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Natalie Michalek: Val you have a good start. Millionaire is kind of like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers though – it doesn't mean as much anymore. The more appropriate question is if you are savings enough to support your desired lifestyle when you stop earning income. With your current savings of 20 percent of gross income, you are living at a reasonable level, but is that your desired goal when you are married with three kids? If you keep up the current level of savings, then there should be no problem reaching your goals.

W.C. in Allen, via e-mail: I recently heard about a tax-minimizing strategy where you try to balance the following retirement investment categories: pre-tax accounts (401(k), IRA), post-tax accounts (Roth 401(k), Roth IRA), and long-term capital gains investments. More>>

On the other hand, he's a Junior.

Longtime readers of this column may recall my concern back in 2000 after the presidential contest became a two-Junior race. More>>

Well, maybe in the good old days. Gold might be surging, but gold miners aren't exactly making a whole lot of money. A few are worse off today than they were when gold was at $400 (U.S.). They're not digging money out of anything except the wallets of aggressive or gullible investors, and they are throwing it down other holes (or into their jeans.)

We recommended gold in this space a few months ago - the metal that is. Many investors would prefer to own the shares because of the implied leverage they represent relative to gold. By leverage, we mean that their profits go up a lot more, in percentage terms, than their revenues. That's not always true, but if you must, here is a brief and by no means complete guide to picking gold stocks. More>>