just understand why Santa is not bringing them as many gifts this year.

Text of Paulson Remarks on TARP. Here are Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s comments on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (the Bailout) from yesterday, in full. To summarize: Bailout money will no longer be used to buy “toxic” mortgage-backed assets but it will be used to “prop up” banks. These banks must begin lending the money provided by the Bailout in order to get the conomy flowing again.

On Good Debt and Bad Debt. Is there such a thing? Like Trent from The Simple Dollar, my position is that debt is debt, and cannot be inherently “good” or “bad.” “Good” debt is debt that allows you to have resources that afford you returns in excess of the expenses of debt. For example, a student loan might be good debt. “Bad” debt is debt that traps you and offers you no or little reward, like credit cards and car loans. Circumstances change, and what is good debt for one person might be bad debt for someone else.

Do-it-Yourself Christmas: 34 Great Gifts You Can Make Yourself. Already noting that Santa is cutting back this year, let’s put him to work rather than using the mass-production elven workforce. Here are many great ideas for adding a personal touch to gift-giving. It’s frugal, too!

News and Blogs sponsor: Discover More Card is currently offering a $50 bonus for new cardholders.

A former high-powered, strongly motivated boss of mine did not believe in sleep. In order to be the best in the world at what we do—and this was the goal, no doubt—sleep is an obstacle to be overcome. I disagreed, as it seemed to me at some point, bodies and minds will find what they need whether or not you try to control them.

While he was in his office until four in the morning many nights, trying to work, I was getting the sleep I needed to be effective during waking hours. Our disagreements about this as well as some other philosophies of life eventually led to my departure from the organization.

Scientific studies have long proven the importance of a good night’s sleep, but there’s some new research that links sleep deprivation and serious illness.

A 2008 research project at the University of Chicago’s medical school kept young, healthy volunteers awake for all but four hours a night for six nights running. The result: The levels of subjects’ hormones shifted – in particular a hormone called leptin that affects appetite. They became ravenously hungry, scarfing down pizza and ice cream long after they would have felt full normally, and their blood sugar shot up to pre-diabetic levels – an ominous result after less than one week of inadequate sleep.

...[T]he World Health Organization (WHO) has gathered data from around the globe showing that sleep deprivation depresses the immune system, to the point where WHO is considering labeling chronic sleep deprivation a carcinogen, comparable to tobacco and asbestos.

Sleep deprivation also results in an overestimation of health; people deprived think they have more control than they do.

One experiment at U. Penn’s medical school kept subjects up until 4 A.M., woke them at 8 A.M., and then gave them a series of tests designed to measure memory, alertness, and the ability to react quickly to new information. The researchers were startled to find that subjects’ mental acuity declined markedly after just one night and kept dropping with each successive night of four hours’ sleep. Even more worrying: The study’s volunteers were unaware of their impairment. One woman, so fatigued that she could barely say her name, was nonetheless certain she was able to drive home.

In addition to these studies, entrepreneurs surveyed about their sleep habits have claimed to come up with many of their ideas while asleep. So it seems that sleeping is good for business.

Here are five free ways to improve sleep and five more free ways to improve sleep. Get Rich Slowly also has a brief guide to better sleep.

Make Sleep Work For You, Anne Fisher, Fortune Small Business, August 25, 2008.

Rather than firing up the central air conditioning, you can keep it off or lower its power in the heat of the summer by exploring some of these low-cost alternatives.

1. Use fans. While fans don’t change the temperature of the air, they increase air movement, which will make you feel cooler by a few degrees. Look for fans with large blades. In general, the large blades will move more air with less power and less noise.

2. Cool the air naturally. If you hang damp sheets in front of your window, air coming into your house or apartment will lower the temperature of the air as it enters.

3. Wear light colors. Black fabric absorbs heat while light-colored fabric reflects. Light-weight fabric allows your skin to breathe. Fashion aside, proper summer clothing can help keep you cool.

4. Install shades and blinds. By keeping your rooms shielded from the sun, you can avoid direct light and heat. Keep the blinds closed during the day and open the windows during the night. There are window coatings available that let in light while keeping out heat. Try searching Home Depot for heat and glare control window films.

5. Wear a cooling bandana. Here’s a stylish way to keep yourself cool. Cooling bandanas can be soaked in water and are worn around the neck. As the water evaporates your body remains cool. You can find cooling bandanas on Amazon.com.

6. Avoid chores. Forget about using the clothes dryer or the oven; these appliances emit heat, so your cooling system must work harder whenever you’re cooking or drying. While the weather is hot, eliminating strenuous chores will help protect your body from dehydration. Alcohol and caffeine should be avoided as well for the same reason.

7. Spray yourself with water. Never was a wet tee-shirt contest a better idea. Keep yourself wet with sprinklers outdoors or spritzers (water bottles with a spraying handle) indoors.

8. Leave the house. Take advantage of large businesses that must keep their air conditioners running to keep customers comfortable; take a trip to the mall. If you do stay in and run the air conditioner, however, keep the thermostat high and supplement the house cooling with fans.

Where I live, the temperature has been above 90 degrees lately, with the heat index over 100 this past weekend. I don’t have it quite as bad as those in Texas, for example, but heat makes everyone uncomfortable. As someone I knew used to say, you can only remove so many layers of clothing.

Beat the Heat Without Busting the Budget, Rodika Tollefson, LifeWire

I’ve decided to join my colleagues like J.D. by taking the One Hundred Pushup Challenge. I started on Monday and I plan to continue with my second day of training Wednesday evening. I’ve been meaning to improve my health and fitness—I promise myself to do so every year but find it hard to summon the motivation despite its importance—but this might be a communal way to kick-start my health endeavors. Also, a co-worker keeps trying to get me to go with her to the gym to take her husband’s weight class, so I may give in soon.

Here are a few articles from the Money Blog Network that caught my eye recently.

Five Cent Nickel explains how he hacked his MPG and increased his gas-mileage by 15%. He was able to do this without dangerously “hypermiling.” By accelerating gradually, anticipating braking, and minimizing air conditioner usage, he’s saving more than $0.50 per gallon.

Circumventing Realtors and Negotiating Directly. Here Free Money Finance asks some questions about working directly with sellers, spurred by a comment left by a visitor. I found GeekMan’s comments on this post interesting.

Get Rich Slowly shared a personal letter from his father to him from when he was a teenager, full of financial and life advice. I particularly like numbers 4 and 6.

No Credit Needed was recently featured in Money Magazine for this blogger’s life without credit cards. He talks about this here.

In response to Zero to One Million: How I Built A Company to $1 Million in Sales… And How You Can, Too., Wise Bread presents 16 Ways to Get Money for Your Business.

With deals aplenty, Mighty Bargain Hunter warns that buying a cheap gas-guzzler may backfire.

Social Security Death Benefits. Cathy, filling in for JLP at AllFinancialMatters, explains what she learned about these particular benefits.