I am a freelance writer who has been published in the New York Times, Business Insider, OZY, NPR, SmartMoney, TheStreet.com, Yahoo Finance, Scientific American Worldview and Realtor.com, among others. I was previously a staff reporter for SmartMoney, the Wall Street Journal's personal finance magazine, and a finance and homepage editor for Xfinity. Follow me on Twitter @reneemorad.