If there's one item retailers shouldn't miss out on this holiday season, it's the gift card. According to this eMarketer.com article, gift card sales have continuously risen since 2003. This year, the average consumer will spend about $203 on gift cards, up from $186 last year. And for retailers, they're the gift that keeps on giving. Card recipients typically redeem their cards over two visits, increasing their chances for more store traffic and more sales. Also growing in popularity is consumers purchasing gift cards online--now the second most popular spot to purchase a gift card, after retailer locations.

One way to set your gift cards apart from the rest is to wrap it in a box or tin. One-half of gift card purchasers said they were more likely to purchase a gift card presented in special wrapping.

The millionaire club often evokes images of luxury yachts, gigantic mansions and sometimes snooty characters. But according to this Yahoo! News article, that stereotype is no longer in fashion. That's because new research has found that new millionaires are sticking to their middle-class values and roots. They're working long hours and choosing neighborhoods based on the quality of schools, mimicking the family-focused behavior of the middle class. "They spend their money on all the things that tie back to family values--on the health and welfare of their family, career development and as you move up the ladder, they spend on leisure and luxury activities," said Lewis Schiff, president of the private wealth consultant Advanced Planning Group. Compared to an average middle-class person, these so-called "middle-class millionaires" are about three times as likely to choose a career based on its earnings. Schiff says they're also much more outgoing and involved in their community than the affluent elite.

Schiff and Russ Alan Prince surveyed about 600 millionaires and 3,000 middle-class people to come to these conclusions for a book they're writing called The Middle Class Millionaire: The Rise of the New Rich and How they are Changing America. The book is due out in February.

The Small Business Administration is teaming up with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to help urban entrepreneurs get the loans they need to get their businesses off the ground. Right now, the program is still being designed, but it will run in 10 cities in low-income areas across the country. Though small biz accounts for 80 percent of total employment in inner cities, job growth rates in those areas are below average. "We believe bolstering entrepreneurial success in these areas will generate new jobs, attract investment and provide a more sustainable economic base in distressed areas," said Steven Preston, SBA administrator. In addition, SBA plans to make its Community Express loan program easier to use and direct it toward low-income areas.