Personal Finance

Every year Forbes magazine comes out with a list of the world's richest people. It's usually the same group of people, but this year it's changed up a little bit.

For the past 13 years, Bill Gates has held the number one spot, but this year he was knocked from his throne to number three on the list by investor Warren Buffett with an estimated worth of $68 billion. Buffett saw a $10 billion increase in his net worth over the past year, while Gates had a $1 billion increase. In all, however, Gates is only worth $58 billion, more than a few billion shy of Buffet. In third place is Carlos Slim Helu, a Mexican telecom mogul worth $60 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the popular social networking site Facebook, has something new to boast about as well - he's the youngest self-made billionaire to make Forbes annual list of the world's richest people. While his $1.5 billion ranked him at just #785 out of a record 1,125 billionaires globally, it didn't even rank him in the top 20 amongst Silicon Valley billionaires.

Here are some other interesting bits of trivia with regards to this year's list:

• 101 Californias made the international list, and were worth more than $317 billion in total net worth.

2008 will be a prosperous year for people who get there paychecks on Tuesday or Wednesday. The American Payroll Association says that because of the leap year, some lucky people will get one extra paycheck this year.

"In an average year, most days are repeated 52 times. In 2008, however, two days will repeat 53 times -- Tuesday and Wednesday," said Dan Maddux, executive director of the American Payroll Association. "Employees that are paid on either a Tuesday or Wednesday may get an extra paycheck in 2008."

If you are on a salary, the extra paycheck could have an adverse affect. Since their are more paydays, your take home pay could be cut down because of more paydays. That is bad news for salaried workers who live paycheck to paycheck.

There are few other times of the year that bring about as much financial pressure as Christmas. In addition to shopping for presents, there are the endless rounds of parties, feasts, Secret Santa events, additions to your winter wardrobe, and more. For most people, it is hard to know where to draw the line on spending, and at times, they find themselves facing December 25th without the money needed for presents. When that happens, where can you find emergency cash for Christmas? Here are five tips to assist you in quickly generating the cash you need for the holiday season: