Good reads

Here are some recent stories on a variety of personal finance subjects:

• Getting a Grip on Taxes Before the Storm Hits (New York Times) Year-end tax advice

• Aunt Midge Not Dying in Hospice Reveals $14B Market (Bloomberg) A chilling investigation into how hospice care, once mostly a charitable cause, has become a growth industry

• Global Lessons for Better Savings Habits (Smart Money) What Americans can learn about savings from the Swiss and the Vietnamese

• New Ways to Use Gift Cards Sprout This Holiday (Reuters) Retailers are coming up with ways to make the gift card more exciting to receive and more appealing to give 

• How to pay Your Financial Advisor (Wall Street Journal) It’s complicated