Welcome to the weekend! You have worked all week and you deserve a little time for yourself or the family. If you are able to get to Barcelona there are some really cool things that we found for you to do this weekend. Check it all out in this weekend’s installment of Dollars & Sense.
Visit The CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona)
Spain’s largest cultural centre was opened in 1994 at the Casa de la Caritat, a former almshouse, built in 1802 on the site of a medieval monastery. The massive façade and part of the courtyard remain from the original building; the rest was rebuilt in dramatic contrast, all tilting glass and steel, by architects Piñón and Viaplana, known for the Maremàgnum shopping center. The CCCB’s exhibitions can lean toward heavy-handed didacticism, but there are occasional gems.
Address
C/Montalegre 5
Barrí Gòtic
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Visit The CosmoCaixa
If you want to spen a day with your children, attractions at the science museum include the Bubble Planetarium (a digital 3D simulation of the universe); the Toca Toca! space where supervisors guide the exploration of natural phenomena such as tarantulas and snakes, and the candy-bright Javier Mariscal-designed spaces of Clik (for three- to six-year-olds) and Flash (for seven- to nine-year-olds), where children learn how to generate electricity and ho w a kaleidoscope works.
Address
C/Teodor Roviralta 47-51,
Zona Alta, West of Centre
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Financial Tip Of The Day
Save For Retirement
Social Security will provide a good-sized chunk of your income in retirement, because the system is set up to replace more of a lower-income worker’s earnings than those of a higher-earning worker. (Someone earning $20,000 will get Social Security benefits equal to nearly 70% of his or her working income in Social Security, while someone making $40,000 will get a benefit equal to about half of pre-retirement income.) But you’ll still want to put something aside to prevent a big drop in income once you quit work. Take advantage of any available workplace retirement plans. If you don’t have a plan at work, open an individual retirement account at a discount brokerage or mutual fund, and set up automatic transfers to fund it.
